Champions League: Milan edge closer, Juve disappoint

AC Milan 1-1 Marseille
AC Milan made an excellent start in this one as Marco Boriello scored an excellent individual goal early on in the game to give Milan the lead. But, it did not take long for Marseilles pace and power to highlight some of Milan's defensive frailties, as Oddo was hopelessly outplayed down the left channel, and then Dida failed to clear a cross which lead to Lucho Gonazalez finishing emphatically. After that the first half became bitty, but in the second both teams had chances to win. Marseille hit the post twice and Boriello should have scored a free header from a Ronaldinho pass. 1-1 in the end. Milan travel to Zurich in the last round while Marseille host Real Madrid. Nothing is settled in this group, but if Milan win then they are through and would top the group if Real fail to win in Marseille.

Group C
1. Real Madrid 10pts
2. AC Milan 8pts
3. Marseille 7pts
4. Zurich 3pts

Bordeaux 2-0 Juventus
Juventus crashed to defeat to French champions Bordeaux tonight as they threw there place in the next round into jeopardy, as Bayern Munich defeated Maccabi Haifa to close the gap on Juve in second place. Bordeaux scored twice in the second half as a flat Juve failed to create anything of note to help their cause in second round qualification. Juve now have to avoid defeat to Bayern Munich at home in two weeks time to ensure qualification. First place is no longer up for grabs, so they, or Bayern, can only qualify as runners up.

Group A
1. Bordeaux 13 pts
2. Juventus 8pts
3. Bayern 7pts
4. Haifa 0pts

So, its pretty simple really. Fiorentina are through, so not much of a need to worry there. Juve simply need to avoid defeat to meet the second round, while Milan could qualify even if they loose in Zurich so long as Marseille loose as well. But, Milan should aim for the win, and if they do they may top the group so long as Real fail to win in France. As for Inter, so long as they draw no higher than 1-1 then they will be through, but a win again could see them top the group if Barca loose in Kiev. Lots of parameters, but the key is that all the calcio clubs are in qualifying positions come the final round. Thus, it is in their hands.


Final games
Tuesday 8th December
Juventus v Bayern Munich
FC Zurich v AC Milan

Wednesday 9th December
Liverpool v Fiorentina
Inter Milan v Rubin Kazan

Champions League: Fiorentina Through!, Inter stumble

Fiorentina 1-0 Lyon
Fiorentina got the job done tonight against tough opposition in the form of Lyon thanks to a penalty through Manuel Vargas. Sebastian Frey pulled off a number of world class saves, and Fiorentina hit the woodwork on two occasions as they finally got the three points that knocked Liverpool out of the Champions League. They now move to top of Group E on 12 points, with Lyon on second in 10. A draw at Anfield could see Fiorentina top the group and face potentially an easier time in the second round, though looking at the draw destinations like Real Madrid could be a possibility.

Group E after Match day 5
1. Fiorentina 12 pts
2. Lyon 10 pts
3. Liverpool 7pts
4. Debrecen 0 pts


Barcelona 2-0 Inter
It was not a good night for Inter however, as Barcelona raised their game and outclassed the Italian Champions. Its no disgrace of course, but it leaves Inter with a nerve wracking final match against new Russian Champions Rubin Kazan to contend with. Barcelona went in front through Pique, and the doubled their lead through a mistake by Julio Cesar who could not stop Pedro's volley. Inter never really got into the game, but Cesar performed a wonder save in the second half from Xavi's header. Milito finally gave Eto'o some service in the second but Eto'o could not get on the end of it, and Milito would have been better of shooting. There were claims for a penalty but they seemed desperate. Inter lost in the end, and could have few complaints. They will have to bounce back and beat Kazan in two weeks time to ensure qualification.

Group F
1. Barcelona 8pts
2. Inter Milan 6pts
3. Rubin Kazan 6pts
4. Dynamo Kiev 5pts

More action tomorrow night as Milan host Marseille and Juve face Bordeaux in a fascinating clash between Italy and France. Wins for both Milan and Juve would sent them through a round early, but it won't be easy against quality opposition.

