With the Winter Break upon us in Serie A there is much talk of who is now in – or indeed out of -  the title race, with Juventus increasingly mentioned as the team most likely to give early pacesetters Milan a challenge. Much of this impetus was earned during of the win against Lazio two weeks ago which, coupled with the Rossoneri loss to Roma, brings the Old Lady within five points of the top team. There are a [...]

Since this was the final game before the Winter break, I was hoping for a battle, and that is what I got. I was a little skeptical about Roma’s chances going into this game. Their poor performance against Bari the week before gave us Giallorossi fans little confidence. Even though Roma defeated Bari, the team as a whole seemed lethargic. Also, when I heard that Vucinic was not available I thought that the best outcome would be a draw. Ranieri [...]

Last Wednesday, after Napoli striker Edinson Cavani had scored a dramatic injury time winner against Steaua Bucharest to send his team through to the knock-out stages of the Europa League, he stated that his last gasp strike was ” a miracle from God“. Fast forward four days then to another miracle, as the Uruguayan hit-man produced an incredible 20 metre strike to score the only goal against Lecce on Sunday afternoon and send the tifosi at the Stadio San Paolo into ecstasy and send his [...]

Against Bologna last weekend Milan were rampant as they strolled to a convincing victory. In the match before against Brescia, it was much of the same. In fact, it was almost the same as all three of Milan’s goals against Brescia were scored by the same players that put Bologna to rest too in another rampant display. But following these two comprehensive victories coach Max Allegri decided to play largely the same team for the dead rubber encounter with Ajax [...]

The winter break in Serie A is almost upon us but there is one more round of fixtures to go and what an exciting round of matches we have in the peninsula this weekend. Bari – Palermo It is weeks since the home side last recorded a victory and they sit two points adrift at the bottom of Serie A, so three points going into the break will be a godsend. They do have a plethora of injuries including one [...]

Saturday December 18th Cesena vs Cagliari Cesena (4-2-3-1): Antonioli; Ceccarelli, Pellegrino, Von Bergen, Nagatomo; Caserta, Colucci; Parolo, Jimenez, Bogdani; Giaccherini. Cagliari (4-3-1-2): Agazzi; Perico, Canini, Astori, Agostini; Nainggolan, Conti, Biondini; Cossu; Matri, Acquafresca. Milan vs AS Roma Milan (4-3-1-2): Abbiati, Abate, Nesta, Bonera, Antonini; Boateng, Pirlo, Ambrosini; Seedorf; Ibrahimovic, Robinho. Roma (4-3-1-2): Doni, Cassetti, Juan, Mexes, Riise; Simplicio, De Rossi, Brighi; Menez; Totti, Borriello. Sunday December 19th Lazio vs Udinese Lazio (4-3-1-2): Muslera; Lichtsteiner, Diakitè, Dias, Cavanda; Ledesma, Matuzalem; Mauri, [...]

This Sunday sees the 81st Derby ‘della Lanterna’ between the two Genovese clubs, and the off field problems of Sampdoria are receiving much of the media attention as Antonio Cassano’s battle with President Riccardo Garronne continues apace. The latest installment sees Milan rise as an unlikely destination for FantAntonio, yet despite not receiving the same level of international coverage Genoa are enduring problems every bit as serious and divisive as those going on across town. Adam Digby tells the story; [...]

Inter received a massive boost to their ailing season after recording a 3-0 victory against Seongnam Ilhwa in the World Club Cup. The Nerazzurri cruised through to the final thanks to goals from Dejan Stankovic, Javier Zanetti and Diego Milito. Though they lost Wesley Sneijder to injury meaning he will play no further in the tournament. After the win Massimo Moratti spoke of his support for under fire manager Rafa Benitez. “Benitez has displayed self-sacrifice and great professionalism,” he told [...]

Milos Krasic gave Juventus a dramatic 2-1 victory over Lazio with a 94th minute winner with help from the Lazio keeper Nando Muslera. This was the game of the weekend as 3rd vs 2nd and the battle for 2nd as Milan extending the lead thanks to a win over Bologna. The injury list for Juventus includes Amauri, Gigi Buffon, Leandro Rinaudo, Paolo De Ceglie and Jorge Martinez. For Lazio they were missing Mourad Meghni, Javier Garrido, Stefan Radu and Pasquale [...]

Adam Digby provides more insight into the workings of Italian calcio and Italia’s premier division, Serie A. Topics include Serie A Matchday 16, Juventus, Manchester City, Carlos Tevez, Football podcasts and websites to follow and,… more Powered by laligaweekly.com Standard Podcasts: itunes | Download | Embeddable Player

Born in 1944 in Leggiuno, Luigi (or ‘Gigi’) Riva displayed both artistry and power in a career spanning 15 years. A player who was once described as the most handsome man on Earth, became a folk hero on the island of Sardinia and an icon  to followers of the beautiful game all over the world. His playing career started in 1962 with Leggiuno, his local club in Lombardy. The following season he was acquired by Cagliari where he was to spend the rest of his [...]

Throughout his sixteen year career Marco Di Vaio could be forgiven for thinking he had seen it all. Having played for ten different teams in three different countries the striker has always struggled to call anywhere home for very long, his most prolonged stay being a three year spell at Parma at the start of the new millennium. Now captain of Bologna & vital to their chances of remaining in Serie A it seemed he finally had found the ideal [...]