Friday 29 January 2010

Coppa Italia: Final four set

Fiorentina made it a week ago, and now Roma, Inter and Udinese have joined them in the Semi finals of the Coppa Italia. Udinese took out Milan at the San Siro and in comfortable style with that. Gokhan Inler gave Udinese the lead in the second half after the Udine side had comfortably outplayed Milan up until that point. It was a second string Milan, but one that should have created more than it did against a side that are currently in a relegation battle. For Udinese though their season has some meaning now, and a chance awaits them to win a place in the Europa league if they can defeat Roma in the semi finals. Roma made it through by finally breaking down 10 man Catania at the Olimpico on Tuesday night, and the island side eventually finished with 9 men. But such is Roma's recent record in this competition that many would fancy them to go all the way, even against Inter who disposed of Juventus in unconvincing fashion last night. After Toldo's error allowed Diego to give Juve the lead, Inter fought back and leveled in fortunate circumstances after Sneijder's freekick bounced off the wall into the path of Lucio, who tapped in on the line. Later on Balotelli, who has misfired all night long, converted a parried shot from Gigi Buffon on his birthday.

So Inter will face Fiorentina at home on the 3rd of February in the first leg and Udinese will play Roma away the night after. Inter start as favourites at 5/4 with Roma second in that category at 9/4. Fiorentina come in at 7/2 with Udinese the outside bet online .

Wednesday 27 January 2010

Week 21 roundup: Inter show their strength


Inter 2-0 AC Milan
Milan went into the derby with a chance to haul themselves into the driving seat for Lo Scudetto, but were served a lesson from Italian footballs current masters. Both sides started brightly but Inter were in rampant form, smarting from the two games against Siena and Bari in which they had been outplayed on both occasions. Diego Milito, in stunning form, put Inter ahead with a consummate finish after an error from Abate allowed the Argentine to ram home with his weaker left foot. Inter were the better side, up and until Wesley Sneijder got sent off for applauding the referee sarcastically. Then, down to ten men, they were put under the cosh. It was all AC Milan, but the red and backs just could not find a way through. Even with an extra man Boriello still looked isolated, mainly because with Ronaldinho and Beckham stuck to the wings he was in effect upfront alone. In fact, it was Inter who looked more dangerous as they played on the counter attack with Pandev and Milito remaining upfront. The second half arrived and Milan looked dangerous. Ronaldinho missed narrowly from the edge of the area and Boriello missed a header from a Beckham cross when it would have been easier to score. Inter were holding on, but were home and dry thanks to liability number one Nelson Dida. Goran Pandev fired home from a freekick, but Dida barely moved despite the ball being only just right of centre. Milan were beaten, and Ronaldinho's penalty miss later on further confirmed this. Still, in my view at least the Scudetto race is not over. Milan, if they win there game in hand will still only be six points back and with Napoli and Roma in such a rich vein of form its too early to call it dead yet.

Juventus 1-2 Roma
Roma did something they have not done since the Scudetto winning season of 2001, that is to win away in Turin. The first half was cagey but after the break Del Piero put Juve ahead with a wonderful volley, the technique of which any player in the world would have been proud of. However, Juve allowed Roma back into the game when Grosso brought down Taddei in the area. Totti duly converted. Juve were later reduced to ten men when superman Buffon took one for the team by bringing down Riise miles outside the area. Riise though had the last laugh when he scored in injury time to give the capital side the three points.

Elsewhere
Napoli kept up their outstanding form by winning again away at Livorno by 2-0. Now undefeated for 14 games Maggio and Cigarini scored to ensure the possibility of it being 15 remained in tact. Parma continued to stutter into 2010, loosing 3-0 away at a very compact and precise Catania side, totally transformed under Sinisa Mihajlovic. Genoa kept up their excellent home form by beating Atalanta 2-0, but will have to stop loosing on the road if they are to be near the European places come the seasons end. Palermo however are well within the European places after destroying an injury hit Fiorentina 3-0. It was the Tuscan sides 8th defeat, although they still remain in three competitions and look healthy in them all. Sampdoria got back to winning ways beating an Udinese side in crisis away from home by 3-2. Bologna however seem to be emerging from the relegation area, now in 14th after beating Bari 2-1. Lazio however remain in severe difficulty at the moment, again failing to score more than 1 goal in a game and only managing a point at home to Chievo in a 1-1 draw. Midfielder Sebastian Eguren has arrived from Villareal to help the side, and Italy International Gaetano D'Agostino is rumoured to be next for Lazio. Finally, Siena and Cagliari played out a 1-1 draw. Both will no doubt see it as a disappointing result.