Serie A week 13: Milan, Inter, Samp and Juve win, Fiorentina fall

The big three of Italian football all registered wins at the weekend to keep the pressure on each other as the season draws closer to Christmas. Inter began the rounds proceedings with a 3-1 win away at an inconsistent Bologna side.

Bologna 1-3 Inter
Diego Milito continued his excellent form in an Inter shirt by putting the serpentini ahead half way through the first half with a well taken volley but Bologna responded almost instantly with a goal from former Napoli and Juventus player Marcelo Zalayeta. But Inter restored their lead before the break though a headed goal by Mario Balotelli, making up for missing a sitter earlier. Inter wraped up the points in the second half through an excellent move started and finished by Estaban Cambiasso with the help of a through ball by Diego Milito.

Milan 4-3 Cagliari
City rivals Milan wasted little time in asserting their presence against Cagliari, but all concepts of defending seem to have gone out of the window. Clarence Seedorf put Milan ahead early on, but Cagliari took a 2-1 lead after 30 minutes thanks to goals from Matri and Lazzari and it was well deserved. Milan seemed to have no answers until Pato's strong header forced Marchetti into a great save but only for Boriello to head home on the line. The game was turned on its head moments later when a wonderful piece of vision from Ronaldinho found Pato who's unstoppable shot found its way into the top corner. Pato again was at the heart of Milan's fourth goal when brought down into the area, and Ronaldinho made no mistake from the spot. Cagliari pulled one back through the promising Brazilian Nene, but it was not enough in the end.

Juventus 1-0 Udinese
Juventus squeeked out a win against an Udinese side that minus Antonio Di Natale seemed intend on playing for the point. Diego had a couple of efforts from distance in the early going, but Handanovic had no trouble in dealing with the shots. Udinese rarely ventured forward but Juve did and should have scored through Amauri on 30 minutes who was clear through but fluffed his lines. It did not have the attacking flare of Milan v Cagliari but the move for the goal was worthy of that game when Martin Caceres played a quality through ball into the area for Fabio Grosso to finish with consumate ease. Udinese had no answer and Juve took the three points to remain five points behind leaders Inter.

Fiorentina 2-3 Parma
In another hugely entertaining game in this weeks round of Serie A fixtures Parma conquered the Stadio Artemio Franchi as Fiorentina seemed to have their minds on their blockbuster midweek clash with Lyon. Fiorentina took the lead through Alberto Gilardino's header but Parma wasted little time in leveling the tie through Nicola Amoruso. Parma went one better at the beginning of the second half with Valeri Boijinov doubling the away sides tally with a well taken goal. However, Gilardino again showed his quality through another header to make the game 2-2. Parma though just would not be undone and a superb goal from Davide Lanzafame after a great ball through from Cristian Pannuci. Parma took the points.

Elsewhere in Serie A
Napoli continued their unbeaten run but could not break down Lazio at home on sunday afternoon as the tie finished as it started at 0-0. Roma, thanks to the return of Francesco Totti, gave Bari only their third defeat of the season in a 3-1 win for il Lupi. Genoa came undone again away from home loosing to the Cosmi effect away to a re-invigorated Livorno while city rivals Sampdoria warmed up for next weeks derby with a 2-1 win against trickey opposition in Chievo Verona. Palermo could only manage a 1-1 draw to bitter rivals Catania, but it was slightly better than the 4-0 reverse that they were handed last year. Still, this could not prevent Palermo manager walter Zenga from receiving the sack this morning as his short reign in charge came to an end. In the final game Siena lost again in Serie A, their 9th time already this season, to Atalanta by 0-2. The Tuscan side look in real trouble and will have their work cut out to survive this season it would seem.

