Well, a pretty good weekend for myself as a Romanista and for most of the bigger clubs around Europe. Didier Drogba made a triumphant return for Chelsea, Barcelona continued to display class under adversity and Bayern Münich exorcised some demons by defeating the reigning Bundesliga champions. Here are some write-ups of varying length and quality:

AS Roma 1-0 ACF Fiorentina – Roma have probably never been further away from Luciano Spalletti’s scintillating brand of “champagne” football than they were this evening at the Stadio Artemio Franchi. Under the guidance of Claudio Ranieri, Roma sat back, soaking up wave after wave of pressure from La Viola, who were desperate for a win to get their season back on track. I Lupi failed to control possession, and for 80 minutes were the worst team on the field; the home side did not give any Roman more than a few seconds on top of the ball and closed down space to severely restrict forward movement. Roma had a stroke of luck early on when Juan Manuel Vargas had a goal disallowed on a very close (but I believe correct) offside call. Francesco Totti had a rather abysmal first half (he was substituted for Julio Baptista at the interval) and Fiorentina dominated up and down the left flank with players like Juan Manuel Vargas and Stevan Jovetic creating all kinds of space and chances for the home team. Julio Sergio played the role of saviour on several occasions, denying Alberto Gilardino & co when all other lines of defense failed. The centreback pairing of Philippe Mexès and Juan were rock-solid, but unfortunately Roma’s midfield and strikers were lacklustre today and could hardly get a move going at all. All in all, a display of negative, conservative, old school football – classic Italian and classic Ranieri. But unlike Fiorentina, Roma made their chances (chance?) count. It was only in the 82nd minute that I Giallorossi took the lead, displaying the late determination that has come to characterize Claudio Ranieri’s side. The ball fell to Mirko Vučinić (who had, for the most part, a poor match) after a set piece, and the Montenegrin smashed home from close range to give his side an invaluable 1-0 lead. Roma now sit 2nd in the standings, just 8 points behind Inter and 2 above Milan. Hope, that pestilent and persistent narcotic of fans, remains very much alive in the Eternal city.

Did I mention 19 games undefeated?

Catania 1-0 SS Lazio – Well, half of it. I’m only bothering to comment on this match because of its ramifications; Catania shaded a victory past Lazio at the Stadio Olimpico to lift themselves out of – and drop Lazio down into – the relegation zone. Gaston Maxi Lopez scored the only goal for the Sicilians on 63′, which means Davide Ballardini’s men are very much in the red zone.

AC Milan 0-0 Bologna – Silvio Berlusconi’s Milan continued to struggle this weekend with a draw away to relegation candidates Bologna. I Rossoneri dominated possession and had the lion’s share of the chances, but were unable to finish and forced to settle for a point at the Stadio Renato Dall’Ara. The visitors even came as close as to hit the crossbar in injury time, but those few tantalizing close calls were not enough to secure three points and Milan have now fallen behind Roma in the standings. Much to my delight.

Juventus 1-1 Livorno – Well, it seems like the appointment of Alberto Zaccheroni hasn’t been enough to pull this Juventus side out of their skid (who would’ve thunk it?). Zaccheroni experimented with a 3-5-2 and made some rather questionable suggestions for the starting XI, and fell prey to an eager and determined Livorno side. Antonio Filippini and Nicola Legrottaglie found the net for their respective sides

Inter 3-0 Cagliari - Inter proved once again why they are 8 points clear atop the Serie A table with a dominating performance at the San Siro this afternoon. Mourinho’s goon-squad struck hard and struck early, with goals from Goran Pandev and Walter Samuel seeing them up 2-0 before the first 20 minutes had passed. Alessandro Matri thought he had pulled one back for his side on 34′, but the goal was disallowed for offside. After the interval, Diego Milito all but killed off the match with a close-range strike on 47′ to ensure the end of Cagliari’s 6-game unbeaten run and cement his own squad’s position atop the table. Milito is surely one of the most clinical strikers in Europe at the moment and sits tied atop the Capocannoniere chart; for an Interista, he’s a hard guy to hate.

Totò single-handedly kept his side afloat.

Udinese 3-1 SSC Napoli - The other man who sits tied atop that chart is Udinese’s Antonio di Natale. The Neapolitan did his best to undermine his hometown squad, scoring a hattrick and ending their 15-game unbeaten spell. Di Natale opened the scoring on 7′ when Cristian Maggio gave up a penalty; Udinese’s captain missed from the spot but converted the rebound that Morgan De Sanctis failed to hold on to. The goal was the first Walter Mazzarri’s men had conceded since December 12th. Maggio made up for his early error on 21′, burying a rebound at the other end of the pitch to make it 1-all. However, the Napoli man would pick up a second booking just before the break and received his marching orders, leaving his squad a man down for the entire second half. Despite the man advantage, the Friuli side left it late, and Di Natale’s second goal came only in the 91st minute, followed by his third in the 93rd. The victory for le Zebrette was the first for coach Gianni de Biasi since his taking the reins on December 22nd – it lifts the side several points clear of the relegation zone and, hopefully, will mark a turning point in their Serie A campaign.

Football:

The face of Gunner nightmares.

Chelsea 2-0 Arsenal – In what has become the only London derby of any real relevance, Chelsea consolidated their place atop the Premiership table with a triumphant return from the African Cup of Nations for striker Didier Drogba. Arsene Wenger’s men proved once again that they did not have the mettle to challenge against stronger and more defensive sides, falling to a pair of first-half goals from the big Ivorian. The first came off of a corner kick taken by Florent Malouda; skipper John Terry received and flicked on to find Drogba at the far post, and the striker made no mistake from close-range. That was on only 7′. The secondcrushing goal came on 23′ – Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba combined on the counterattack to slash apart the mediocrity that is the Gunner’s defense and it was again Drogba who smashed home to bring Stamford Bridge to its feet and the visitors to their knees. Though Wenger’s men fought gallantly for the remainder of the match they were unable to find the incisive play and the finishing needed to stage a comeback victory. The holes in Arsenal’s style of play become more and more apparent with each outing, and for all their flair the Gunners were unable to penetrate Carlo Ancelotti’s well-organized side. The North London side now sit 9 points adrift of league-leaders Chelsea, and only 5 ahead of Liverpool as the familiar big 4 settle back into order.

