Week 16: Opportunity missed

Opportunity missed, that is the phrase that most of the sides in the top half of the table before this weekend will carry with them into training today. Parma aside none of the sides that were in the top half of the table on Friday night managed a win in Serie A this weekend.

Bari 3-1 Juventus
Juve were the first of the big sides to taste disappointment this weekend as they were well beaten in Bari. Bari took the lead through a deflected goal, and Juve leveled midway through the second half through David Trezeguet who tapped in after a Diego shot was parried away. Juve though shot themselves in the foot before the break as Cannavarro brought down Baretto in the area, and he duly converted the pen. After the break Juve just could not find away through the excellent Bari backline, though they were handed an opportunity to level the tie but Diego ballooned his penalty well over the bar. Bari however did not make the same mistake and finished Juve off late on through an Almiron effort, which was again deflected, that brought the house down.

Milan 0-2 Palermo
The shocks of the Serie A round continued as Delio Rossi's Palermo put in a fantastic effort to take three points from the San Siro. Palermo could have scored early on through Cavani, but Milan too had chances as Boriello just failed to get on the end of a Seedorf cross. Zambrotta too went close, but Milan could not take the early lead that they desperately wanted. After the break though Palermo came out looking like they were the home side and bossed the game for the first 15 minutes. Within this period they scored twice, as Miccoli fired home a quality effort after turning Nesta . Miccoli again was at the heart of the second goal as he squirmed his way through the entire Milan defence. Javier Pastore received the ball and seemed to have blown his chance but Mark Bresciano caught the ball and smashed it into the roof of the net. After this Palermo sat back, and invited Milan too attack. Despite the introduction of Pato Milan could not find a way through. Pato himself got in the way of a Ronaldinho effort and then failed to score from close range in the dying embers.

Atalanta 1-1 Inter Milan
Inter could not take advantage of the defeats to their two main rivals for the Scudetto conceding a late goal from Simone Tirribocchi after they were reduced to ten men thanks to the dismissal of Wesley Sneijder. Diego Milito had given Inter the lead after just 15 minutes, but much like last year in Bergamo they disappointed. Last year they were hammered 3-0 by Atalanta, so this can be considered an improvement. Inter face Lazio at home next week, but go into the game without a win in their last two Serie A rounds.

Sampdoria 0-0 Roma
Before this game there was just one point separating 5th from 13th in the table, so both sides will be slightly disappointed that they could not establish a slight gap between this mass of teams as the Christmas break approaches. Sampdoria started brightly and Pazzini should have scored in the first half but he couldn't get the right angle on his headed effort. Manini also went close but just scuffed his volley attempt, while Julio Sergio pulled off a good safe from an Angelo Palombo Missile. However, in the second half Roma dominated in posession and chances. A looping Vucinic header was tipped over by Castellazzi, and Perrotta missed a good chance after Totti's weighted ball sent hom clean through. It ended 0-0, and both sides would have been slightly disappointed not to gain the three punti.

Elsewhere in Serie A
Finally, Lazio put three points on the board with a 1-0 victory over the entertaining Genoa. Alex Kolarov powered his way through the defence and fired a powerful finish past Marco Amelia. Bologna however fell away to highflying Parma who now are just three points shy of second place in Serie A, and will face the inform Roma next week in what should be an entertaining clash. Napoli blew at two goal lead to Cagliari and conceded three straight goals before leveling in injury time in a classic 3-3 tie, and Fiorentina also blew an early lead away to Chievo but unlike Napoli they could not find anyway back as they crashed 2-1 in Verona. It was Chievo's third win on the bounce. Livorno snatched a vital three points 1-0 on the road in Catania to condemn the Island side to rock bottom, while Siena won at home for the second time in a row against Udinese by 2-1.

Serie A by Numbers
Home wins: 5
Away wins: 2
Top scorers: Di Natale 11, Milito 10, Totti 9, Pazzini 8, Matri 8
Highest game attendances: Bari 3-1 Juve: 51,849, Milan 0-2 Palermo: 39,253, Lazio 1-0 Genoa: 29,489
Round 16 Total attendance: 208661 from 9 games, Cagliari have no offical attendance
Season average Serie A game attendance: 24,242

Attendance stats from www.stadiapostcards.com

Player Profiles: Alberto Gilardino

Fiorentina fans have become more accustomed to the violin celebration that Gilardino often performs after scoring a goal of late, leaving the Milanista wondering why on earth he could not perform his musical celebration more often in the company of the thousands that gather at the San Siro when Milan are in town. But one thing is for certain, Gilardino is back in business big time. The hitman came to light at Parma where he punched out back to back 23 goal seasons leaving Parma in 2005 having hit the back of the net 50 times in just 96 appearances. But he first came on the scene in Verona where he learnt his trade under his current coach Cesare Prandelli with Hellas, who incidentally was also his coach at Parma. Clearly the two work well together, and the omission of Prandelli in Gilardino's transfer to Milan perhaps unsettled the man who had been so prolific in the seasons gone by at Parma.