Serie A by numbers: Week 13
League goals: 31
Home wins: 5
Away wins: 3
Current top scorers: 9 goals: Di Natale, Totti. 8 goals: Milito, Pazzini
Overall attendance week 13: 277076
Best individual attendances week 13: Napoli v Lazio: 46,524 Roma v Bari: 41,248 Milan v Cagliari: 39,821
Season average attendance per game so far: 24,160

Serie B Focus: Lecce lead the way back to Serie A

Lecce have overhauled an early challenge from Frosinone to lead the current standings at the top of Serie B. With 14 games played Lecce sit top on 27 points, 1 more than Ancona, 2 more than Cesena and a whopping five clear of Torino and Padova. So, two of last years relegated teams from Serie A are in the mix for an instant return but the other fallen side, Reggina, sit in 20th place in Serie B and seem to be involved in another relegation battle, this time with the consequences of dropping down to the Lega Pro. Still, it looks like the promotion candidates will swing up and down like a yoyo, as usual, in Serie B this season. Torino, in my view, will be there or there abouts due to the presence of in form striker Ronaldo Bianchi who is a class above at the moment, leading the scoring charts with 11 goals. Second in that respective category is former Palermo and Sampdoria hitman Andrea Caracciolo who now plys his trade for Bresica. Brescia came close to a Serie A return last year, but sit nine points off the pace at the moment. One team that is closer is Empoli, and its been a two year absence for them since they last took to the Serie A playing fields.

This weekends fixtures in the Cadetti bring about some intersting clashes. Lecce travel to Brescia while second place Ancona travel to Ascoli. But, in the game of the round Torino travel to Cesena to the stadium in which Italy recently beat Sweden in.

Lega Pro
Hellas Verona still lead the way in division 1B on 27 points, and with seven wins and six draws remain undefeated in the division. Second are Ternana, level on points, but Hellas just came of a difficult away draw at third placed Pescara. Hellas face Spal next, while Ternana go away to Cosenza and Pescara travel to Reggiana. In division 1A Novara are still in charge but again are tied at the top with former Serie A club Cremonese on 29 points.

Calcio Legends: il fenomeno

In this quiet downtime if you will before the hectic schedule of Serie A and the Champions League begins again it is time to turn back the clock and look at arguably one of the greatest forwards of all time in Ronaldo. His adventure in Calcio began in 1997 when he signed for Inter Milan after a spell binding season with Barcelona in which he scored a staggering 47 goals in 49 games including a stunning goal against Compostela in which he ran more than fifty yards, rounded a number of defenders, displaying lightning pace, and finished with consummate ease. It was a great season for him and for Barca in which the Catalan side won the Uefa Cup Winners Cup and Copa Del Rey title.

Inter Years
This success was not enough to allow Barca to hold onto Ronaldo who moved to Milan to play for Inter as they tried to rise above rivals AC Milan and Juventus who had been trading titles since 1992 in Serie A. It didn't work, but Ronaldo was a huge hit. In his debut season he hit 25 goals in Serie A in just 32 games and lead Inter to the Uefa cup final against Lazio which they won 3-0 against the Roman club. This made up for the defeat in the final a year before to Schalke 04. Still, it did not bring the Scudetto that the club wanted as they ran out second in the 1997-1998 season to Juve, and in the seasons following simply could not surpass the displays made by Milan in 1999, Lazio in 2000 and Roma in 2001. This could hardly be attributed to Ronaldo though, as during his second season in Serie A he suffered an injury against Lecce which was exacerbated in the Coppa Italia final in 2000 against Lazio, which Inter lost. He looked down and out, but the world cup in 2002 proved to be his salvation where he lead Brazil to glory with eight goals in the tournament. This ended his days in Serie A, for the time being at least, as a move to Real Madrid beckoned.

Onto Real and back to Milan
The move rewarded him with his first La Liga title and he continued where he had left of in La Liga by scoring goals by the hatful. Indeed, one of his best moments was receiving a standing ovation at Old Trafford after a sparkling performance for Real Madrid. Yet, injuries again plagued the great man and in 2007 he left for AC Milan and created a piece of history by becoming the only man to ever score for both Inter and Milan in the derby. The season he joined Milan the Italian club won the Champions League, but Ronaldo was not eligible for the award as he was cup tied. It remains the only omission on his playing CV.

