Serie A Recap of Week 27
Before beginning this week’s review, I would like to wish the Rossoneri good luck in the Champions League quarterfinals as, on Friday, the Milanisti learned that Barcelona FC will be their adversary. Buona fortuna Milan!
In the last match day of the Italian League, leaders AC Milan continued to exert their dominance over the smaller clubs outscoring a decimated Lecce side 2-0 at the San Siro. Antonio Nocerino bagged the winner 7 minutes into the match, while Zlatan Ibrahimovic put Milan 2-0 up adding to his plethora of goals. Ibra continues to lead the Serie A with 19 goals.
Second place Juventus FC took on Genoa at the Marassi Stadium, a game which ended in a goalless draw. The Bianconeri have now tied 4 consecutive games giving the Old Lady 13 wins and 14 draws. Juve’s attack looks short of answers up-front as they find it difficult to break down teams who play with 11 men behind the ball. Statistically speaking, Genoa have the worst defence in the Serie A and Juve still did not score! Will Juve boss, Antonio Conte, find the answers in week 28?
Well, Claudio Ranieri finally did it! The Tinkerman was able to find a way to break Inter’s winless streak defeating Chievo Verona 2-0 in the final stages of this match. Walter Samuel and Diego Milito scored the goals. The Nerazzurri currently sit in 7th place.
Napoli welcomed Cagliari to the San Paolo in a very exciting fixture ending in a 6-3 scoreline! Other noteworthy results, Bologna defeated Lazio 3-1, Udinese lost 1-0 to lowly Novara, and Palermo lost 2 in a row at home now against Roma, 1-0.
Preview of Week 28 Serie A
The first match-up will take place in Parma as the Gialloblù welcome the league leaders AC Milan to the Stadio Tardini. Parma boss, Roberto Donadoni, is a former Rossonero, but will need to beat the scudetto-favourites to assure his team of safety from relegation. The Diavoli will aim to win this encounter to stay atop of the Serie A, currently 4 points ahead of second place, Juventus. In my opinion, the Rossoneri will be too eager to give up a chance to possibly extend their lead considering the Bianconeri tie, yet again!
Speaking of the still undefeated Old Lady of Italian Football, Juventus will travel to Florence to take on ACF Fiorentina at the Stadio Artemio Franchi. This fixture has always been a heated battle ever since the Viola sold Roberto Baggio to the Bianconeri back in 1990. This week, Antonio Conte learned that Mauro Bergonzi will be the official for this match-up which sparked controversy as Bergonzi was the 4th official when the Old Lady took on Bologna and, thus was the person responsible for Conte’s 1-game suspension. This will be a very exciting game indeed. Fiorentina has not beaten Juventus since Argentine legend Gabriel Batistuta was on the roster and Antonio Conte was commanding the Bianconeri midfield as a player.
On Sunday afternoon, Udinese Calcio will welcome Walter Mazzarri’s Napoli to the Stadio Friuli. Both teams were eliminated from European competition in midweek and will now be able to focus solely on the Italian Championship. The bianconeri and the Partenopei are aiming for a top 3 finish which is a very tight race indeed. Lazio currently sit in third place with 48 points, Napoli and Udinese are tied for fourth place with 46 points. Antonio Di Natale will take on his hometown club and will want to add more goals to his tally as he is in second, 1 goal behind Ibrahimovic in the Serie A Caponniere standings with 18 goals. What a match up this will be as both clubs possess players of high calibre, speed, and power. In my opinion, I would love to see Walter Mazzarri’s men back in the Champions League for the 2012-2013 season.
The rest of Week 28’s fixtures…
Bologna v Chievo Verona
Cagliari v Cesena
Catania v Lazio
Internazionale v Atalanta
Lecce v Palermo
Roma v Genoa
Siena v Novara
That’s the last word…..
