Round five review: True leaders yet to reveal themselves

It has been an intriguing start to the Serie A season and round five has only further added to its intrigue as just five points separate first from 18th in a table so tight that one win would change the scope and ambition, albeit temporarily at this early stage, of any Serie A club. Inter got this round underway and Claudio Ranieri began his tenure in emphatic fashion with a 3-1 win away at Bologna. Gone was the 3-4-3 formation championed by Gianpiero Gasperini and in came a 4-3-1-2 formation which gave Inter a more solid approach to the game and brought the best out of their available players. No Sneijder, no problem as Milito, Lucio and Pazzini all found the net to get their season back on track.

Both Milan and Roma got their seasons back on track with wins, albeit unconvincing in nature. Both clubs scraped to 1-0 victories over Cesena and Parma respectively thanks to Clarence Seedorf and Osvaldo and eased the pressure on their respective managers. Up next for Roma is Atalanta, who would, but for their six point penalty, be top of Serie A right now on ten points after another home win this time against Novara. The win was somewhat controversial in nature after the away side had a goal ruled out late on but that will be of no concern to the Nerazzurri fans who have had a superb start to life in Serie A.

One club that has not had a superb start to their life in Serie A is Siena, but with a 3-0 win against Lecce today they eased concerns over their goal scoring issues and built on a superb away performance at Roma midweek. Joining them on five points is Catania who held Juventus at home in a 1-1 draw. They were unlucky not to win and perhaps would have but for a goalkeeping error in Milos Krasic's drive which leveled the tie just after half time. Catania had a chance to win it at the death but failed to capitalise on a strong breakaway chance. Juventus remain unbeaten, along with Atalanta and Udinese, the latter of which joins them on top of the standings after a 0-0 draw away at Cagliari in Sardinia. 

Also drawing 0-0 were Lazio and Palermo who played out a stalemate at the Stadio Olimpico. Both sides had decent chances to take the initiative in this one but in the end could not find away past each others defense. For Lazio with Fiorentina and Roma up next in the league two points dropped here may be looked back with regret in the rounds to come. Napoli also dropped points in the Saturday evening game at home to a strong Fiorentina side while Genoa relinquished their top stop after being reduced to ten men in Chievo and falling to a 2-1 defeat after having initially led.

So another round in the books and although not as entertaining as ones just passed, in terms of goals at least, the table is set up in such a manner that anyone on four points or more will begin to think they could make a run at Europe or in some select cases the Scudetto this season. This tight nature coincides with some huge clashes in the next round with Juve hosting Milan, Inter hosing Napoli and Lazio heading to Florence. It's not make or break yet but each one of these six will be looking to lay down a marker heading into the International break while Roma, Udinese and initial pace setters Genoa will be looking to capitalise on the fall out. 

Calcio comment: Topsy turvey table

It was no surprise to hear this morning that Inter coach Gasperini had been sacked after a hapless start to his managerial career, a start that with just one game to go in round four sees Inter Milan, European Champions in 2010, in the relegation zone. Rumours are abound that Claudio Ranieri will take over and he at least has big club experience from his time at Valencia, Chelsea and Juventus. Whether he will be the answer for Inter's woeful start remains to be seen but things could not continue especially after a horrendous 3-1 defeat to Novara last night. 

However, this was not a round for the big guns as Milan, Juve and Napoli all failed to pick up three points which leave Genoa top of Serie A, on goal difference, tonight. Milan and Juve both failed to beat Udinese and Bologna respectively with Juve down to ten men for the last 45 minutes of their match. Napoli did not fare much better either having fell 1-0 in Verona after their heroics against Milan on Sunday night. An unpredictable round it was and no game illustrated this more than Lazio's win in Cesena. Having put in a limp first half performance and trailing at half time Lazio overturned the score through Hernanes and Klose within minutes in the second half.

Two teams flying under the radar, for different reasons are Atalanta and Fiorentina. The viola recored their second win of the campaign with Stefan Jovetic hitting a brace while Atalanta have now wiped out their points penalty, after just three rounds, to put them up to 15th in the table. Not many would have thought that possible at the beginning of the season. Then again, not many would have thought Milan and Inter would be in the bottom half of the table. It looks wide open and unpredictable this campaign and that should just add to the excitement.

Champions League: Milan and Napoli pick up great away draws while Inter disgrace themselves

Milan and Napoli both emerged from tough encounters with Barcelona and Manchester City respectively with a hard earned away point but Inter's truly woeful start to the season continued as they crashed to a 1-0 defeat to Turkish side Trabzonspor. 