Corinthians
Back in Brazil in where Ronaldo now plys his trade, and still to great effect which has allowed the rumour mill to debate over whether he will regain a level of form that will allow him to return to the Brazil squad for the 2010 world cup. Time will tell on that one, but it will have more to do with fitness issues than anything else as the ability to turn a game still remains.

Image credited to Ricardo Stuckert

Marek Hamsik

Marek Hamsik has been quite a star for sometime now. Its no surprise to follower of Calcio that he we have a man who has been linked to Inter, Juve, Real, Chelsea and Milan for fees that run into millions and millions of Euro's. Napoli then can consider the fee that they paid for Hamsik peanuts. The 5.5 million Euro's paid to Brescia for Hamsik in 2007 may have seemed slightly high at the time for a player aged 19, and with no Serie A experience but with the performances that Hamsik has put in and the eye for goal that he has the vision to sign him, at the expense of bigger clubs in the league at the time of Napoli's promotion back to Serie A, can be seen as a huge coup. Especially as he has been Napoli's top scorer for the last two years in Serie A registering nine goals in each campaign from midfield. This may highlight the deficiencies that Napoli forwards Lavezzi, Denis and at the time Zalayeta had in front of goal for the last two seasons, but nine from midfield remains a tally that Hamsik's idol Pavel Nedved would be proud of.

If that was an impressive start, then performances this season have been stunning. 7 goals so far in just 12 rounds from midfield put Hamsik second in Serie A scoring behind only Antonio Di Natale, and level with such luminaries as Giampaolo Pazzini and Diego Milito. It takes his goal tally to 25 goals in just 81 games, from midfield. Nothing, however, stands up to the perfomance against Juventus two rounds ago when Napoli stormed Turin, from two goals down, to take three points back to the bay of Naples. Hamsik, along with Jesus Datolo, was the instigator of this comeback and rounded off the perfomance with a stunning finish into the postage stamp of the goal that left Gianluigi Buffon with no chance. One wonders what's next for Hamsik, but he is on the rise and on the way to greatness.
Image: Steindy

Pato: Like a duck to water

After a poor start to the season Milan are beginning to find their feet again and one player who has had a huge part in this revival of sorts is Alex Pato. The Duck, as he is known, has shown blistering form of late after himself coming out of a slump in form after a two goal opening day performance against Siena. It’s not surprise that he has returned to form. After all in Pato we have a player who on his Milan debut, at just 18, scored twice against Napoli in the white hot pressure of the San Siro. And, whilst Alberto Gilardino at the time could not get anything going for Milan the young Pato took to the surroundings like a duck to water. Indeed in just 20 appearances for Milan in the 2007/2008 season Pato registered 9 goals in just 20 games. Last season, his first complete season, saw him step up in quality again. With David Beckham watching from the stands just before Christmas last year Pato scored twice against Udinese in a 5-1 home win with teammate Kaka also on the score sheet, and it was during this part of the season that Pato hit red hot form. He scored a classy finish against Fiorentina in a 1-0 home win. But arguably his best performance came away at Roma when Pato scored twice, on one occasion leaving Philippe Mexes for dead and applying a consummate finish that left Doni with no chance. Pato finished the season with 15 goals in 36 games, not bad for a 19 year old. The start to this season has been little different. Stunning goals against Roma and Real Madrid of late has propelled him into arguably one of the best forwards in Europe on current form and even comparisons with Messi are beginning to be made. Both like to operate down the right for starters and both posses the ball control, skills and finishing ability that make them something very special. Pato, of course, has some way to go before he can outdo his Argentine rival but the signs are there that he could do just that, in time.