Gilardino: The Milan years
The transfer to Milan was one of great promise for both parties. With Shevchenko on the wane 'Gila' was sought after to take over the mantle. In the first year arguably he did. 17 goals alongside Sheva made for a respectable return at a club where Gila was part of the team rather than the focus of it as he was in Parma. But, the goals began to dry up and 17 was followed by 12 in the 2006/2007 season, and just seven in 2007/2008. The performances in Europe were not great either for Gilardino, with him registering just twice in the Champions League for Milan, albeit one rather crucial strike against Manchester United in a 3-0 romp for AC which lead in the end to a Champions League title. Still, with a certain Pato arriving Gila was often found on the bench, prompting a 15 million euro fee to Fiorentina, allowing him to reunite with Prandelli.

Batistuta's hunting ground
And, its so far it has been a successful move for Gila. 19 goals last season showed that it was money well spent for Fiorentina and he had no trouble linking up with either Adrian Mutu or Stefan Jovetic. 5 goals in Europe as well followed and a return to prominence in the Azzurri fold has occurred. This season he has simply carried on from where he started. 7 goals so far in Serie A, 3 in the Champions League including one against Liverpool and four for Italy including a hatrick against Cyprus have highlighted what an important player Gilardino has become for not only Fiorentina but Italy also. The question remains, how much further can he go? With Fiorentina ready to do battle in the Champions League knockout stages, it would seem the stage is set.

Image credited to Roberto Vicario.

Champions League: Inter join Fiorentina and Milan in the knock out phase

Inter 2-0 Rubin Kazan
Inter Milan beat newly crowned Russian Champions Rubin Kazan by 2-0 at home to book their passports for the knock out phase. Sammy Eto'o opened the scoring after some great work from Javier Zanetti, and a backheel from Mario Balotelli, gave him the space to blast home. It was tense thereafter, but a Mario Balotelli freekick settled the tie. Barcelona won in Kiev, to top the group.

Group F
1. Barcelona 11pts
2. Inter 9pts
3. Rubin 6pts
4. Dynamo 5pts

Liverpool 1-2 Fiorentina
Fiorentina picked up a magnificent win at Anfield thanks to goals from Martin Jorgensen and a trade mark cross from Vargas to Alberto Gilardino, after initially falling behind to a Yossi Benayoun goal. Fiorentina thus top the group in spite of the French giants Lyon hammering Debrecen at home 4-0.

So, that is the group stages finished and the draw is set. No teams that qualified from the same group can meet, and not teams from the same national associations can meet.

Pot 1
Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United, Bordeaux, Fiorentina, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Sevilla.

Pot 2
Lyon, Olympiacos, Bayern Munich, Stuttgart, AC Milan, Inter Milan, Porto, CSKA Moscow

So, a real mix of clubs with a great European flavour. From Manchester to Moscow, Milan to Munich, Bordeaux to Barcelona. The draw takes place on December 18th.

Champions League match day six roundup: Milan through, Juve out

FC Zurich 1-1 AC Milan
AC Milan made it through as expected to the knockout phase of the Champions League by drawing away at FC Zurich. Despite dominating in posession, Milan only leveled the tie from the penalty spot after Boriello was brought down in the area midway through the second half. Nonetheless Milan are through to the group phase and four points of the top of Serie A so things have shaped up rather nicely since the start of the season that included a 4-0 derby drubbing and a defeat at home to FC Zurich. Milan therefore could face some rather tough ties in the second round. As they finished second they will play any group winners except for Real Madrid or any Italian ones, possibly Fiorentina or Inter. Top spot certainties so far are Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal, and Bordeaux. However, the likely nature is that Barcelona and Sevilla will be added to that list, with the possibility of Lyon also. Interesting stuff then.

Group C
1. Real Madrid 13pts
2. AC Milan 9pts
3. Marseille 7pts
4. FC Zurich 3pts


Juventus 1-4 Bayern Munich
Juventus were absoultely hammered at home to FC Hollywood last night, despite taking the early lead through David Trezeguet. Bayern drew level from the spot before half time, but goals from Olic, Gomez and Tymoschuk completed the rout. Thus, after beating Inter at the weekend Juve were well and truly brought down to earth against the German giants. One side of this coin suggests that Juve can now focus on taking the Scudetto from Inter in Serie A, but the other side suggests that this beating could de-rail any positives that could be drawn upon in recent days. Time will tell.