Milan were handed a nightmare start to their champions league campaign but despite being subjected to the usual avalanche of Barcelona possession they emerged from the Camp Nou with a 2-2 draw, thanks to an early wonder strike from Pato and a header at the death from Thiago Silva. Despite being out bossed in terms of possession Milan were strong defensively and well organised and with three less complicated fixtures up next will hope to go into their home game against Barca in round five of the Champions League with ten points under their belt. It's early days but they have at least given themselves a chance to top this group and avoid a tougher round in the second round.

Napoli also emerged with a credible point, although it could have been more. City dominated the early proceedings but arguably the best chance fell to Lavezzi in the first half as his curling effort was half an inch away from gracing the back of the net. City, not to be outdone, also hit the bar through Yaya toure but 0-0 at half time it was. After the break Napoli started the stronger and should have gone in front through a Marek Hamsik volley which was cleared of the line, in superb fashion, but Vicent Kompany. City were rocking though and Hamsik again was at the centre of it all. A lightning fast counter attack led by Hamsik broke away and Cavani applied the finish to Hamisk's exquisite through ball. The lead did not last long however as Kolarov fired home from a free kick but replays showed Napoli really should have done better defensively as no attempt was made at jumping by the wall. Still, it ended 1-1 and Napoli will entertain Villareal at the San Paolo in the next round.

That leaves Inter and their crisis depend tonight after a truly woeful defeat at home to Trabzonspor, losing by one goal to nil. Despite creating numerous chances Inter were kept at bay by superb goalkeeper from Zengin and woeful misses in front of goal, especially from Pazzini and Milito who both spurned great chances. They were punished for their complacency and now have it all to do. The only good news was that Lille and CSKAs game ended all square, and that leaves Inter still in serious contention but with their tails between their legs for now. 

Round two roundup

It seems strange to call this round two given that it was in effect opening day but technically speaking this was the second round and it did not disappoint with 35 goals being banged in around the Penisula over just ten games. It is truly great to be back. 

Big crowds packed the stands as well despite the strike in week one and this was the case in Turin today when Juve put on a superb display to beat Parma 4-1 in the grand opening of their stadium. A wonderful display from Andrea Pirlo rolled back the years as he ran the game from midfield. The Juventini would have been encouraged by this dominant display and entertained by two especially stunning strikes from Claudio Marchisio and new midfield rock Artur Vidal.

Not to be outdone of course rivals Napoli had the night before put three past Cesena as they won their for the second year in a row. This time however it was Marek Hamsik and not Edison Cavani who was the hero as the midfielder provided the assist for Hugo Campagnaro's goal and then belted one in with a fierce left footed drive himself in the games dying embers. With Milan and Lazio sharing the spoils this put Napoli and Juve ahead of two of their major rivals this season before Fiorentina, Roma and Inter went into action later in the day. Fiorentina did not let the viola fans down putting in a dominant home display to beat Bologna 2-0. Alberto Gilardino headed the Florence outfit in front and Cerci who ended the season red hot began this one in the same manner and put them 2 in front after the break.

Two of the big title contenders were still to come and Roma's tifosi will not be impressed with the manner in which their season has started as they crashed to a 2-1 home defeat to Cagliari. Luis Enrique will be under huge pressure and with Inter up next week they could well enter week three with no points on the board. Inter however could face that prospect as well as they fell 4-3 to Palermo in Sicily tonight in a belter of an encounter. Inter at half time but that has often been a curse on this fixture in recent years and it proved to be the case tonight as Palermo secured the win through two brilliant strikes from Miccoli and Pinilla respectively. Milito and Forlan both hit the net but it was not enough for the Benemata.

Elsewhere Genoa stalled at home to Atalanta while new boys Novara managed to come back twice away at Chievo to secure a precious point. Siena and Catania also shared the spoils while Udinese picked up three massive points in Lecce to begin their season with a vital away win.

Season opener: Milan 2 - 2 Lazio

The season has finally begun and it was worth the wait as there were goals galore in Milan tonight. Lazio headed to Milan, a place they had not won in Serie A since 1989, saying they would attack and they did just that taking the game to the Rossoneri right from the first kick of the ball. It did not take them long to start creating chances either and a superb assist from Mauri allowed new signing Miroslav Klose to unlock the Milan back door to send Lazio in front. Milan did not no what had hit them as Lazio dictated the play for the first 25 minutes and it only got worse for the Diavolo when Djibril Cisse headed home another Mauri assist to put Lazio 2 goals to the good.

