Italian League: a view on upcoming round

Truoc het , day la ban thang quyet dinh cua Moreno o cup UEFA tren san SL :http://www.allgoal.org/uefa/02-1-16-17.avi


Arguably the biggest match of the season so far takes placed this weekend as AC Milan play Juventus at the San Siro.

Both teams have had differing weeks in Europe with Juve crashing against Arsenal and Milan progressing to the next round of the Uefa Cup at the expense of Sporting Lisbon.

By all accounts the Bianconeri were outplayed against Arsenal. The midfield battle was won by the Londoners while in attack Thierry Henry outshone fellow Frenchman David Trezeguet. The only bright spot was the performance of Alessandro Del Piero who gave a master class in the art of centre-forward play.

Edgar Davids' threat that he will leave the club if he doesn't start the next match can have done little to cheer up coach Marcello Lippi. The Dutchman was responding to being dropped in Juve's last three matches.

In contrast, things are bubbling along quite nicely for Carlo Ancelotti and Milan. They currently sit third in Serie A and just three points behind the leaders Inter. Despite conceding two goals against Chievo last week, the Rossoneri's defensive performances have improved lately. Since Ancelotti's arrival Milan have kept clean-sheets in three out of their last four league games as well as one in Europe.

The other major clash of the weekend sees Parma play host to Roma.

Fabio Capello and his side were frustrated in the midweek goalless draw against Liverpool as they found it hard to break the Merseysiders down. The English side arguably had the better chances to win it so Roma can consider themselves somewhat fortunate in that respect.

Gabriel Batistuta's goalscoring form this season was again brought into question as the Argentinian missed two of Roma's best chances. By his own admission he has had a disappointing season so far and has netted just three times. One characteristic of 'Batigol' is that he scores goals in important games. Perhaps this weekend will see him break his scoring duck.

Parma's victory over Brondby on Thursday might just kick-start their season. Daniel Passarella has had a miserable start to his career at the Tardini but now that Parma have a win under their belts the confidence may start to flow again. There his no question that with the players at their disposal they are a top seven side. The likes of Fabio Canavarro, Hidetoshi Nakata and Marco Di Vaio should be fighting for a European place, not languishing in the relegation zone.

Roma won last season's fixture 3-2 with Batistuta scoring two outstanding goals. Perhaps these memories will help the Argentinian to rediscover last season's form.

Inter Milan must be brimming with confidence as they face Brescia. Christian Vieri announced his comeback on the European stage with a hat-trick as Ipswich were brushed aside at the San Siro. His finishing was of the highest calibre and in this match he showed that Inter have a 25-goal a season man if the former Juve striker can stay fit. It was also good to see Ronaldo make another substitute's appearance. It will be interesting to see how the two combine in the coming months.

The midfield area was the most encouraging sign from the 4-1 win over Ipswich with Francisco Farinos and Emre both excelling. They are both good passers and many of Inter's attacks started from these two breaking up Ipswich's play and then passing with economy to the likes of Okan and Guly on the wing. All the signs are that these two could forge one of the best midfield partnerships in Serie A if they are kept together. It will be interesting to see whether Luigi De Biagio is moved back into central midfield when Marco Materazzi is ready to return to the heart of defence.

Lazio have what looks on paper a routine task as they play crisis club Fiorentina.

Roberto Mancini's men went out of Europe this week with a 2-0 defeat in Lille and only have a relegation fight to look forward to now. Last weekend they conceded two very late goals when going down at home to Piacenza while the week before they were beaten 2-0 by Inter. The scoreline in this match may suggest a comfortable victory but the Viola had their chances with Nuno Gomes missing a couple of clear openings. Mohamed Kallon then scored before the break and the rest is history.

Lazio on the other hand are brimming with confidence after winning each of their last six league and cup games. It seems that their elimination from the Champions League has helped then in Serie A. They are now playing with much more confidence in the final third and Hernan Crespo is entering a goal glut that coach Alberto Zaccheroni will hope goes on well into the new year.



il Milan è il più
To know you is to love you, you're everywhere i go and everybody know
To love you is to be part of you, i've paid for you with tears and swallowed all my pride