Liverpool 1-0 Everton – The Reds’ fortunes continue on a tentative upswing, dispatching Everton in the Merseyside derby and clawing their way back into 4th place. There was an air of violence about Anfield as tackles flew and cards were handed out; an unnecessarily physical match, but exactly what you’d expect from such a bitter derby rivalry. Antagonists such as Steven Pienaar and Javier Mascherano were lucky not to be sent off for brash and violent tackles (well, Pienaar was sent off on 95′, but should have been long before), while Sotiris Kyrgiakos was not so lucky and saw red for a two-footed tackle on Marouane Fellaini in the 34th minute. Dirk Kuyt, who has been just about the only reliable producer for Liverpool, provided the match’s only goal on 55′ – heading in a Steven Gerrard corner which Tim Howard failed to deal with. Rafa Benitez’ men can finally count themselves among the top 4, but it remains to be seen whether they can hold on to their rather precarious position and whether this positive streak can continue for them.

Manchester Utd 5-0 Portsmouth FC - Sir Alex Ferguson’s men, on the other hand, enjoyed a lovely kick-about at Old Trafford, where they were gifted 3 own-goals by an increasingly pathetic Portsmouth side. Wayne Rooney opened the scoring with his 23rd goal of the season on 41′, while Anthony Vanden Borre deflected Nani’s cross into his own net during first-half stoppage time to see his side go 2 down before the break. After, it was more of the same (and by “of the same” I mean “slapstick comedy”) as Michael Carrick’s tentative drive ricocheted off of Richard Hughes and into the back of the net once more. 3-0 United, with 1 United goal. The laziest man alive Dimitar Berbatov added to the visitors’ misery on 62′ by curling the ball past a hapless David James, while just 7 minutes later Marc Wilson found himself a bit flustered and beat David James for the 3rd own-goal of the game to put United up 5-0. That was it for the slapstick comedy, as United sit comfortably in second on the back of the easiest game of their careers.

Futbol:

Piqué couldn't believe the call either.

Barcelona 2-1 Getafe – Barcelona got off on the right foot against Getafe, with Lionel Messi finding the net on only 7′, and seemingly would have cruised to an easy win at the Camp Nou if not for a spot of dodgy refereeing. Though Barça looked to take command of the match early, their efforts were bruised when Gerard Piqué was sent off on 25′ for a high and late tackle on Rafa. The decision was rather harsh (Xavi went into the books himself for arguing vehemently against the call), but Pep Guardiola’s men played on. From that point on, Barça seemed content to defend their lead and trouble their opponents on the counter – it was on one such counterattack that Xavi doubled his side’s lead (67′) after some nice interplay between himself, Lionel Messi and Marquez. Marquez would cause his side some grief late into stoppage time, when he dragged down one of the los Azulones players, giving up a spot kick and receiving his marching orders. Though Soldado would convert, it was little more than consolation as the 9-man Blaugrana came away with a victory that was perhaps more difficult than it needed to be.

Real Madrid 3-1 Espanyol – Los Blancos did their best to keep the pressure on Barcelona at the top of the table, hammering Espanyol at the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu to the tune of 3-0. Sergio Ramos and Kaká scored a pair of first-half goals to give the home side an early lead, while Gonzalo Higuaín killed the game off for good with a strike of his own in the 89th minute. The scoreline could have been dramatically more unbalanced but for the brilliance of Espanyol netminder Kameni, who did his very best to deny Los Merengues and prevented the likes of Raúl, in particular, from appearing on the scoresheet. Despite their best efforts, Barça remain all-but-untouchable atop the table, and Manuel Pellegrini’s men will have to hope for a slip-up if they wish to top the La Liga table.

Fußball:

Admit it, you missed his pretty face.

Bayern Münich 3-1 Vfl Wolfsburg – Bayern continue to profit from the work of the prolific duo of Arjen Robben and Daniel Van Buyten, who combined to gift die Roten an early lead at the Volkswagon-Arena in Wolfsburg. The Dutchman scored only 2 minutes in (profiting from a fantastic run by youngster Thomas Müller), and the Belgian 25 minutes later, to set the tone for a commanding performance from FC Hollywood. However, Wolfsburg strike pair Edin Dzeko and Grafite were not eager to roll over and die, and the Brazilian in particular let loose a multitude of shots and did his best to test Hans-Jörg Butt between the sticks. At halftime Franck Ribéry came on for Ivica Olic, and it appeared 12 minutes later that he had marked his appearance with a goal – the goal, however, was awarded to Wolfsburg defender Andrea Barzagli, who inadvertently directedthe shot into his own net. As Bayer Leverkusen tied Vfl Bochum, it seemed that Münich would go top, but Grafite ended up scoring the last goal of the match on 90′, leaving Bayern sitting second in the table by a 2-goal differential.

I’ve been negligent. I scratched the Sunday 360º, and on a weekend that contained several good matches, no less. My bad, readers. I mean that sincerely. To both of you. Here’s what you may have missed:

• Roma defeating Juventus at their home in Torino (I know I already wrote about this, but hell) at the price of a 6-week injury setback for Luca Toni. Bummer, man.

• A hard-fought (and I use that adjective in its most literal sense) derby between the two Milanese sides, which Inter ultimately strolled out of as 2-0 victors despite being down to 9 men. Goals from Milito and Pandev (whose free kick-goal was unstoppable); Ronaldinho missed a spot kick.

• Wesley Sneijder receiving a 2-match ban for sarcastically applauding the referee – the offence which got him sent off in the first half-hour of the aforementioned match.

• A bunch of FA Cup action in England, followed by a bunch of midweek Premiership matches. United crushes Hull, Arsenal draw Villa, L’pool draw Wolves and Chelsea return to the top of the table by thrashing Birmingham.

• The return leg of the Manchester United/City Carling Cup derby. If you don’t remember, the first leg was won in dramatic fashion by City Carlos Tevez. Tevez managed to score against his old side yet again, but Wayne Rooney’s goal in stoppage time made it 3-1 to United and ensured that they progressed to the final. Exciting Carling Cup action? You lie!!

• The final is against Aston Villa. I did lie.

• Cristiano Ronaldo scoring two goals and then getting himself sent off for a wayward elbow against Malaga on the weekend. 2-match ban for violent misconduct ensues, though Ronnie vows to fight it.

• Ronnie losing his appeal.

• Barcelona dismantling Valladolid. But what else did you expect?