Serie A by Numbers
Home wins: 5
Away wins: 3
Highest attendance: Inter 2-0 AC Milan: 80,018: Lazio 1-1 Chievo: 30,308
Average attendance for week 21: 24,334
Total attendance for week 21: 243345
Season average attendance: 24,437
Season total attendance so far: 4,838613

all stats from http://www.stadiapostcards.com/A09-10.htm

Friday 22 January 2010

Week 21: A look ahead

Week 21 presents the league with two marquee clashes this weekend, with firstly on Saturday night Roma traveling to Turin to play Juventus. Juventus have been awful of late, loosing to Chievo, Milan and Catania in their last four Serie A outings. Roma conversely have turned their season around under Claudio Ranieri and sit currently in third place, compared to Juve's fifth. Roma come into this game off the back of beating Genoa 3-0 at home as they seem to have solidified themselves defensively at the moment. Still, the Turin giants will turn it around some when, and last season in this fixture beat Roma comfortably by 2-0, including a stunning Del Piero free kick. Indeed, Juve have just signed play maker Antonio Candreva from Livorno on loan, the highly promising Italian International who has blossomed this season. But, the real problem for Juve this season has been the injury of key forwards Iaqinuta and Trezeguet, as Amauri has been poor for the most part. Add into this the problems that Ciro Ferrara has had in fitting the puzzle together, in terms of where to play Diego, it all rounds up to somewhat of a struggle. Saturday night at home to high flying Roma gives them the perfect opportunity to remedy some of this.

In the other big game of the round comes the Milan derby on Sunday night, and it is arguably the most important one for some time. Milan trail Inter in the table by six points, but Milan have a game in hand. Winning this game for Milan would reduce the gap to just three points and put Inter under pressure. Perhaps its fair to say that Milan start as favourites. They crushed recent opponents in Siena, Genoa and Juventus while Inter limped past Siena and somehow clawed themselves back into the game for the second week running at Bari. They demonstrated great resolve in doing so, but against the form of this current Milan side chances like this may not present themselves. Both sides go into the game with injury problems. There will be no Pato for Milan, and no Oddo or Zambrotta but the latter two are less of a concern what with Abate and Antonini doing so well on the wing back positions. Nesta is also a concern, but Inter have troubles of their own too. Samual Eto'o is at the African cup of nations, while Chivu and Motta are out. There are concerns over Dejan Stankovic and Sully Muntari but Estaban Cambiasso is back for Inter. Ronaldinho has promised to be the star of the show. Can he deliever again?

Elsewhere Bari continue their road trip this time playing Bologna away in what should be a tight encounter. Catania host Parma and the latter will look to pick up three points for the first time this year. Genoa are at home to Atalanta, which should ensure that the best side of the Grifoni shows up as opposed to the poor side that does on the road. Napoli head to Livorno and will have to win games like this if they want to hold onto fourth place in the table. Napoli are unbeaten in 13 Serie A games but will continue to be without Ezequiel Lavezzi so German Denis will lead the line again. In the big Sunday afternoon game Fiorentina face Palermo. Separated by one point in the table the winner here could overtake Juventus and move up close to a Champions League berth. The other Tuscan side Siena face 7th place Cagliari at home, while Udinese host Sampdoria as both look to re-ignite their seasons. In the final game Lazio host Chievo and will look to pull themselves away from the relegation zone as soon as possible. They are still waiting for the midfield and defensive re-enforcements and will have to do without new hitman Sergio Floccari in this game as well. Chievo come into this game having just beaten Juventus.