Serie A week 12: Roma stall Inter, Juve hit top gear and Milan and Viola pull closer

Inter Milan 1-1 Roma
Roma headed to the San Siro on Sunday night and took a point back for their troubles. Roma always raise their game away to Inter, and Sunday was no different. Right from the outset they caused trouble and Mirko Vucinic put them ahead early on into the match, making up for an early miss. Roma, utilising their midfield creativity through Pizzaro and Menez kept Inter at bay for the first period, but the introduction of Sneijder and Balotelli after the break suggested Inter wanted to turn the tide. Still, it was Sammy Eto'o, with a wonderful turn and left footed shot, that drew the Nerazzurri level a few minutes into the second half. Roma could have won it late on through Okaka, but will be happy with the point. Inter, however, have their lead cut to five points.

Atalanta 2-5 Juventus
This game was packed with incident, and was certainly one of the best matches I have seen so far this season. Juve went ahead through Camoranesi after the midway point in the second half, and only 86 second later the little winger doubled his, and Juve's talley, to put them two up. After the break though the fireworks began. A stunning ball from Guarante set up Valdes who nutmegged Buffon, although the Italian had little chances. Juve though responded in the right way, with an absolute missile of an effort from Felipe Melo who was running the show in midfield. Atalanta though again reduced the deficite to one, with Ceravolo cutting inside of the D and firing a cracking effort past Buffon. Diego though had had enough, and scored a classy goal after defensive errors from Atalanta. Trezeguet finishes the scoring with his 167th goal in a Juve shirt, equaling Omar Sivori's record of top foreign scorer in a Juve shirt.

Lazio 1-2 Milan
Milan came, saw and conquered in Rome against Lazio on Sunday afternoon. Lazio started brightly, but it only took Milan one chance, and one incident of poor defending, for them to go in front. Thiago Silva headed home from a freekick. Pato doubled the lead with a header on 35 minutes, leaving the Lazio faithful with their heads in their hands. After the break, Lazio came out firing attempting to get back in the game, and they did 64 minutes through an own goal by Thiago Silva. Lazio poured forward, mainly through Zarate, but Dida kept Milan ahead. Muserla, not to be outdone, pulled off two stunning saves from Pato and Flamini, but Lazio remain win less since week two.

Elsewhere
Fiorentina conquered the Friuli to take three points off Udinese thanks to Manuel Vargas, who is becoming the epitome of world class this season. Bologna surprised a high flying Palermo side, with Zalayeta and Marco Di Vaio, as usual, on the score sheet as they ran out 3-1 winners. The wheels came of for Sampdoria, who after being sent down to ten men, conceded twice to Cagliari after the 80th minute mark away from home. There were no such problems for City rivals Genoa however, who beat Siena by 4-2 with Hernan Crespo hitting two for Genoa. Both Parma and Bari notched up another three points, Parma by beating Chievo by 2-0 and Bari by beating Livorno 1-0 at home. Napoli could not repeat however the miracles of Turin, and drew 0-0 away at Catania on Saturday night.

There is a two week break for Serie A now, so later this week I shall check in with Serie B and Lega Pro. Forza Calcio.

Europa League: Roma and Genoa win, Lazio crumble

Roma 2-1 Fulham
Roma and Genoa both flew the flag of Italy well in Europe tonight by coming from behind to gain three points in the Europa League. Roma beat Fulham by 2-1, with goals from John Arne Riise and Stefano Okaka earning them the three points late on and moving them back up to second in the group with games against Basle at home and CSKA Sofia away to come next.

1. FC Basle 9pts
2. AS Roma 7pts
3. Fulham 5pts
4. CSKA Sofia 1pt

Genoa 3-2 Lille
Genoa performed even greater miracles against Lille. They were cruising by 2-0 thanks to Rodrigo Palacio and Hernan Crespo, but Lille pulled two back. It took a 90th minute winner from Guiseppe Sculli to settle the tie, and move Genoa up to level on points with Valencia in the group. They travel to Prague next to play Slavia and face Valencia at home on match day six.