• Adrian Mutu failing yet another drug test, according to the Italian Olympic Committee. Mutu tested positive after Fiorentina’s match v. AS Bari on January 10th for the substance Sibutramine, which is – drumroll, please – an appetite suppressant. Dumbass.

• Robinho completing a 6-month loan move back to Brazilian side Santos, thus securing his place in history as the Premiership’s most expensive flop to date.

• Jose Mourinho’s birthday.

• Bayern Münich winning a key match against Werder Bremen 3-2. The score should have been about 9-2 though, as Mario Gomez and Arjen Robben spurned about 30 chances each over the course of 90 minutes. Robben’s winner, however, was an absolutely stunning free kick.

• Bayer Leverkusen crushing TSG Hoffenheim 3-0 to keep Münich chasing them at the top of the Bundesliga table.

• Buffon-to-Bayern rumours circulating – Juventini alternatively laughing and weeping.

• Juventus debating sacking Ciro Ferrara, decide to keep him until the result of Juve’s Coppa match comes in. The latest rumour is that the board is talking to Rafa Benitez as I type.

• Paraguayan international Salvador Cabanas being shot in the head in a night club in Mexico city, not dying, going into surgery to remove the bullet (which ultimately failed), suffering a cerebral edema, and now being in apparently stable condition. Paraguay will win the World Cup this year, too.

• Milan being knocked out of the Coppa Italia by Udinese, who currently sit a single point above the relegation zone in Serie A.

• Roma returning to the ways of champagne football (well, maybe spumante football) under Claudio Ranieri and defeating Catania 1-0 to progress to face Udinese in the semi-finals. Youngsters Alessio Cerci, Stefano Okaka and Marco Motta being given a run-about by the Tinkerman. Daniele De Rossi scoring the match’s only goal in true DDR style.

If I missed anything, let me know.

UPDATES:

• Adrian Mutu failing a 3rd doping test after the recent Coppa Italia match against Lazio.
• Ciro Ferrara being sacked as Juventus coach; Alberto Zaccheroni taking the reigns.

Calcio:

I've never loved this celebration so much.

AS Roma 3-0 Genoa CFC – Well, the second half of the Serie A season has begun, and for Roma, begun in the best possible way. I’m not sure how many of you remember alllll the way back to last August, but we endured a rather disastrous defeat at the Stadio Marassi as the result of some poor refereeing and worse defending. It was the twilight of the Luciano Spalletti era and although we scored 3 goals, we conceded 4 ourselves – three within 30 minutes. Now it is January, and the tables have turned most dramatically. This time it was Genoa’s turn to come into our house and we were more than ready to acquaint them with all the changes that have been put into place since Claudio Ranieri took the helm. Today’s match was a showcase for one of our most recent (and largest) changes; namely, il signor Luca Toni. Roma always had a firm grip on the game; Simone Perrotta opened the scoring on 17′, booting in a rebound after some shoddy Genovese defending. Just before the interval, the big signing himself stepped up, sliding in to hoof home a low incoming cross from Mirko Vučinić on 44′ and open his scoring account in il Giallorosso. However, Luca wasn’t finished yet, and all but put the game away on 59′ when he met a Mirko Vučinić free kick with his gigantic noggin. Today’s result was impressive, especially since it was yet another clean sheet for RanieRoma and also because both Daniele De Rossi and Francesco Totti watched the game from the sidelines. I’m sure all Romanisti reacted with glee when Luca put his goals in – I for one screamed “LUUCAAAA” and imitated his famous celebration. Anyways, with the Genovese out of the way, we can start looking ahead to next week’s big match against a rather little Juventus.

AS Bari 2-2 Inter – Some people choose to refer to Jose Mourinho’s team as Pazza Inter, for the way they seem to often nearly throw games away, only to pull something out of their asses at the last minute and scrape through with a point or three. Some people refer to them as La Beneamata, ‘the Beloved,’ for reasons unknown to me. I would like to propose some alternative nicknames: Fortunata Inter, or simply La Fortunata - I feel they’re a little more accurate. Whatever you want to call them, Inter fell behind 2-0 to Bari after not one but two spot kicks were awarded to i Galletti within 3 minutes - Brazilian Barreto stepped up to convert both times. New signing Goran Pandev managed to pull one back for Inter just five minutes after that, and when a spot kick was awarded to Inter in the 73rd minute, Diego Milito stepped up to equalize for his side. And so, Inter again escape with a point – but Bari have taken 2 points away from their meetings with i Nerazzurri this year and I think that is more than respectable. Once again, Inter’s lead atop the table is shorn by their underperformance – they now stand just 6 points ahead of AC Milan, who happen also to have a game in hand.

This celebration less so.

AC Milan 4-0 AC Siena – A year or two ago, Ronaldinho was a joke. Buck-toothed, washed-up and seemingly lacking commitment to his craft, the Brazilian wizard who had been so effective for Barcelona seemed unable to reproduce that form for i Rossoneri. As of this weekend, that all seems to have been merely a bad memory, as the Brazilian almost single-handedly demolished Siena to lead his side to yet another impressive victory. ‘Dinho scored three goals himself, with Marco Borriello picking up the fourth, as the resurgent Milan cruised almost languidly past Serie A’s leading relegation candidates. If they can keep this form going until the Derby della Madonnina, they might be able to reverse the embarrassing defeat that Inter inflicted upon them in September.

Chievo Verona 1-0 Juventus – What can you say about Juventus? Legions of arrogant fans, years of cheating and scandal; the most widely supported (and widely hated) side in all of Italy. And undone by modest, midtable Chievo. A single goal separated the injury-plagued Bianconeri from the home side, but it was enough to send Juventini home with defeat ringing bitterly in their ears to the tune of 3 points going the other way. Ciro Ferrara’s men are beginning to look less and less like a team, and i Mussi Volanti were in the right place at the right time to capitalize on their visitors low morale and disorganization. Gennaro Sardo was the man who provided the difference between the two sides, skipping around Paolo De Ceglie and firing a rocket into the low corner that was beyond the reach of Gigi Buffon (who made a rather inglorious return). It seems that Ciro Ferrara’s sacking is all but inevitable at this point – the only question is, how long will the Juventus board wait?

Football:

Mugshot after being caught speeding in London. I think...

