Inter Lose!!! Napoli have ended Inter's streak with a goal by Marcelo Zalayetta in the 73' but manager Donadoni warns the problems aren't over and Lavezzi is, Ruled Out For Two Weeks

• Juventus can't handle Reggina and draw 2-2 against the relegation club.



• AC Milan win again scoring 3 against tough opponents Palermo, pulling 3 points closer to leaders Internazionale and 2 points away from Juventus .


The headline in Gazzetta dello Sport was, 'Rossoneri have recovered seven points in three games, overtaking Juventus' , while Tuttosport read, 'Inter collapse, Milan fly and Juve eat their own hands - WASTERS!'


Complete Match Day Results


Saturday, April 25th
Chievo 1 - 2 Udinese
Fiorentina 4 - 1 AS Roma

Sunday, April 26th
AC Milan 3 - 0 Palermo
Bologna 2 - 0 Genoa
Lazio 0 - 1 Atalanta
Lecce 2 - 1 Catania
Reggina 2 - 2 Juventus
Sampdoria 3 - 3 Cagliari
Torino 1 - 0 Siena
Napoli 1 - 0 Inter Milan

Defender Philippe Mexes is once again suspended and, his defensive partner Juan remains out however the biggest absence will be Roma keeper and Brazilian number-one Doni. The Roma defence will have to be sharp to cover the missing pieces that's for sure and young Pietro Pipolo will need to be keen to impress as Doni's stand-in, especially with the late scratch of team captain Francesco Totti placing even greater pressure on the depleted Roma defence.
No doubt there is value with the home win but I'm undecided with that 4th spot up for grabs,

prediction Draw


Milan vs Palermo (start time Sunday 26th 09 at 9:00 EST)
Top performance by Milan last week, at home to Torino, but the way I see it, they are too big a favourite for this one. Palermo are one of the strongest Serie A sides sitting just behind Roma in 7th place and their form is such that they cannot be underestimated. Two weeks ago the Southerners were 2 goals down to Inter in the same venue and pulled both back during the second 45 surprising our scudetto leaders Inter who had to settle for 1 point out of 3.

Beckham was back for Milan against Torino and he was definitely one of their best players, combining with Pippo Inzaghi in that 5-1 finish. It's likely to be the same Milan squad again this weekend. Palermo had no problems winning 4-1 against Bologna without their major-general Fabrizio Micoli. Maestro Miccoli is expected back this weekend as well as Nocerino and Bresciano. Palermo look to be at full strength ahead of their San Siro showdown and this writer is calling for,

over 2.5 goal result.


Bologna vs Genoa (start time Sunday 26th 09 at 9:00 EST)
New Bologna manager, Giuseppe Papadopulo, got the start last week but he could not change the negative trend for Bologna.

Their injury list is quite lengthy, and for this match they have to do without the suspended midfielder Sergio Volpi. It is likely that the home side will come with a 4-5-1 formation this time, with of their talsman Marco Di Vaio upfront. Di Vaio has retaken top spot in the scorers table, currently sharing the dias with Inter forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic, both on 20 goals.

The homeside Genoa were surprisingly out of sync against Lazio and they deservedly lost 0-1 to the spirited visitors. It was their second home loss of the season. It looks like both Genoa scoring ace, Diego Milito and Milanetto will be back for this one. I'm sof the impression that Genoa will carry the day with the Genoa forwards intergrating back into the lineup.

prediction, Genoa 1-0.

Starting XI

Inter (4-3-3): Julio César; Santon, Materazzi, Cordoba , Maxwell; Burdisso, Zanetti, Vieira; Cruz, Ibrahimovic, Balotelli

Sampdoria (3-4-1-2) : Castellazzi; Campagnaro, Lucchini, Accardi; Pieri, Sammarco, Franceschini, Raggi; Palombo; Pazzini, Cassano

Referee: Gianluca Rocchi

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First Leg Action

Flashback to March 3rd , away to Sampdoria in the first-leg, scudetto leaders (winners to be) Inter Milan were given a right beating when the 'Goal Twins' from Genoa Cassano and Pazzini, combined for all 3 goals to Inter 's NIL.

Yes it was game-set-match by the time the half time whistle blew as the Sampdorian war machine was in full gear already up by their 3, without breaking a sweat, against the mighty Inter Milan all-stars lead by maestro Mourinho.

Inter was so lethargic in the first leg that even after Sampdoria went down to 10 men for the final 30 minutes, with defender Daniele Gastaldello shown his second yellow, the Nerazzurri could not capitalize. Clearly the advantage for both Sampdoria and Lazio has been the Cup represents their best, if not only, hope of qualifying for Europe next season. Both Inter and Juventus should easily qualify, while Inter pretty much have Serie A wrapped up as well.

Inter coach Jose Mourinho has already admitted that his side have little chance of progressing on Thursday. "Three-nil is 3-0, it's very, very difficult. We'll try but it will be very difficult."


Late yesterday we learned one Italian giant Juventus, was not going to make the Coppa Italia final, after losing to underdogs Lazio in their 2nd leg semi-final match (whew). This was no surprise to me as Juve's form of late has fallen ever since the defeat to Chelsea during the final 16 of Champions League.

Moving to today's Coppa match the next obvious questions is,... could today's action mean the same for Internazionale? If it doesn't, then we are in for a high scoring match as the Nerazzurri need 4 goals to beat visitors Sampdoria to the final for their five consecutive appearance. I give it to Sampdoria 2-1, keeping it simple and following the same scoreline as today so bet the over amigos.

(In domestic play the Bianconeri have claimed 5 points in the last 4 Serie A matches and with all hopes of catching leaders Inter over, they have also slipped to third behind that other Milano outfit, AC Milan. )


Related Articles

Serie A Weekly - Giampaolo Pazzini Finding His Footing At Sampdoria
Channel4 - Coppa: Samp humiliate Inter
Channel4 - Coppa: Lazio end Juve's season
AFP - Sampdoria, Lazio in Italian Cup driving seats

I join Mando, Hannah and Johnathan Starling from The Third Half fame in a Champions League Round Table this week, and together we discuss the semi-final matchups for Champions League. You'll enjoy our on-going discussion on the English media hype machine so give the show a listen.

Get the podcast download here if you want to listen offline or listen now with our embedded player,


Podcast 61: Champions League Roundtable

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Some wonderful goalkeeping by Gigi Buffon (and Julio Cesar) as Inter should have finished off their hosts by least 2 or 3 more goals but instead allowed Juventus to pull back the equalizer in extra time with a Grygera header past the disorganized Inter defence.

Additional News

To top it off, not only do Juventus lose a Champions League pole position, but also are hit with a "fan ban" after racism jeers were levelled against Inter forward Mario Balotelli. Balotelli, an Italy U21 international, born in Palermo to Ghanaian immigrants, has reported racist abuse from several sets of fans this season but the clubs in question have only received fines.

Goal Highlights Juventus v Inter Milan



Complete Match Day 32 Results

Saturday April 18
Genoa 0 - 1 Lazio
Juventus 1 - 1 Inter Milan

Sunday April 19
AS Roma 3 - 2 Lecce
Atalanta 0 - 1 Reggina
Cagliari 2 - 0 Napoli
Catania 2 - 0 Sampdoria
Palermo 4 - 1 Bologna
Siena 0 - 2 Chievo
Udinese 3 - 1 Fiorentina
AC Milan 5 - 1 Torino

The once upon a time shoe salesman from Fusignano also discusses the demands of the UEFA Champions League compared to top-level European competition in his era saying it was very different "when we had to play Real Madrid in the second round". To watch the full interview click the above image to the UEFA.com interview.