Wednesday 20 January 2010

Coppa Italia: Fiorentina v Lazio













With Milan v Udinese shunted forward to next week, only one Coppa Italia final is due to take place in this coming week as defending champions Lazio head to Florence to play Fiorentina. Both sides are coming off poor performances at the weekend, but Fiorentina have been in great form of late and will be quietly confident of progressing to the next round. Lazio were abysmal against Atalanta in a 3-0 defeat, but went into that game by defeating a decent Palermo side 2-0 to reach this quarter final in the first place. A Palermo side that had prior to that only been beaten once since Delio Rossi had taken over, and that was only a few days after he had taken charge against Chievo. Lazio were solid against Palermo and player well in the second half without ever looking like they would concede. However, the 3-0 reverese in Bergamo has caused fans to plan a protest for the up coming fixture against Chievo at home at the weekend, a protest in which they will leave the Curva Nord empty for the first 15 minutes of the game.

This really can be considered a very important game for both sides. Lazio will see it as a chance to keep something positive going in their dyer season, while for Fiorentina the chance of some silverware will do very nicely alongside their up to now very good Champions League campaign and solid showing in Serie, as they are only 5 points from 3rd with a game in hand. Should be a cracker then.

Monday 18 January 2010

Serie A week 20: Title race hots up



Bari 2-2 Inter Milan
Inter Milan came back from the dead for the second week running, but this time points were dropped as Bari put them to the sword. Bari played the better football in the first half, and an early Wesley Sniejder effort aside Inter were put under the cosh for the entire first half and had only Julio Cesar to thank for them still being level at the break. After the break though Bari were again rampant in attack, and finally got their reward from the spot after Walter Samuel was adjudged to have handled in the area. Baretto made it 1-0, and then 2-0 not long later as Lucio brought down Parisi in the area. Inter looked dead a buried, but a Goran Pandev tap in from a Mario Balotelli shot got them off the mark. Soon after a error by Donati in giving the ball away gave Inter a counter attack. Bonucci brought down Pandev and Milito made it 2-2. That's how it finished, and time will tell as to whether it was points dropped or won by Inter.

AC Milan 4-0 Siena

AC Milan however took full advantage, beating Siena 4-0 thanks to a Ronaldinho hatrick and a stunner from Marco Boriello. Ronaldinho gave Milan the lead after 11 minutes after Boriello was brought down in the area and Curci was sent off. Boriello made it two with a stunning first time volley that had shades of Marco Van Bastens goal against the old USSR in the 1988 European Championships final. Siena were dead in the water and Ronaldinho made it 3-0 with a header, but it could have been 5 by then as he went close twice with two mazy runs. Finally in injury time Ronaldinho again hit the back of the net with a missile from 25 yards that flew into the top right corner. Milan are not 6 points behind Inter with a game in hand, and the derby next week gives them the opportunity to close that gap further.

Napoli 0-0 Palermo
Both of these sides had the opportunity to break away from the teams behind them on Sunday night, but neither in the end could do so. Palermo failed to take the lead from the spot as Morgan De Sanctis saved a Miccoli pen, and later on Simplicio missed an open goal. Napoli were not without their chances either, as Marek Hamsik drove wide midway through the first half after a strong run into the area. But, in the end the 50,000 spectators left disappointed.

Elsewhere

Juve crashed again for the second straight week this time at Chievo, as their misery is compounded further. They move down to 5th, as Napoli and Roma, 3-0 winners against Genoa thanks to a Luca Toni brace, surpass them in the table. Cagliari also won by the same margin, putting in a great display at home to down Livorno thanks to a brace from Larivey. Fiorentina slipped up at home to Bologna, and Lazio were demolished away at struggling Atalanta 3-0. Parma stopped the rot of three straight defeats, picking up a useful point against Udinese at home in a 0-0 and in the final match Sampdoria drew 1-1 with Catania. Catania interestingly played at the Luigi Ferraris stadium for the third time in eight days, after playing Genoa twice in the league and cup last week and now Sampdoria yesterday. A win, a draw and a defeat allowed them to experience a full range of emotions in that great stadium.

