One of the more intriguing battles in Serie A in recent years has often surrounded the fight for fourth place and a chance to play in the next season’s Champions League. Much of its intrigue stemmed from the fact that on some occasions, an unexpected team would occupy that coveted position by season’s end (see Sampdoria in 09/10 and Udinese last year). With Italy losing a Champions League spot, the battle is now centered on third place, and it is [...]
A fantastic performance by Napoli on Friday night dispatching six past Cagliari who then sacked their manager Davide Balladini after the defeat. Inter, AC Milan and Roma picked up wins without conceding. Juventus were held goalless at Genoa and wasted a hatful of chances to score but had one harshly ruled out. Udinese and Lazio were embarrassed by both Novara and Bologna on Sunday night. Friday 9th March The weekend’s game where spread over three days because of the Italian [...]
After the summer transfer window shut on August 31, 2011, most Interisti were relieved to see Wesley Sneijder was still an Inter Milan player. Sneijder’s summer holiday locale of Los Angeles was fitting, as the drama surrounding him was suited for Hollywood. Everyone needed to know if Inter’s Number 10 was staying or would soon be on his way to Manchester. It was decided that Samuel Eto’o was the one to be sold to Anzhi in Russia and Sneijder would [...]
Lazio completed a double over city rivals Roma, thanks to a 2-1 win at the Stadio Olimpico. The game was marred by some awful refereeing decisions and the racial abuse directed at Roma defender Juan by some sections of the Lazio fans. Juventus were held at home by Chievo on Saturday night. AC Milan hit four away at Palermo which included a brilliant hat-trick by Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Also, Inter on Sunday night came back from 2-0 down at home to [...]
The bissextile or leap year has, despite its unswerving will to make the world work for free, aligned itself with some great things. The first Playboy club was opened on a leap year, the Olympics and European Championships are on leap years, and the motivational speaker Tony Robbins, described as “banana hands” by Jack Black in Shallow Hal, was born on a leap year becoming one of four million quasi-Tolkien figures known as a leaplings. In the middle earth of [...]
In the big game on Saturday night there was a bit of a controversial moment in the game when Sulley Muntari headed home from close range only for Gigi Buffon to claw it away. Replays showed the ball crossed the line by at least a yard. The referee pointed back to the centre circle but the linesman on that side didn’t give it. Inter have now lost five in a row away at Napoli who now have won four in [...]
When the Champions League draw of sixteen took place nearly three months ago, Inter were deemed to have the easiest match-up of the three remaining Italian teams. Napoli drew Chelsea, Milan had Arsenal, and Inter were facing Marseille. Both Napoli and Milan finished second in their group and the showdown between the two remaining powerhouse Premier League teams left everyone salivating. The two Italian clubs shocked many outside of Italy, beating their opponents quite handily with 3-1 and 4-0 score [...]
It was barely two years ago that Inter, guided by the inextricable genius of Jose Mourinho, were the proud torch bearers of Italian football. As Milan were embarrassingly crushed 4-0 at Manchester United and as Juventus failed to even progress past the group stages, against the odds, the Nerazzurri overcame Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Chelsea as they went on to claim European football’s most coveted prize, the Champions League. As the old cliché goes, a week in football is a [...]
Inter are in a crisis…sound familiar? It should. Fans of the club have been taken on a ride so far this year that would rival even the very best roller-coaster you could find. The Nerazzurri have struggled through drastic dips in form throughout the season, and find themselves in trouble once more. Inter have lost five of its previous six matches, picking up only a solitary point in that time. Pressure is mounting on experienced manager Claudio Ranieri, evidenced by [...]
A weekend of football that was curtailed by the weather with two games being called off, also a embarrassing weekend on the pitch for Inter as they were humiliated at home by Novara 1-0. What is next for both Inter and Claudio Rainer after a sticky run in the past two weeks? Here are the five best goals from the weekend 5. Maxi Lopez Udinese vs. – AC Milan His debut goal for the club and it prove to be [...]
If you told a group of people at the start of the season that Novara would beat Internazionale twice in 2011/12 you’d have been laughed out of the room. The fantasy became a reality on Sunday, however, when the relegation-threatened Biancoazzurri left the Giuseppe Meazza with another Nerazzurri scalp. Novara put three past Inter in September, but last weekend they needed just a solitary goal to deepen the Nerazzurri’s mid-season mire. Things looked grim on paper. Novara were firmly rooted [...]
Claudio Ranieri has come out and declared that he is not in danger of being sacked. He has also stated that star midfielder Wesley Sneijder is happy at the club, in an attempt to quell rumours of interest from abroad in the Dutch playmaker (for what seems to be the 100th time). “Could he be on his way to Anzhi? As far as I’m concerned, and I hope the player too, no,” Ranieri was quoted as saying on Inter’s official [...]