Chelsea FC 7-2 Sunderland - I like to call game like these ‘Declarations of Intent.’ After this weekend’s results, Chelsea sit only 1 point ahead closest adversaries Manchester United, but they made a statement loud and clear as they blasted 7 goals past a hapless Sunderland side on Saturday evening: do not take us lightly. Chelsea haven’t always been at their best this season, but against the Black Cats they reminded the Premiership just how deadly they can be – even without Didier Drogba. Within 35 minutes the score was already 4-0, with Nicolas Anelka, Florent Malouda, Ashley Cole and Frank Lampard having found the back of the net. Cole’s in particular was especially notable, being the 18,000th goal ever scored in the Premiership. By the time the game was over, Lampard and Anelka would have doubled up for a brace each, while Michael Ballack also got his name written onto the scoresheet. Though Boudewijn Zenden and Darren Bent pulled back a goal apiece for their side, it was far from enough and served to do little other than somewhat lessen the embarrassing defeat handed to them at Stamford Bridge.

Liverpool FC 1-1 Stoke City – Rafael Benitez’s hopes of retiring a Liverpool legend seem to be growing dimmer and dimmer in the weak January sunlight. The Reds crashed out of the FA Cup last week when they were defeated 2-1 by… Reading?! Whoa. I don’t even think I can insult them; how does one follow an act like that? Anyhow, Livepool seemed on the verge of grabbing an invaluable 3 points from Stoke City on the strength of a 57th-minute goal from Sotiris Kyrgiakos, but a strike at the death from Robert Huth brought those ideas crashing down and forced the struggling Scousers to settle for a single point. Liverpool currently sit at 7th place in the Premiership and 14 points adrift of league-leaders Chelsea.

Futbol:

Athletic Bilbao 1-0 Real Madrid – It is always interesting when two teams with very disparate historic backgrounds come head to head. One of the most well-known politically-charged football rivalries in Spain is the one between Barcelona and Real Madrid, but it is far from the only one. Real Madrid was largely seen as the team of General Francisco Franco, who controlled Spain from the end of the Spanish Civil War until his death in 1975. Bilbao, on the other hand, is deep in the heart of Basque country – a region whose populace are strongly nationalistic and whose culture, language and identity were suppressed by General Franco during his rule. To this day the club continues a policy of (almost) exclusively signing players of Basque origin or ancestry – very far removed from Madrid’s policy of splashing cash far and wide in search of the next Galacticos. This weekend, as these two great political opposites came head to head, it was surprisingly the much smaller club who came out on top. Fernando Llorente headed home in only the 2nd minute of play to give his side the lead, and with goalkeeper Gorka Iraizoz pulling off a string of miraculous saves, the team doggedly held off the likes of Kaká, Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema for their first home win in the Estadio San Mamés in 5 years.

99, 100, 101...

Barcelona 4-0 Sevilla FC – When Barcelona crashed out of the Copa del Rey this week at the hands of Sevilla FC, their streak of winning every competition they entered under Pep Guardiola was finally broken. Barça did not take too kindly to that, it seems, and thrashed Los Rojiblancos to the tune of 4-0 at the Camp Nou this weekend. It took an own goal from Julien Escudé on 49′ to open the scoring, but three late goals saw Barcelona rise well clear of their opposition. Pedro found the back of the net with a superb chip on 70′, Lionel Messi grabbed his 100th goal in a Blaugrana shirt on 85′ and managed to make it a brace just 6 minutes later to put the game completely out of reach. The victory, combined with Madrid’s loss in Bilbao, puts Barça 5 points clear atop the La Liga table.

Fußball:

Bayern München 2-0 TSG Hoffenheim – FC Hollywood got their new year off to a good start, defeating midtablers Hoffenheim to take the top place in the Bundesliga table for their first time in over 600 days. Martín Demichelis opened the scoring on 35′ after Josip Simunic failed to head the ball clear of danger, giving die Roten a first-half lead at the Allianz-Arena. Bayern’s defense was well-marshalled – too strong for Hoffenheim to break through despite their efforts to throw men at the Bayern goal. Miroslav Klose put the match to rest in the 86th minute with a sliding deflection of Mark van Bommel’s shot, and the victory allowed Bayern to take their place atop the table. Until Bayer Leverkusen clobbered Mainz 4-2, dropping them back to second. And Schalke edged Nürnberg 1-0 to drop them to third place. But nevertheless, they’ve had a taste to remind them what it’s like at the top… and you can bet they’ll be coming back for more.

Now that we are half way through the season I thought it’ll be a good time to reflect on what we’ve seen so far. The pre-season brought us a lot of change. Ibrahimovic, Maxwell, Cruz, and Crespo were the main people to leave.  In came Eto’o, Milito, Motta, Arnautovic, and Sneijder. Recently we welcomed in Goran Pendev, and bid farewell to Viera. We gave up a few too many youngsters in the Milito and Motta trade for my liking (Bonucci!!!!). However this might go down as one of our best transfer seasons in history, at least in the Massimo Moratti era.

Many people thought we would be doomed once we lost Zlatan and our domination would be over. Yet people forgot that we have the deepest squad in Seria A and have one of the best coaches in world football.

The team as a whole leads the league in goals (41) that’s nine more than the nearest rival. Inter is tied for the best defense (17). We lead our league by eight points and we’ve qualified for the knock out rounds of the Champions league.

The Grades:

A

Free Kick Hero

Wesley Sneijder: If ever anyone deserves to be the MVP of the half way point it has to be him. The guy gets told by Real Madrid to f*** off after their crazy summer campaign. Joins us with a major point to prove and has fit in perfectly. The guy does not know what it means to lose and the stats back him up. In all the games he’s played we haven’t lost; 12 wins, 4 draws. Without him five wins, two draws, and four defeats. Wesley has changed the way we play and his leadership is crucial.

Diego Milito: The anti-Ibra. He works hard and never complains. 23 appearances and 12 goals. He plays better with a second striker, but he hustles when asked to play alone.

Walter Samuel: The Wall is having one of his best seasons for sure. A big reason why we have the best defense in the league. Oh and he scores goals to boot.

Samuel Eto’o: I’ll give him an A minus for now just because we all know he can do better. I want to see more away goals to push him up to an A. Still not complaining though, he has scored 10 goals.

B

Mario Balotelli: It’s incredible that Mario is 19 years old with all he’s achieved so far. If it was anyone else he’d definitely be in the A group, but because I have visions of what he can become I will put him here for now. It’s a shame he gets a rough ride where ever he plays, and that the media puts too much pressure on him. This guy is a future Golden Ball winner without a doubt in my mind. He scores important goals and changes games. Six goals and five assists for a teenager are magnificent.