Serie A by Numbers
Home wins: 5
Away wins: 1
Current top scorers: 12 goals- Di Natale, Milito. 9-Gilardino, Matri, Pazzini, Totti, Ronaldinho
Rounds top attendances: Bari 2-2 Inter: 51,855, Napoli 0-0 Palermo: 49,451
Round total attendance: 261249 - not including Cagliari 3-0 Livorno, no official attendance.
Round average attendance: 29,027
Season average attendance: 24,498

Thursday 14 January 2010

Coppa Italia: Round of 16 review


Its been a fascinating three days of action from the Coppa Italia, which has seen nearly all of the involved teams take this competition with a serious attitude. Roma blasted past Triestina 3-1 on Tuesday night, with Brighi, Vucinic and Baptista from a free kick on the score sheet to set up a clash with Genoa's conquerors Catania in the quarter finals. Roma may not fancy the trip to Catania, its not been a happy hunting ground for them in recent years. However, both sides will see this as a great opportunity to set up a clash with Milan in the Semi finals. Catania themselves beat Genoa 2-1 away from home, scoring twice through Plasmati in the early going. Rossi pulled on back for Genoa, but they finished the game with nine men as Sinisa Mihajlovic's men set up their clash with Roma.

Milan made their passage to the quarter finals by beatingt Novara 2-1 on Wednesday afternoon. Novara, the leaders of Serie C1A had the honour of being the only undefeated team in Italian football up until the clash with Milan. But, their endeavour and backing of their 7,000 fans who packed the bottom team of the San Siro's Curva Nord almost kept this run going. Pippo Inzaghi put Milan ahead but Novara just after the break leveled with a goal worthy of such a Stadium. They pushed Milan hard but Mathieu Flamini's outstanding finish from 25 yards killed the dream of the small town of Novara and with it the romance of a small team in the quarters.

Udinese set up a meeting with Milan by beating Lumezzane, another Serie C1A side, 2-0. Lodi converted from the spot in the first half, and Corradi doubled the lead in the second half.

Napoli had the chance to further compound Juve's misery last night, but their second string line up just didn't have the quality to answer Juve. Diego put them ahead in the first half, and a Del Piero brace ended the Neopolitan dream late on. Marek Hamsik came of the bench to fire a 30 yard missile off the bar when it was 1-0. How different it could have ended had that strike been 1 inch lower. Juve with meet Inter, who qualified for this stage in December.

Fiorentina also made their way through by beating Chievo 3-2 in arguably the best game of the round. An Adrian Mutu brace, and a goal from 16 year old Babacar of Senegal gave Fiorentina the passport to play against Lazio, who disposed of Palermo 2-0 tonight, in the quarter final. Indeed, Lazio with goals from Kolarov and Floccari, his 4th in 3 games for Lazio, sealed a berth in the quarters for Lazio once again. The defending Champions looked uneasy for most of the first half, although never really looked like conceding. Muslera did pull of a great save from Javier Pastore, but Lazio made their pressure count with two second half goals. Still, Lazio are in need of re-enforcements if they are to go all the way once again. The midfield is a tired one, lacking all too often of ideas and moments of brilliance to open up space. Luca Cigarini of Napoli has been linked again in recent days, and with Mario Bolatti of to Fiorentina it would seem legitimate options are becoming slimmer for the Aquile. Nonetheless, this win should inspire confidence against a slumping Atalanta side at the weekend.

Wednesday 13 January 2010

Coppa Italia: Last 16

The Coppa Italia round of 16 continued last night as Roma beat Triestina 3-1, after initially falling behind to an early goal from the away side. Goals from Brighi, Vucinic and Baptista saw them through to the quarter finals. They join Inter who saw of Livorno by 1-0 thanks to a Wesley Sneijder free kick in december.