Group A
1. Bordeaux 16pts
2. Bayern 10pts
3. Juventus 8pts
4. Maccabi 0pts

Serie A week 15: Juve open up Scudetto race, Roma win derby della Capitale

Juventus 2-1 Inter
Juventus opened up the scudetto race with a 2-1 win at home to Inter Milan on Saturday night thanks to a wonderfully taken goal from Claudio Marchisio. The game was played at a great pace right from the get go and Juve had a great chance to take the lead early on through Mommo Sissoko only for Sully Muntari to make a decisive block on the Juve man. Inter poured forward also and Dejan Stankovic seemed to have a clear strike on goal only for Martin Caceres to challenge at the last moment. Juve did take the lead though in messy circumstances. Diego curled a free kick into the box which took a number of deflections to leave Julio Cesar dumbfounded. Inter though made an immediate response and took advantage of poor defending for Samuel Eto'o to head home. After the break Juve were lucky not to go behind when Stankovic shot was charged down, but Buffon threw out quickly to start the move that lead to the winning goal. Sissoko's shot from distance was parried but only into the path of Marchisio who's wonderful footwork left Cesar with the duty of picking the ball out of his own net. Inter tried to chase the game, and should have scored through Cambiasso when his free header went sailing over. Inter brought on Balotelli and attacking midfielder Mancini to help the cause but after some on the pitch altercations it ended 2-1 to Juve.

Roma 1-0 Lazio
In the capital derby on Sunday night Lazio were looking to snap their dismal run, while Roma were looking to close in on the top four. Despite Lazio having the greater of possession, there really was little for either sides to shout about in the first half. Matuzalems cross cum shot tested Julio Sergio from distance, and Roma had a shout for a penalty, but at half time it was deservedly 0-0. After the break the game opened up a fraction with both keepers making excellent saves. Julio Sergio was beaten at the near post by a Zarate strike but the effort rebounded off the woodwork into Mauri's path. Somehow, Sergio got a hand to it right on the line to pull off a stunning piece of goalkeeping. Muslera also responded for Lazio, pulling off a strong save on a well worked Roma move that resulted in a Perotta header. It looked to be heading for a draw, but Roma opened up the Lazio defence late on and Cassetti found the net. Muslera again had to perform heroics late on to stop the scoreline becoming any worse when he stopped a Riise effort. It finished 1-0 to Roma.

Elsewhere in Serie A
AC Milan closed the gap on Inter to four points after mauling Sampdoria 3-0 at the San Siro. The goals came early as Boriello, Seedorf and Pato made the points safe. Fiorentina also wrapped up three points as they got back to winning ways against Atalanta. Vargas and Gilardino were on the scoresheet. Genoa and Parma played out a highly entertaining 2-2 draw with Parma twice coming from behind. Napoli continued their good form as the fans packed the San Paolo to watch Fabio Quagliarella hit a brace against Southern rivals Bari, who had only 9 men on the field at the end of play. Delio Rossi registered his first Serie A win for Palermo against Cagliari by 2-1, while Bologna also got back to winning ways against Udinese by the same margin. Livorno crashed at home to Chievo by 2-0, while Siena finally registered a win by 3-2 over relegation rivals Catania.

Serie A by Numbers
Home wins: 8
Away wins: 1
Top Scorers: Di Natale 11 goals, Totti 9 goals, Milito 9 goals
Best attended games: Roma 1-0 Lazio: 54,273, Napoli 3-2 Bari: 46,547, Milan 3-0 Samp: 42,824
Round attendance: 271345
Overall season average game attendance: 24,309

Europa League: Roma through, Genoa have to wait, Lazio out

Roma 2-1 Basle
It was a decisive week in the Europa League, and Roma last night pushed through their superiority in a group containing Basle, Fulham and CSKA Sofia by qualifying a round early. Indeed, a win in Sofia in two weeks time will wrap up the top spot in the group and perhaps give them an easier draw in the first knockout round. A penalty from Francesco Totti and a beautifully worked goal from Vucinic allowed Roma to come from behind to grab the win.

Group E
1. Roma 10pts
2. Basle 9pts
3. Fulham 8pts
4. CSKA 1pt

Slavia Prague 0-0 Genoa
Genoa however will have to beat Valencia at home in order to assure themselves of qualification to the next round. It sounds a tough ask, and it is, but Genoa have beaten Milan and Juve in the Luigi Ferraras Stadium last season, so they can pull big wins out the bag when it matters. Anyhow, Genoa came away from Prague on Wednesday night with a point thanks to a 0-0 encouter. Both sides had chances, Crespo namely for Genoa. Slavia did have the ball in the back of the net twice, but both goals were disallowed for offside and infringements on the keeper. In the groups other match Valencia beat Lille 3-1, to leave the group tight and full of possibility. Genoa could go through with just a draw, but that would require Lille to loose to Slavia. As their first meeting went 5-1 in favour of Lille, that outcome seems thin so Genoa will have to win this epic clash with Valencia to ensure passage to the next phases.