Lucio: I have mixed feelings about Lucio since his Bayer Leverkusen days. He gives me heart attacks every single week. He does have a major benefit that’s for sure; cutting out attacks before they start and his distribution is excellent. His mistakes are costly though and that’s what bothers me the most.

Esteban Cambiasso: He hasn’t been the same since picking up that injury in pre-season. He is very important to us though. His form was coming back before the break and I’m hoping he recovers quickly from this latest setback. His tactical intelligence is extremely high, and he is the coach on the pitch. One of my favorites of this team.

Dejan Stankovic: He is also another one who isn’t the same this year. He spoiled us last season with his excellent performance. He is still extremely important to us, and when he’s on we are so much better.

Javier Zanetti: Consistent!

Ivan Cordoba: Sits on the bench without a complaint. Samuel gets injured and slots in perfectly and we don’t skip a beat. Loves the club.

Douglas Maicon: It looks like a dip in form has hit him recently. He is a major cog in our team and bails us out plenty of times. Defense, offence, and tons of energy.

C

I’m not going to go into great detail for the C group. Motta is up and down. When he is up the football is beautiful. I just wish he could do it more often. I’m not a fan of Muntari as I think he gives the ball away way too much. I liked him in the left back role he played twice. Chivu in my opinion is a central defender. He works hard at left back but doesn’t attack as much. Ironically he had his best offensive game this season at Chievo, and then he unfortunately got injured. Julio Cesar by his own admission hasn’t been the same due to contract negotiations. Well Julio that contract has been signed for a while now. I expect the best goalkeeper in the world back!

D

Heres to you making it on that trip

Quaresma has played one decent game since we got him. I’m still waiting for something from this guy. Mancini? Remind me why we bought him? Santon needs to take this opportunity if he really wants to go to South Africa. He has a great chance to prove to Inter they don’t need Kolarov. The rest haven’t played enough to get a grade.

I’m really looking forward to the second half of the season and the Champions League matches. Let me know what you think about the grading system.

Forza Inter Siempre

I’m really having trouble finding the energy to put in a worthy Sunday 360º post, partially because I feel like there aren’t many exactly waiting expectantly for it and partially because it’s January and that is enough to sap all positive energy from my soul. However, the fact that the Bundesliga hasn’t returned from its winter holiday and the fact that all Premiership games but two were cancelled on account of bad weather means that I am having a hard time justifying not reporting on the games that did go on. So let’s hop to it.

Calcio:

AS Roma 1-0 Chievo Verona – This one gets, and deserves, its own article.

SSC Napoli 1-0 Sampdoria – Former Sampdoria manager Walter Mazzarri was reunited with his old club today and managed to climb to 4th place in the Serie A standings by defeating them 1-0 at the Stadio San Paolo. Gérman Denis scored the match’s only goal; although both squads’ lively attack forces got at their opposing goals fast and furiously, only the Argentinian would break the deadlock with a headed goal on 71′. The goalscorer only came onto the pitch after his countryman Ezequiel Lavezzi was forced off with injury; though Napoli extended their unbeaten streak to 12, it came at a price.

Nesta: Rossoneri hero since they were sponsored by Opel.

AC Milan 3-0 Juventus – What Adriano Galliano called “the real Derby D’Italia” started off as a disjointed, physical match in which neither side could get ahead. When i Rossoneri found the lead from a corner kick, through an unmarked Alessandro Nesta on 29′, the home side weren’t flustered; they battled back and looked to be closing on their foes as the halftime interval approached. After the break, however, a fog settled into Juventus’ stadium and dampered both their floodlights and their hopes. The introduction of Alessandro Del Piero couldn’t turn the match around, and as Juventus began to crumble, Ronaldinho would bag a second-half brace to see (or not see) his side to an impressive victory that stoked the flames of their scudetto hopes.

Inter 4-3 AC Siena – Meanwhile, at the San Siro yesterday, Inter had a much tougher time dealing with lowly Siena. I Nerazzurri twice found themselves trailing the cellar-dwellers as a result of strikes from Massimo Maccarone. One of those strikes opened the match on 18′ However, Diego Milito negated Siena’s lead with a cross-box strike not 6 minutes later; Mourinho’s men were unlikely to roll over and die in deference to minnows like these. Wesley Sneijder awarded his side the lead on 36′ from a free kick, only for Albin Ekdal to restore parity within 60 seconds. When Maccarone’s second goal came on 65′, il Robur themselves seemed stunned to have the lead, and seemed content to put 11 (10 after Cribari was sent off) men behind the ball. However, another Wesley Sneijder free kick levelled the score with only 2 minutes left to play, much to the dismay of the visitors. However, their misery would be further compounded in the fourth minute of added time, when Walter Samuel, roaming deep into enemy territory, put the final, fatal goal past Gianluca Curci.

Capocannoniere count: 12. Diego Milito eat your heart out.

Udinese 1-1 Lazio - To find the only Serie A draw of this weekend, we travel to the Stadio Friuli in Udine, where Udinese Calcio were held to a 1-1 draw by a resurgent Lazio. The match’s account was opened on 16′ by Sergio Floccari, who has been an absolute revelation for the lesser half of Rome since joining them not weeks ago. However, an Antonio Di Natale free kick sailed beyond the reach of Fernando Muslera not 11 minutes later, and the balance was restored. Neither side could best those early goals, though Lazio really should have taken the lead in the dying moments, but Stefano Mauri lost his footing while alone in the box and was unable to put away what should have been an easy lead. For my part, I can’t say I feel too sorry for him.

Football:

Landycakes: Dressed to impress.

Arsenal 2-2 Everton - Interesting that both Premiership games held ended up as draws. But not all draws are alike; Arsenal and Everton battled to an exciting 2-2 draw at the Emirates Stadium in a match that featured Landon Donovan (or as I like to call him, Landycakes) making his Premiership debut on what was to be a very snowy London evening. The American got off to a good start; it was from his corner kick that Everton’s opener was headed in on 12′ by Leon Osman. Denilson managed to equalize for the home side in the 28th minute, and after that David Moyes’ and Arsene Wenger’s men found themselves at a stalemate. The deadlock was only broken in the 81st minute, when Steven Pienaar scored what he must’ve thought was the winner for his side, lifting his shot over a hapless Manuel Almunia. However, Tomas Rosicky’s late strike in the third minute of added time ensured that points were split at the snowy Emirates and kept Arsenal within 3 points of league-leaders Chelsea (whose match was cancelled).