Today and tomorrow sees some fascinating ties with some David v Goliath battles among them. Today at 3pm UK time AC Milan face Novara at home. Novara, top of Serie C1 A are currently unbeaten this season. They have set the pace in the lega pro, as reported here, right from the start and so far in the Coppa have taken out Parma and Siena. Some 7,000 Novara fans are set to make the journey to Milan for this once in a life time clash. But, is it once in a life time. In Serie C1 A at the moment they are 5 points ahead of second and 9 points ahead of third. Serie B beckons, and once you get in there you are only one season away from the big league. They will enjoy their moment today, win loose or draw.

Elsewhere today Juventus face Napoli in a mamoth clash in Turin, as the sides are locked next to each other in the table. Napoli in my view start as favourites. They have already won here in the league and Juve are a shambles at the moment. Genoa also face Catania again today, having beaten them 2-0 in the league on Sunday.

Tomorrow sees another lega pro side face a Serie A one, as Udinese taken on Lumezzane. 10th in the lega pro at the moment, the Lombardy based side will also have their moment of glory against a Serie A side. A win here, possible against a struggling Udinese, would take them onto a huge match in the next round against either Milan or Novara. Fiorentina also face Chievo in an all Serie A clash that will be tough to call, while defending Champions Lazio take on Palermo and their manager Delio Rossi, the man who took Lazio all the way last season. Interesting stuff.

So who could face who in the next round?

Top half of the draw
Fiorentina or Chievo will take on either Lazio or Palermo
Inter will take on either Juventus or Napoli

Bottom half of the draw
Milan or Novara will take on either Udinese or Lumezzane
Genoa or Catania will take on Roma

So, the winners of the quarters will go onto the semi's and play the respective winners of their half of the draw. So, we could when all is said and done end up with a Rome or Milan derby in the final or Inter v Roma, the final that dominated this competition before last year.

Tuesday 12 January 2010

Serie A round 19: Inter come back from the dead, Juve crumble to ruins


This weekends fixtures saw Juve smashed 3-0 by Milan and Inter comeback at the brink.

Inter 4-3 Siena
Inter played Siena and were 1-0 down early through a stunning Maccarone goal. Diego Milito leveled and Wesley Sneijder fired home from a free kick to set up what looked like to be another victory for Inter. But, Siena equalised almost immediately and after the break Maccarone finished off a fine move to give Siena, rock bottom of the league, the lead at the San Siro. And so it stayed, until the 89th minute where Sneijder again fired home a stunning free kick. Still, it was not the end as Goran Pandev set up Walter 'the wall samuel' in injury time to score. 4-3 Inter, Siena heartbreak.

Juventus 0-3 Milan
AC Milan demolished Juventus in Turin to keep up their superb momentum and close the gap on Inter to eight points, with a game in hand for the back and reds as well. Juve started well but dreadful defending cost them time and time again and first Nesta taped home after a Pirlo corner bypassed four Juve players, second Ronaldinho headed home unmarked on a corner and finally Ronaldinho again scored with a cool finish in the box under little pressure. Juve were broken here and in reality surely now a new coach is required to halt there mid season disintegration.
Race for the Champions League places
Fiorentina, Palermo, Napoli and Roma are the main current protagonists for these positions and can now even realistically challegne Juventus after all moving within at least three points of them. Roma, with ten men, held out for a 1-0 victory over Chievo thanks to a Daniele De Rossi header. Napoli also beat Sampdoria by 1-0 thanks to a German Denis header as well as they keep them fantastic run of being unbeaten under Walter Mazzari. Fiorentina also won, beating inform Bari 2-1. They came from behind after Edgar Baretto gave them the lead through a header from close range. The viola came back though for a vital win to keep them high in the table, as Adrian Mutu and Jose Castillo gave them the goals for the three points. Palermo also seem reborn under Delio Rossi, and an Edison Cavani penalty gave them the win over Atalanta.

Elsewhere
Lazio drew away to Udinese 1-1 to ensure they start the year unbeaten with new boy Sergio Floccari scoring for the third time in two games, but much better performances will be required if they are to pull away from the bottom of the table any time soon. Bologna crashed at home to Cagliari as they look set to be involved in a relegation battle right to the end. Genoa returned to winning ways as they beat Catania 2-0, while Livorno beat Parma at home to see them climb to 14th in the table, while Parma crash to their third straight defeat.