1. Lille 7pts
2. Valencia 6pts
3. Genoa 6pts
4. Slavia Prague 2pts

Villarreal 4-1 Lazio
Lazio crumbled in Spain after a dreadful opening 15 minutes for them. Lazio should have taken the lead through Rocchi after 40 seconds, but Pires instead fired them ahead from a freekick that the defence simply fell asleep for. The misery was compounded moments later when Baronio was unjustly sent off. Cani added to the tally to make it two, and Pires made it 3-0 from the spot. Mauro Zarate pulled one back late on, but Mauri gave away a penalty and Rossi made it 4-1.

1. Salzberg 12pts
2. Villarreal 6pts
3. Lazio 6pts
4. Levski 0pts

Champions League: Inter go topsy turvey, Fiorentina win again

Dynamo Kiev 1-2 Inter Milan
Inter Milan came from behind against a tough Kiev side away from home. Old foe Andriy Shevchenko put Dynamo ahead in the first half. Inter woke up in the second and wasted chance after chance with Balotelli missing unbelievably at one point. However, late on Diego Milito equalised and Wesley Sneijder put them ahead on 90 minutes with a scrappy goal, but one that sees them top group F with just two games to go. A trip to the Nou Camp comes next, but this group remains wide open.

Group F standings
1. Inter Milan 6pts
2. Rubin Kazan 5pts
3. Barcelona 5pts
4. Dynamo Kiev 4pts


Fiorentina 5-2 Debrecen
Fiorentina won their third game in the Champions League in succession to take their points total to nine, now five clear of third placed Liverpool. Adrian Mutu put them ahead early on, and despite being drawn level Fiorentina moved clear through goals by Danielli, Marchionni and Gilardino. With Lyon holding Liverpool at home things are heading in the right direction for Fiorentina and a win against Lyon at home next will see them qualify a round early.

Group E standings
1. Lyon 10pts Qualified
2. Fiorentina 9pts
3. Liverpool 4pts
4. Debrecen 0pts

A good round for Calcio in the Champions League. Three wins and a draw, and although none have yet qualified all sit in a qualifying position with two rounds to go. Still, there are some huge games for the Italian clubs in round five that could define this years competition from their point of view. Juventus travel to Bordeux, Milan host Marseille, Fiorentina host Lyon and Inter travel to Barcelona. Massive games in a massive competition.

Welcome back Sandro

With Paolo Maldini retiring, the Milan defence was in need of some leadership, quality and youth mixed into its ranks this summer. Youth, and great potential have come in the form Thiago Silva. But quality and leadership have returned with Alessandro Nesta. Nesta, who played only thirteen minutes in one game in Serie A last season against Fiorentina has since the season begun sent out a timely reminder of why he was the best central defender in the world a few seasons ago. It seemed barely possible a year ago, when again injury beset the great man, that he would insert such steel and consistency at the back of the San Siro line. However, despite being the wrong side of 30, Nesta looks fresh and hungry in all his play, even going forward now as two goals against Chievo testify. Some of this could be attributable to not just last year out on the injury shelf but also much of the 2006-2007 Champions League winning season also. Perhaps, in his mind, laurels and great moments of old cannot be relied upon anymore. In many respects, he has had to prove his current quality all over again and has done so to such an extent that calls for his International retirement have been called to end.

Indeed, in as much as Nesta has turned his fortunes for the better this season, so have Milan as time has gone by. The 4-0 defeat in week two to Inter now seems a distant memory with victory over Real Madrid in Spain now seemingly being a source of inspiration for them. Of course the season is young and for Nesta, with his catalogue of injury history, one hopes that this done now recur for him again. But, who knows, perhaps if current performances continue like this for both Nesta and Milan he could add to his haul of trophies, that include two Champions League titles, two Scudetti and two European Super cups. But for now, like us, its just good to see him back in action again.