Birmingham 1-1 Manchester United -The only other match to be played on in spite of the weather was at St. Andrew’s Ground, where the hometown boys squared off against Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United. Surprisingly, it was the home side’s Cameron Jerome who opened the scoring with a close-range shot after Lee Bowyer’s initial attempt was deflected. This was 39′. The visitors battled back hard, but could only restore parity via an own goal from Scott Dann, which found its way into the back of his own net while Wayne Rooney was noticeably offside and certainly involved in the play. Nevertheless, the goal stood, and the the rueful mistake brought United level on 63′. The Red Devils smelled blood, but their efforts to take the lead were dampered by Darren Fletcher’s sending off in the 85th minute. Despite Fergie’s boys getting the usual 6 minutes off added time, they were forced to settle for a point and missed their opportunity to climb above Chelsea in the table – however temporarily.

Futbol:

Atlético Madrid 4-0 Valladolid – Well, it’s a new year, and Los Colchoneros seem more than happy to put an ugly 2009 behind them. At Valladolid’s Estadio Zorrilla, Quique Sánchez Flores’ men ran rampant, with Jurado, Diego Forlán, José Antonio Reyes and Sergio Agüero each adding their names to the scoresheet with a goal apiece. I for one will be taking this as a signal that Atléti are back in action and ready to look at the second half of their season as a fresh start. The only question is, can any resurgence, no matter how dramatic, repair the damage that was their disastrous first half? Oh and you’ll have to forgive me for getting ahead of myself; Valladolid are of course just hovering above the relegation zone themselves.

Real Madrid 2-0 Mallorca – Kaká was able to make his return from injury to appear in the famous white shirt just in time to witness Los Merengues reach their goal at the summit of the La Liga table. Briefly. Real Madrid’s Caribbean-cruise of a victory, inspired by goals from Gonzalo Higuaín and Granero (8′, 50′), allowed them to leapfrog above Barcelona at the top of the table, at least for a few hours, as they awaited eagerly their Catalonian foes result against Tenerife…

Those orange shirts aren't flattering, but the scoreline is.

Barcelona 5-0 CD Tenerife – So, Madridistas were disappointed. Ballon D’or winner Lionel Messi proved that he is worth his weight in gold (tehe!) with a hattrick at the Estadio Carlos Tartiere. Not only did the diminutive Argentinian score three goals of his own, but also set up team captain Carles Puyol to put his side well clear of Los Chicharreros. The final goal came from Tenerife defender Luna, who inadvertently put the ball into his own net after some slick build-up from Thierry Henry and (Tenerife native) Pedro. Damn. So Barça go back atop the table, two points clear of Los Blancos and with a masterclass performance from perhaps their finest player under their belts. Who dares doubt the Messiah?

Racing Santander 2-1 Sevilla FC – Sevilla dropped to 5th place in the La Liga standings after a shock loss at home at the Estadio Sánchez Pizjuán. An early double from 18-year old Sergio Canales lifted the Verdiblancos over their hosts, and despite a second-half goal from Sevilla’s Ivorian midfielder Romaric (shouldn’t he be in Angola?), there was to be no comeback from the hosts. Sevilla’s stumble allowed Deportivo La Coruna to climb above them in the table and Mallorca to draw level.

So that’s that, then.

Michael Owen Potted Three As United Downed Wolfsburg 3-1

After an action packed first half of the matchday, I am here once again to put in my two cents for the final group stage matches of the 2009/2010 CL season:

Group E – An already qualified Fiorentina squad will play a dejected Liverpool FC in what still has the potential of being a dazzling match. The Viola will most likely dress the majority of their tried and true starting XI so as to take maximum points from the contest, and thus lock up the top spot in the group. Despite playing for a spot in the Europa league, Liverpool, who is having trouble finding any sort of momentum this year, will in all likelihood succumb to their Italian counterparts. In the group’s other match, Lyon should triumph over a Debrecen side that has failed to secure a single point in the tournament.

Inter Needs Milito To Shine In Order To Progress

Group F – It is all up for grabs in Group F, as all of the teams have a strong chance to dance into the next round of play given their results thus far. Barcelona will travel to the Ukraine to face a Dynamo Kiev team that is in the worst shape of the group, having only 5 points from as many matches. I predict that it will be a close game with Barca edging out a winner in the late going. Inter will face the ever determined, never-say-die Russian squad Rubin Kazan who has been a bit of enigma throughout play thus far. Inter will be looking to bounce back from a lackluster result against Barcelona last matchday and should find the strength to win with the home fans behind them.

Group G – With Sevilla already through, the only game of note in this group is between Stuttgart and Romanian surprise FC Unirea Urziceni. Who thought that these minnows had a shot at moving through to the knockout stages when it was such a struggle for them to make the group stages out of European Qualifying only 4 short months ago? Stuttgart has been less than stunning in this year’s CL… to put it frankly, they have been awful. The German squad will require full points in order to pull through, and I honestly don’t think they have the mustard. Unirea to join Sevilla in February.

Super Nikopolidis? Olympicos Hopes So

Group H -  This one is pretty much all said and done. Arsenal is already through, as tops in group H with 13 points, while Olympiacos is just one point shy of appearing in the round of 16. Unfortunately they will need to claim that point from a seemingly revitalized Arsenal side. Standard Liege is still stoking the flickering flame of hope that lives on inside of their fans’ hearts, though they will need a bit of a mathematical miracle to ensure that that flame is not extinguished. They will need to beat AZ Alkmaar, a team who has had a disappointing Champions League run, by a solid margin and then require Arsenal to thump Olympiacos. While this is possible, it’s most likely that the Greek champions to move on through in the group’s number two slot.

That’s it from us at Cheddarbomb for now. Stay tuned to cheddarbomb.wordpress.com for the predictions results post once the dust has settled on the final day of round robin play.