Saturday 9 January 2010

Congratulations Lazio

Congratulations to SS Lazio, for 110 years as a football club today. For me this is special, as you may know I am a Lazio fan myself. Watching Lazio, even this season, is still a total pleasure for me and something I look forward too week in week out. Just the mere possibility of victory is enough to have me on the edge of my seat and im sure thats the same for you, whoever you support. Its been 110 years that have yielded 2 Scudetti, 5 Coppa Italia's, 3 Italian Super Cups, 1 Cup Winners Cup and 1 European Super Cup is a cabinet to be proud of. Players like Signori, Salas, Nedved, Nesta, Crespo, Lopez, Simeone, Pandev, Rocchi, Di Canio, Stankovic, Mihajlovic, Boksic, Veron, Almeyda, Negro, Couto, Peruzzi, Zarate, Marchegiani Casiraghi, Mancini, Fuser, Winter and countless other top players have graced the Aquile shirt and given great football memories not only to Lazio but to Serie A also. Forza Lazio, heres to 110 more.

Friday 8 January 2010

Week 19 Serie A Preview: Half way house

The headline match of the round is of course Juve v Milan on Sunday night. A defeat here for Juve could well end any hopes of getting back into the title race, while for Milan a defeat would only allow Inter to move even more ahead of them you would think as they face Siena, currently rock bottom after loosing 5-1 at home to Fiorentina. A Milan win however would put Inter under pressure as they have Bari away next, and then a meeting with their bitter city rivals. So, fascinating implications whatever happens.

Elsewhere, Fiorentina look to build up some stream but they will have to get past an inform Bari side, who seem totally fearless no matter who they come up against. Indeed, Bari have taken points of Inter, Milan and defeated Juventus so they will not be afraid against Fiorentina, despite the Viola's excellent season so far. Napoli will look to keep up their excellent record under Walter Mazzari and have every chance of doing so against a Sampdoria side that have come to somewhat of a halt of late. Roma also will look to keep pace with Napoli but will have to get past the dogged Chievo, certainly no easy task. Delio Rossi's Palermo will look to build on his good start, and come up against an Atalanta team that seem to be in real trouble. Genoa come up against a reborn Catania, while Bologna will look to pick up some points against Cagliari, but they may struggle to do so against one of the most exciting teams in the Serie A. Parma will look to bounce back from admirable defeats to Roma and Juventus by taking points of Livorno. Finally, Lazio and Udinese face of in Udine. Side by side in the table, these three points will go a long way to see who, if either, can catch up with the teams above them and ease the possibility of relegation.

Thursday 7 January 2010

Serie A week 18 round up: 5 star Milan answer Inter's Verona three point luncheon


AC Milan turned in a five star performance at the San Siro last night hitting 5 against a travel sick Genoa side, including a stunning Marco Boriello scissor kick. Guiseppe Sculli gave Genoa the lead early on but a Ronaldinho penalty, Thiago Silva tap in, Boriello brace and a Huntelaar penalty gave Milan the three points. Juve however were far more fortunate to pick up three points earlier in the afternoon. Despite going ahead against Parma through a Salihamidzic header Juve were on the back foot for a large chunk of the game, and it didnt help that Trezeguet limped off after 20 minutes. Parma deservedly leveled through Amoruso and Del Piero's brother in law nearly gave Parma the lead with a stunning long range volley. After the break it took an own goal to put Juve in front, and despite going down to ten men they managed to hold on. Still, neither Milan or Juve could make up ground on Inter as their lunch time kick off in Verona yielded three points against Chievo. Mario Balotelli gave them the lead after 11 minutes and that was enough for them to move up to 42 points.

Elsewhere
Roma lost two points in injury time as Cagliari again came back from the brink, as they did against Napoli at home before Christmas, to score twice in injury time to take a 2-2 draw against Roma. Rivals Lazio managed to win for the second time in three games as they mauled Livorno 4-1, with two goals from new signing Sergio Floccari. However, today star Mauro Zarate has been linked with a move to English side Arsenal and that will be of concern to the Lazio faithful so soon after loosing Goran Pandev. Further instability is certainly not needed there.

