This season you may have noticed that when we talk about the fight for the final Champions League place, it has been a reference to third, not fourth. Thanks mostly to the poor performances of Italian clubs in European competition (primarily in the Europa League), Serie A lost a spot in the Champions League this year at the expense of the German Bundesliga, who had overtaken Italy in UEFA’s coefficient rankings. What’s more troubling for Italy is that France and [...]
Hope may be lost for Roma. Another poor result this past weekend and Champions League football now appears to be an impossible dream. Luis Enrique’s men are currently 7 points back of city rivals Lazio for that third Champions League spot, and they have yet gone on a lengthy run of success, which does not bode well for the remaining 7 games. As Roma’s inconsistent season comes to the end, it seems the window for the third spot is now [...]
Former Juventus striker Amauri gave his old side the upper hand in the Serie A title race with a last minute goal for his new club Fiorentina away at the San Siro to give the Viola a much needed win as they fight to stave off relegation. Juventus then went away to Palermo and won 2-0 and now are thirty one league games unbeaten this season. The race for third is once again interesting as both Lazio and Udinese recorded [...]
Roma’s American owner Thomas DiBenedetto came out a few weeks ago and discussed his dreams to bring an American player onto the squad. The tycoon sees the rapid rise of the sport within his homeland as an untapped resource. After signing a deal to use Disney’s Orlando facilities for the winter, an American player would further help enhance Roma’s popularity within the United States. There are a few names names that have been mentioned and not only would their American [...]
As Juventus helped secure a piece of their long-term future during the week by extending the contracts of Leonardo Bonucci and Alessandro Matri until 2017, the immediate future of another player has once again been called into focus after yet another less than impressive display on the weekend. Marco Borriello led the two man attack alongside Mirko Vucinic in Antonio Conte’s 3-5-2 system against Napoli, yet did little to endear himself to the Juventus Stadium faithful. Beside one half chance [...]
A new look Inter and Roma hit five goals as they went on to win their weekend games against Genoa and Novara, respectively. Roma had five different scorers in their 5-2 victory over Novara while Inter’s Diego Milito claimed a hat-trick in a nine goal thriller to help see of the challenge of Genoa in what was the perfect start for their new manager, Andrea Stramaccioni, who just this past week took over from the sacked Claudio Ranieri. Inter and [...]
Yet another cracking weekend of Calcio in Serie A this weekend, where Juventus unbeaten run amazingly still continues after they defeated Inter in the Derby D’Italia on Sunday evening with Alessandro Del Piero rolling back the years. A Zlatan Ibrahimovic brace ensured the leaders picked up three more points on Roma. The race for the final Champions League spot it well poised as only Lazio won with a Mobido Diakite goal. Udinese and Napoli both dropped points. Here are the [...]
Remarkably Juventus are still unbeaten in the league this season and still sit second in the table behind AC Milan. The Old Lady won the big game on Sunday night winning the Derby D’Italia against Inter at a packed lovely Juventus Arena. The night before AC Milan maintained their bid to retain their title by defeating Roma by coming from a goal down to win 2-1. Meanwhile, Napoli threw away a two-goal lead to drop points at home to Catania. [...]
On Saturday night Juventus travelled to Florence to take on Delio Rossi Fiorentina side and demolished the Viola 5-0 and Alessio Cerci got himself stupidly sent off. The race for third is hotting up as it looks like no wants it. Udinese and Napoli shared four goals in Udine which a stupid red card for Diego Fabbrini and horrid penalty miss by Edinson Cavani. Inter were held at home by Atalanta and Milan won away at Parma. Saturday 17th March [...]
Fabio Borini was born in Bentivoglio, Italy, on 29th March 1991. His father had brought him up to be an avid Bologna supporter. He joined his boyhood side, aged 9 years old, in 2001 and played for their youth sides. Premier League side Chelsea came hunting for the young Borini’s signature in the summer of 2007; managing to convince the Italian to enhance his development in London. 2008-2009 saw Borini promoted to a starting role in the reserves, leading the [...]
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 [...]