Champions League: Juve roll on, Milan hold Madrid

AC Milan 1-1 Real Madrid
AC Milan and Real Madrid, with 16 European Cups between them, played out an exciting 1-1 draw in the San Siro tonight. The game was played with a high temp from the start, with Pato going close in the early stages after weaving his way through the back line. But, it was Real, who were growing in stature at this point, who took the lead through Karim Benzema after Kaka's shot was parried by Dida, again making an error despite picking up domestically in recent weeks, and Benzema fired home from a tight angle into the bottom left corner. There were questions of offside here, but the goal stood. Not long after though, Milan were level after Zambrotta's counter attack down the left flank resulted in a Pepe handling offense in the area. Again there were question marks over this, but Ronaldinho made no mistake from the spot. Moments later it was 2-1 to Milan as Pato touched down a long ball and fired across goal leaving Casillas with no chance. Yet, this was ruled out for an alleged handling offense by Pato, which replays suggested were incorrect. After the break, both sides have chances. Inzaghi hit the side netting, and should also have scored late on when a cross found him unmarked in the six yard box. Real also could have won it late on with a strong drive from Raul only just parried away by Dida.

Group C
1. AC Milan 7pts
2. Real Madrid 7pts
3. Marseille 6pts
4. FC Zurich 3pts


Maccabi Haifa 0-1 Juventus
Juventus won their second Champions League match so far this campaign, but again struggled to finish off the opposition in Israel. Diego went close with a freekick, but again Gianluigi Buffon proved his magnificent worth with a fantastic save to keep the tie level by palming a ball away that was virtually behind him already. Camoranesi put Juve in front on half time however as his volley deflected into the back of the net. 1-0 it stayed, depsite an Amauri goal being ruled out for offside. Juve move four points clear of Bayern, and go to France next to face group leaders Bordeux. A win would put them through and move them to first place in the group.

Group A
1. Bordeux 10pts
2. Juventus 8pts
3. Bayern 4pts
4. Maccabi 0pts

Serie A week 11: Inter shunt ahead

Livorno 0-2 Inter
Inter moved seven points clear in the table to lay down the gauntlet to the rest of Serie A. If anyone else wants the title, they've got there work cut out not. Livorno in this round didn't provide the toughest of tests potentially for Inter, but it did not all go the way of the nearazzuri in Tuscany on Sunday afternoon. Julio Cesar pulled of a couple of good saves in the first half, which allowed Diego Milito and Douglas Maicon to ease Inter through to the three points.

Juventus 2-3 Napoli
In one of the comebacks of the season so far, a never say die Napoli side took three points from Turin to continue their revival. Juve went ahead in the first half thanks to an excellent David Trezeguet header, and doubled their lead after the break after a defensive error literally handed Seb Giovinco a goal. But Napoli introduced Datolo and this seemed to make the difference as his cross was smashed home by Marek Hamsik. Datolo got in on the act himself, as he tapped the ball across the line in a melee in the Juve area. Juve poured forward and began to look the better team again, but a stunning break by Napoli ended up with Hamsik again beating Buffon, leaving the Juve keeper with no chance whatsoever as his shot slid into the top corner.

Milan 2-0 Parma
Milan continued their resurgence and now sit fourth in the table after a win over an impressive Parma outfit. Ronaldinho was in decent form, and his through ball found Boriello on 12 minutes and the Italian wasted little time in putting Milan in front. Again though, Milan did not press home their advantage until the 93rd minute when Ronaldinho again found Boriello from 40 yards, and the former Genoa man scissor kicked home the second to give Milan all three points.

Elsewhere
Fiorentina got back to winning ways with two stunning Marchionni goals in a 3-1 win over Catania, despite being down to ten men. Roma restored some pride after the loss to Livorno last week by beating Bologna by 2-1 thanks to Vucinic and Perrotta. City rivals Lazio continued their dismal form by picking up just a point at rock bottom Siena. Cagliari continued there great form by mauling Atalanta by 3-0, with Nene, top scorer in Portugal last season, hitting a brace. Udinese picked up a solid point in Verona against Chievo with Floro Flores amongst the goals, while neither Palermo or Genoa could take advantage of each other in a stagnent 0-0 draw. Finally, Sampdoria struggled to contain new boys Bari as the away side almost stole three points in injury and would have, but for a Baretto penalty miss.