L’occasione era ghiotta per agguantare il secondo posto in classifica e restare in scia a un’Inter sempre più lanciata in vetta alla classifica di serie A. Il Milan ne approfitta cogliendo un successo al Massimino contro un Catania coperto e deciso ad ottenere un risultato positivo. E’ stato Huntelaar l’uomo in più dei rossoneri che nel primo tempo hanno avuto una buona occasione con Seedorf. Nella ripresa ci ha provato Ronaldinho su calcio piazzato e Pato dal limite, ma anche i rossazzurri con Spolli si sono resi pericolosi. L’ingresso di Huntelaar ha restituito efficacia all’attacco milanista. Sfortunato Ronaldinho: direttamente da calcio d’angolo il brasiliano ha colto l’incrocio dei pali. Ci ha pensato l’olandese, nei minuti di recupero, con una doppietta a regalare il successo al Milan che scavalca al secondo posto la Juve.

Un’ingenuità di Comotto (fallo da rigore su Milito e trasformato dalo stesso argentino) regala un prezioso successo all’Inter quando ormai il match con la Fiorentina sembrava indirizzato sullo 0-0. Gara emozionante al Meazza con Balotelli (punito per un ritardo) a guardare i suoi compagni dalla tribuna. Viola ben messi in campo e sempre pronti a ripartire, mentre nerazzurri in gol (annullato) con Samuel nella ripresa. Nel finale clamorosa palla gol fallita da Gilardino che coglie il palo. Sul capovolgimento di fronte fallo di Comotto in area: calcio di rigore trasformato da Milito e successo preziosissimo per gli uomini di Mourinho.

Crisi nera per la Juventus che dopo la sconfitta di Champions perde al Sant’Elia in una gara in cui Ferrara ha tenuto per 60′ Del Piero in panchina. Il gol di Nenè, un vero e proprio capolavoro balistico, ha portato in vantaggio i rossoblù. Nel primo tempo gol annullato ad Amauri per netto fuorigioco, mentre nella ripresa vibrate proteste del brasiliano atterrato in area. Matri ha chiuso i conti sul 2-0. Continua la risalita la Roma che espugna Bergamo dopo essere passata in svantaggio contro l’Atalanta. Di Vucinic e Perrotta le marcature per il 2-1 finale.

Accarezza a lungo il successo il Napoli che con il sostituto di Lavezzi, Denis, passa in vantaggio prima di essere raggiunto nel finale da un rigore di Amoruso che inchioda il punteggio sull’1-1. Non funziona in campionato la cura Delio Rossi per il Palermo battuto al Bentegodi 1-0 da una rete di Abbruscato. Il Bari rende amaro l’esordio di Malesani sulla panchina del Siena. Masiello e Greco firmano il 2-1 dei pugliesi. Termina 0-0 e con poche emozioni Lazio-Bologna.

Clicca qui per gli highlights della Serie A

It seems as though derby season is upon us; there have been quite a few this weekend and next weekend the most anticipated match in Roma’s season (and the greatest derby in Italy) gets underway. But, before we can start our countdown to a good Biancocelesti thrashing, we have to deal with all the derbies (and mundane regular matches) going down this weekend. Shall we?

Football:

Somebody get this guy a Red shirt.

Liverpool 2-0 Everton (The Merseyside Derby) – Well, the Scousers went head to head today as strugglers Everton took on strugglers Liverpool. It was a battle of the underachievers, with both Rafa Benitez and David Moyes’ sides badly needing the points and morale boost that come from a derby win. In a season when both sides have fared so poorly both in league and European competitions, it comes as no surprise that today’s match was decided not by a particularly heroic individual effort but by a particularly atrocious performance. A pair of grievous mistakes from Everton defender Joseph Yobo gifted the Reds a 2-0 victory, much to the dismay of the Toffeemakers’ fans at Goodison Park. Yobo put the visitors ahead in the 12th minute, putting his foot out and tipping a long-range effort from Javier Mascherano (which was veering well wide of the net, I might add) past Tim Howard and into the back of his own goal. It was a typically scrappy derby match, and Russian wiz Diniyar Bilyaletdinov nearly leveled the score 6 minutes later in the beginning of what was a very back-and-forth first half. Everton found the back of the net twice and were twice disallowed, but the home support were buoyed by their side’s performance and were left singing at the half despite the score remaining 1-0. However, they wouldn’t be singing at fulltime – their side failed to equalize in the second half with Pepe Reina denying the Blues over and over again, seemingly through sheer determination and a bit of luck. When it finally occurred on 81′, the second error from Joseph Yobo would all but put the game out of Everton’s reach. The Nigerian whiffed on an aerial clearance, leading to a shot from Albert Riera before Dirk Kuyt buried the rebound to make it 2-0. Ten minutes later, it was the away support who were singing as another Merseyside derby came to pass.

Manchester Utd 4-1 Portsmouth – Ah, our first non-derby match of the weekend. Still though, there is a bit of history here – the last time Avram Grant came up against Sir Alex Ferguson on the touchline was in the 2008 Champions League final, with Chelsea just one slip away from being crowned Champions of Europe. Despite being runners up in that competition and in the EPL, Grant was sacked as Chelsea manager, left to ponder what could have been. Yesterday he made his (unofficial) return to coaching, this time as manager of strugglers Portsmouth, who are looking to turn their fortunes around after going through 3 owners and 2 managers already this year. Fergie himself had to watch the match from the stands, as he is currently serving a touchline ban – luckily the match was quite a spectacle, abundant with soft penalties and controversy. On 25′ the visitors were awarded a somewhat questionable penalty which Wayne Rooney buried from the spot. The Fratton Park crowd could not complain too much, though, as 6 minutes later their side was awarded an even more inexplicable penalty which Kevin Prince Boateng was able to convert – apparently awarded for some rather run-of-the-mill shirt tugging by Nemanja Vidic. The teams went into the half level, but it would not take United much longer to find their stride. Within the first 8′ minutes of the second period Wayne Rooney would complete his hattrick with a low shot on 48′ and a second penalty on 53′. Ryan Giggs would top it all off on 87′ with the 100th Premiership goal of his career, making it 4-1 United and ensuring that Avram Grant will have Fergie-related nightmares for a while yet.

Tottenham 1-1 Aston Villa – It’s always difficult to come down after an incredible high. No, I’m not referring to my own struggles with substance abuse (fictional, I assure you), but rather the 9-1 victory which the Spurs were able to achieve over Wigan Athletic last weekend. Instead of repeating that incredible feat, the Lilywhites were held to an unremarkable draw at Villa Park. Gabriel Agbonlahor gave the home side an early lead on 10′, but Michael Dawson was able to level for Tottenham late in the match to earn his side a point and lift them to 3rd place in the English Premier League. Not an overly impressive performance from Harry Redknapp’s side, but they did just enough to keep themselves in the Premiership race.

