It’s been three weeks of consistently talking about the third place in Serie A and now only one fixture remains. Before this weekend, it looked certain that Napoli would end up in the Champions League but after a horrendous loss at Bologna it is once again Udinese who are in the driver’s seat. Although Udinese sit in front, the other three teams are still nipping at their heels and one slip up could cause a complete reshuffling of the standings. [...]
Douglas Maicon scored a sensational goal to secure a 4-2 victory for Internazionale over AC Milan in a thrilling Derby della Madonnina; in a game which also halted Milan’s attempt to retain their league crown. The Nerazzurri were forced to come from behind, after former player, Zlatan Ibrahimovic converted a penalty and scored a splendid second to grant AC Milan a 2-1 lead. A feisty affair occurred between the Milanese rivals tonight. Scudetto chasing AC Milan knew they had to [...]
Juventus drew 1-1 with Lecce in Round 36 of Serie A to see their gap at the top reduced to just one point with two matches remaining. An awful Gianluigi Buffon error gave Andrea Bertolacci a simple goal with five minutes remaining, cancelling out an early opener from Claudio Marchisio. Paolo De Ceglie had to be substituted almost instantly with a muscular complaint and Martin Caceres came on in his place. In the eighth minute Andrea Pirlo sent in a [...]
Only three games remain and the race for third only continues to get tighter. Last weekends result saw Napoli draw Roma, Udinese take 3 points from Lazio and Inter climb back with another win. Currently Napoli, Udinese, Lazio and Inter are all level with 55 points. As I said last week, this race has been completely unpredictable but with only three games, I believe this race is Napoli’s to lose. Napoli are currently sitting in third. They have a goal [...]
As the Serie A once more draws to a close, many clubs are nearing the finish line in their respective races. Whether it’s Juventus or AC Milan striving for the Scudetto. Or Novara, Lecce, Genoa and Fiorentina battling to avoided dreaded relegation to Serie B. The most exciting race is that for third place; which will grant Champion’s League football to its respective winner. There are five sides competing in the race for Europe; each with their strengths and weaknesses. [...]
Saturday 28th April Roma v Napoli The game of the weekend is between two teams of contrasting fortunes. Roma have lost their last two games, a heavy 4-0 loss to Juventus in Turin and a 2-1 home reverse to Fiorentina. Napoli on the other hand, have beaten strugglers Lecce and Novara to move up to fourth. A huge game in the battle for third place, a Napoli win would leave Luis Enrique’s side with only Europa League football to play [...]
“Everybody talks about violence, but violence is another thing,” said Fabrizio Fileni, one of the ultras that brought a halt to Genoa’s home match with Siena over the weekend. It is remarkable, not only does he defend himself, but, that he actually remains convinced that his actions and those of his fellow Ultras were not violent. Let us recap then the supposedly ‘non-violent’ events at Stadio Luigi Ferraris on Sunday. Genoa – a team fighting for Serie A survival – [...]
There was some idiotic scenes in the Genoa, as the home side -losing to Siena at the time -were demanded to take of their jerseys by their own ultras. The reasoning; according to this small minority of fans the players were not fit enough to wear the club’s colours. Marco Rossi, Genoa’s captain, ceded to their demands and went about collecting jerseys from his team-mates. This left Genoa Giandomenico Mesto in tears on the pitch. To their credit, at least [...]
Cometh the hour, cometh the man. Alessandro Del Piero has written yet another chapter in his storied Juventus career to ensure the Old Lady reclaimed top spot in Serie A after a thrilling 2-1 win over Lazio at the Juventus Stadium on Wednesday. Coming on as a substitute in game number 700 in a Bianconeri shirt, Del Piero netted goal number 289. Arguably, it is one of his most important. It was also free kick number 42 which has been [...]
Hope may be lost for Roma. Another poor result this past weekend and Champions League football now appears to be an impossible dream. Luis Enrique’s men are currently 7 points back of city rivals Lazio for that third Champions League spot, and they have yet gone on a lengthy run of success, which does not bode well for the remaining 7 games. As Roma’s inconsistent season comes to the end, it seems the window for the third spot is now [...]
Michel Platini was born 21st June 1955 in the tiny commune of Jœuf in north-east France. With a population of less than 8,000 today, it is hard to believe this little village, just an hours drive from Luxembourg, is the birthplace of one of the finest players ever to play the beautiful game. The 56 year-old has often been a controversial figure since his appointment head of UEFA in 2007, but the politics of football are of no interest to [...]
As Juventus helped secure a piece of their long-term future during the week by extending the contracts of Leonardo Bonucci and Alessandro Matri until 2017, the immediate future of another player has once again been called into focus after yet another less than impressive display on the weekend. Marco Borriello led the two man attack alongside Mirko Vucinic in Antonio Conte’s 3-5-2 system against Napoli, yet did little to endear himself to the Juventus Stadium faithful. Beside one half chance [...]