Napoli notched up another win under Walter Mazzari, and they still remain unbeaten under his guidance, as they beat Atalanta 2-0 in Bergamo. Fabio Quagliarella was on the mark for his beloved Napoli. Bari, another southern side, also continued their fine form as they beat a downbeat Udinese 2-0 as well to move up to 8th in the tight Serie A table. Fiorentina join Bari on 27 points but in 7th place, after an outstanding 5-1 win away to Siena. The Tuscan derby yielded goals from Gilardino, Mutu, Santana and Per Kroldrup. However, neither Sampdoria or Palermo could find a way to three points as they played out a 1-1 draw in Genoa.

In the relegation battle Catania showed signs of life once again. After beating Juventus away in the last round, the won a crucial home match against Bologna thanks to an 80th minute goal from Nicola Spolli.

Tuesday 5 January 2010

Week 18: A look ahead


Weather permitting a fantastic day of action awaits us tomorrow as Calcio kicks off for 2010. Inter fans be prepared as your game kicks off first in Verona at 11.30 UK time as Chievo await to entertain you. Last season proved to be quite an encounter between both these sides as it finished 2-2. Goran Pandev will also make his debut for Inter tomorrow but this will not be an easy game for Inter. Chievo are very good at making a nuisance of themselves against almost every team in Serie A and their joint 9th place position in the table confirms this.

Next up sees eight encounters at 2pm UK time, with Parma v Juventus arguably top of the bill. The 90s saw both these side battle for the Scudetto on numerous occasions and with them both 5th and 3rd in Serie A respectively this season at the moment a win here for either side will push them closer to the summit. For Juve, anything but a win will surely see Ferrara sacked, and even a win may not be enough. Roma travel to Cagliari which will likely be a hugely entertaining clash as both sides have lots of goals in them. Roma, now in 4th, have been creeping up the table quietly . Luca Toni will likely make his debut for them in Sardinia. Lazio also have a huge encounter of their own, as they begin their celebrations of 110 years as a football club against Livorno tomorrow afternoon. New boy Sergio Floccari will make his debut here also.

Finally in the evening game David Beckham returns to Milan as they host Genoa in what will be a difficult test, but one they are expected to win nonetheless. In their last home match Milan crashed 2-0 to Palermo, but if they are to be serious challengers for the title then they must win this game and take advantage of any slip ups that Inter may make in their difficult away match with Chievo.

Monday 4 January 2010

Winter Mercato: Floccari flys in

Lazio today have completed the loan signing of Genoa forward of Sergio Floccari with an option to purchase the forward at the end of the season for 9.5 million Euros. Floccari had a decent season for Atalanta last year knocking in 12 goals for the Bergamo side. Competition, and injury problems, have stunted his progress with the Grifoni but he has undoubted quality on the ground and in the air. Potentially a link up with Mauro Zarate, if the Argentine learns to pass more, could be the Lazio version of Cassano and Pazzini at Sampdoria. Lazio also have begun removing some of their accident prone players. Emilson Cribari has been loaned out to Siena with a reported option to buy for the Tuscan side at the end of the season.

Juventus have also got in on the act of removing one of their poorer assets. Cristian Molinaro has reportedly been sold to Bundesliga side Stuttgart. Midfielder Tiago is set to be off as well, by this time to Spanish pastures in the form of Athletico Madrid. This could fuel the arrival at Juventus of one of Gaetano D'Agostino or Cristian Ledesma.

Goran Pandev has signed for Inter Milan after his contract recision at Lazio, and will be available to Inter in the Champions League. He could have an initial vital role at Inter as Samuel Eto'o is off at the African cup of nations.

One rumour that has taken off today is AC Milan's pursuit of Edin Dzeko, the highly rated Wolfsberg forward. 25 million Euros and Klass Jan Huntelaar has been mentioned as the payment, but Dzeko would not be available to them in the Champions League due to his prior involvement in the tournament with Wolfsberg.