Milan were rocking but were allowed back into the game through a bad defensive play by the Lazio back line which left Ibrahimovic the task of tapping in from one yard out. Now it was Lazio who were rocking and the score was levelled after Antonio Cassano somehow managed to get on the end of a ball which Luciano Zauri should have cleared with ease. It looked a matter of time before Milan took the lead but the Aquile dug in and went in at the break level. After the break Milan started like that finished and it began to look like a back to the wall job for Lazio. Indeed stand in goalkeeper Albano Bizzarri repeatedly kept Boateng, Cassano and Ibrahimovic at bay although was lucky when a Cassano effort came back of the post. Despite this the best chance of the half fell to Lazio's Cisse who after rounding the keeper could not quite convert mainly due to some brilliant defending from Alessandro Nesta.

It finished 2-2 and Lazio will certainly be more pleased than Milan. Inter, Juve Napoli and Roma would have looked on with interest too and perhaps after this Milan don't seem as formidable as pundits have made out this season and an unpredictable season and Scudetto battle is afoot.

Club Focus: Cloud nine for Cesena?

A year ago Cesena rejoined the Serie A elite for the first time since 1991. It must have felt like a dream, especially with the club having spent time rotting in Serie C1 during the late 90s. Indeed, they were still there in 2009 until back to back promotions saw them arrive in Serie A. Last season was superb really for them. They were always comfortably away from the heat of the relegation battle and in the end finished just seven points away from a position in the top ten.

Quite some achievement you might say, but rather than rest on their laurrels and anticipate the famous second season syndrone the board room at Cesena has been active as well bringing  players with quality and experience. Adrian Mutu, Jorge Martinez, Antonio Candreva, former Brescia forward Eder and Abdel Ghezzal have all arrived while key talent Marco Parolo remains despite interest from some of Italy's biggest clubs. Impressive sums up this mercato for Cesena and this has been reflected in their season ticket sales which have exceeded 12,000 already. Not bad for a ground which has a capacity of just under 24,000 and given that their average attendance last season was 16,469 last year it is logical to forsee a significant increase on that figure come the end of the season. 

Despite the small capacity however the Stadio Dino Manuzzi will be an intimidating place to come this season with the fans so close to the pitch and if they start well a top ten placing could well be within their grasp come the seasons end.

Club focus: Tough year in store for Palermo

Most Serie A clubs this Summer have attempted to strengthen their squads. Inter, Milan, Juventus, Napoli, Lazio and Roma have all added significant players to their rosters while Genoa and Fiorentina, both aiming for top six places, have also added players of quality in the shape of Sebastian Frey and Andrea Lazzari whilst also retaining important players as well. Even Udinese, who sold Sanchez, Inler and Zapater can still call on developing talents and established first team players in the shape of Di Natale, Asamoah, Armero and Handanovic. For Palermo however this market has been something of a different story.

The season for Palermo ended on a high last year, even if they lost in the Coppa Italia final to Inter Milan. The final in the Stadio Olimpico represented a magificent moment for the club and their tifosi in pink replica kits vastly outnumbered their Inter rivals, taking over around three quarters of the 72,000 capacity stadium. Enthusiasm was high even in defeat but one wonders whether that is the case now after a quite woeful Summer market. Gone are Javier Pastore, Cesare Bovo, Mattia Cassani, Salvatore Sirigu, Fabio Liverani and Antonio Nocerino. The only transfers of note to come in are Matais Silvestre and Andrea Mantovani. True, this is a squad that still boasts talent in the shape of Josep Illicic, Armin Bacinovic, Ezequiel Munoz, Abel Hernandez and Fabrizio Miccoli but the sale of some of their best players, especially in the back line, is not the actions of a club aimining to keep pace with the rest of the big sides in the division.

Palermo fans will be disappointed and not for the first time given that Cavani and Kjaer both moved on last Summer and now both find themselves in rival Serie A sides, and given the huge income received from the Cavani and Pastore sales questions will be rasied as to why more of it was not invested in the squad. Palermo fans will also be disappointed that they are already out of Europe following a quite pitiful display in the Europa League qualifiers and that their coach has already been fired before a single game has been played in Serie A. The reigns have been handed to Devis Mangia who at just 37 years of age has a massive job on his hands after Delio Rossi declined to take up the hot seat in the Renzo Barbera once again. 

Despite this Zamperini will surely expect them to challenge for the Europa League places but with everyone else re-enforcing this will surely be beyond them. A place in the top ten looks like the best they can hope for at this stage and the dream of chasing down a Champions League spot, as they did just two seasons ago, must feel like a dim and distant memory. As for new coach Mangia he had better hope to hit the ground running at home to Inter this coming weekend else the comparisons made to Pep Guardiola by Zamperini himself today will also seem like a dim and distant memory as well.