Group B
1. Valencia 9pts
2. Lille 7pts
3. Genoa 7pts
4. Slavia Prague 3pts

Salzberg 2-1 Lazio
Lazio's problems went from bad to worse as they crashed out of Europe, the only Italian side to have done so this season. They went behind early in the second half but responded 5 minutes later through a Pasquale Foggia goal. But, despite claims for a penalty that was not given Lazio could not take the lead, and it was Salzberg on the counter attack who managed to do so late on. Lazio crash out as their abysmal form continues. They face Levski Sofia in a meaningless clash in the last round.

Group G
1. Salzberg 15pts
2. Villareal 9pts
3. Lazio 6pts
4. Levski Sofia 0pts

Serie A week 14: Inter stretch ahead

Inter 1-0 Fiorentina
Inter Milan stretched ahead of Juventus in their bid to become 'Winter Champions', a title that often leads to the real Scudetto winners. Inter stretched their lead by beating in form Fiorentina by 1-0 thanks to a late Diego Milito penalty. Inter once again though seemed to get the rub of the green as it were, when 5 minutes earlier a brilliant move from Alberto Gilardino came back of the woodwork after he left the Inter defence for dead. Prior to that Fiorentina though had the outstanding Sebastien Frey to thank for making a serious of stunning saves, including in the games dying embers a one on one with Sammy Eto'o. Inter however took the win, and move on to 35 points.

Catania 0-2 AC Milan
City rivals AC however continued their excellent form by picking up their sixth win in seven games on Sunday evening away at Catania, always a tricky place to go. AC started the brighter and through Seedorf could have gone one up in the early going, but he hit the side netting. After, it became difficult for Milan to break down Catania who seemed to be content with the point as they placed all 11 men firmly behind the ball. Still, the introduction of Inzaghi and Huntelaar made all the difference late on. Inzaghi went close within his first few seconds on the pitch but it was the dutchman Huntelaar who finally opened his Serie A account in the last minute of the game, but twice. The first was a half volley that crept under the keeper, while the second was a deft lob that left Andujar reaching for the stars. So, another vital three points for Milan and they will hope to make up ground on Inter next week as the nearazzuri have to travel to Turin to play Juventus.

Cagliari 2-0 Juventus
Speaking of Juventus there season seems to be going of the rails at the present moment. Defeat away to Bordeaux midweek has been followed by a defeat in Sardinia this weekend as Juve had no answer to a talented Cagliari side. Cagliari applied the pressure early as Daniele Conte had a couple of decent efforts on goal, but Brazilian Nene showed why he was top scorer in Portugal last season with a effort from distance that left Buffon with no chance as it crept into the top corner. Juve in the second half tried to respond with Diego being the architect both Molinaro and Del Piero both fluffed their lines. Matri wrapped up the win after going clear through on goal and sliding his effort under Buffon. Cagliari move up to 7th place in the table.

Lanterna derby: Genoa 3-0 Sampdoria
The big game of the round however took place on Saturday evening as two of the inform clubs in the top half took part in the Genoa derby. But, it was Genoa who asserted their style on the game from the get go and were rewarded with a penalty early on which Milanetto converted. It could have been two soon enough but an effort came back off the bar to give Sampdoria a chance. Sampdoria though were handed a life line late in the first half when Biava was sent off for a handling offence. Tempers were at boiling point now and it continued this way after the break. Genoa however even with ten men doubled their lead through as Rossi swept home nutmegging Castellazzi. It just continued to get worse for Sampdoria as their Rossi was given his marching orders. If it wasn't over then, then it was soon enough as Genoa were awarded another penalty which the inform Palladino duly converted. 3-0 was the final score in a derby that had everything.

Elsewhere
Lazio again failed to win for the 12th successive round and could only draw at home to Bologna before next weeks Rome derby. Rivals Roma however continued their winning ways by picking up three points in Bergamo against Atalanta thanks to Mirko Vucinic and Simone Perotta. Southern side Bari's remarkable start to the season shows no signs of relenting as they beat desperate Siena by 2-1 to move up to 21 points, while Siena remain bottom. In Parma Napoli managed to take a point from the Tardini as both these sides continue to build on good starts to the season. Parma though remain in 5th. Udinese finally got back to winning ways by beating Serse Cosmi's Livorno by 2-0 thanks to Antonio Di Natale and Floro Flores goals. However, Palermo continued their slump in form despite new manager Delio Rossi at the helm by going down in Verona to Chievo by 1-0.

Serie A by Numbers
Home wins: 6
Away wins: 2
Goals: 19
Top scorers: 10-Di Natale 9-Totti, Milito 8-Pazzini
Total attendance for round 14: 207523 from 9 games
Highest attendances for round 14: Inter 1-0 Fiorentina: 59,471, Genoa 3-0 Sampdoria: 33,265, Lazio 0-0 Bologna: 30,489
Season average attendance: 24,096