Chelsea 3-0 Arsenal (The London Derby) – Realistically, there are more intense traditional rivalries in London town; historically Chelsea and Arsenal have been less concerned with each other than their other London neighbours. However, the rise of Chelsea into the big four of Premiership football means that in recent years these two sides have been forced into competition with one another at the top of the table and as a direct result their rivalry has become much more intense. Today’s London derby turned out to be an absolute rout from the Blues, who have been in tip-top form all season under Carlo Ancelotti, decimating Arsene Wenger’s depleted side who have been just shy of top form of late. It was another episode of the Didier Drogba show at the Emirates, with the big Ivorian grabbing the brace to all but destroy the Gunners and keep his fantastic record against Wenger’s side alive – Drogba has found the net in each of the last 9 matches played against Arsenal. Drogba opened the scoring on 41′, firing from close range into the top of Almunia’s net after some impeccable service from Ashley Cole. Just 4 minutes later Cole would again play the role of provider, but this time it was Arsenal man Thomas Vermaelen who turned the ball into his own net – giving the home side plenty to think about as they retired for the halftime interval. Just after the break Arsenal should have made it 2-1 when Andrei Arshavin blasted a rebound past Petr Cech and into the Blues’ net, but the goal was disallowed for an alleged foul on the Czech keeper by Gunners man Eduardo. Despite some dangerous efforts, Chelsea dominated play for much of the second half; their persistence paid off on 86′ when (guess who?) Didier Drogba struck again from a free kick just outside the area, blasting past the wall and away from Manuel Almunia into the back of the net. Ultimately, Ancelotti’s side would cruise to a relatively easy win, taking advantage of a depleted and demoralized Arsenal side to further their dominance atop the Premiership table. Chelsea have now recorded wins this season against all of their fellow big four sides – a positive omen if there ever was one.

Manchester City 1-1 Hull City – Oh, and City drew their 7th straight game after Shaun Wright-Phillips’ opener was cancelled out by a late penalty converted by Jimmy Bullard.

Calcio:

Inter 1-0 Fiorentina – Oh, Inter. I am growing to hate you so. In a game when Jose Mourinho’s side played poorly and were well-met by an organized outing from Cesare Prandelli’s men, it would be a penalty kick which separated the two sides in the end and allowed i Nerazzurri to go 8 points clear atop the Serie A table. It’s so typical of this side to underachieve thoroughly and then get by on the skin of their teeth that I shouldn’t be surprised, but yet I am disappointed each time a more deserving team outplays them and ultimately falls, especially due to this sort of misfortune. I’m not saying that the penalty wasn’t there, but had it not been for Gianluca Comotto’s hotheadedness, or had Alberto Gilardino buried his one-on-one chance against Julio Cesar instead of hitting the post just moments earlier, then Inter surely would have dropped points on the evening. In the end, Diego Milito’s penalty made the difference in a match full of could’ve-beens for La Viola that was perhaps ultimately a shouldn’t-have-been for La Beneamata.

Genoa 3-0 Sampdoria (il Derbi della Lanterna) – The Genovese derby, or il Derbi della Lanterna, as it is known, always produces some fireworks. This year’s was no different, as i Grifoni demolished i Blucerchiati in a game that had as many goals as it did red cards. Omar Milanetto opened the scoring for Genoa on 10′ with a spot kick after Reto Ziegler executed a clumsy tackle in the box. Genoa’s Giuseppe Biava was sent off for handling the ball as he fell to the ground, Sampdoria’s Marco Rossi received two yellows, and his teammate Fabrizio Cacciatore received a straight red late in the match. Meanwhile, Genoa’s Marco Rossi (yes, there are two of them) scored on 53′ and Raffaele Palladino capped off the victory with a spot kick on 75′. An eventful and exciting derby, and also a hard-fought one, which I’m sure an inspection of Antonio Cassano’s shins would tell you. They really don’t like that guy, eh? I bet Lippi calls up the whole team come June.

Cagliari 2-0 Juventus – La Vecchia Signora ha perso contro… gli Isolani? Cagliari managed to pull one (better yet, two) over on their visitors at the Stadio San’Elia today, snatching all three points from a rather toothless Old Lady. I think I’ve waited long enough to say this – Klaas-Jan Huntelaar has certainly been a huge flop at AC Milan this season, but realistically, what has Diego done for Juventus’ offense lately? I’ll tell you what he did today: not enough. Their confidence shattered by a midweek loss to Bordeaux, Juventus fell about play clumsily and were victimized by a sharp and determined performance from the Sardinians. The home side opened the scoring on 30′ when Nenê unleashed  35-yard screamer that blasted into Buffon’s top corner. Juventus struggled to respond, and with their own Brazilian Diego firing well-wide before the half, went into the break with a much-deserved 1-0 deficit. After the interval, Amauri thought he had grabbed a quick equalizer for his side, but the goal was correctly disallowed for offside, leaving Cagliari keeper Federico Marchetti more than happy to pick the ball out of the back of the net. Cagliari also had fair claim to a spot kick after Martin Cácares handled the ball in the area, but the referee adjudged it ball-to-hand and play continued. A late goal would come to pass, but it would not be the strike that Juventus needed: substitute Alessandro Matri turned Fabio Cannavaro absolutely inside-out before slotting past Gigi Buffon in the 89th minute. Both Diego and substitute Alessandro Del Piero would miss absolute sitters for the visitors in added time and Juventus were forced to swallow their second humbling defeat in 5 days, dropping to 8 points behind league-leaders Inter.

Vucigol had me praising the heavens with his 44th-minute header.

AS Roma 2-1 Atalanta – An ugly, nervy, but ultimately deserved away win. I couldn’t be happier. Though dominations at the Stadio Olimpico like the one last weekend over Bari are a joy to watch, they are expected – those are the games that we will always win, because the magic of the Olimpico rarely fails us. However, it is matches like today’s at the Stadio Atleti Azzurri D’Italia that are must-wins for i Giallorossi, because they are the ones where we so often lose our nerve and drop points against teams we would easily beat at home. It’s not called an advantage for nothing, you know. Luckily, Roma was able to pull out a comeback win against gli Orobici today after Fabio Ceravolo gave the home side the lead on 13′. Roma looked decidedly lackluster for huge spells during the first half, but were able to grab a set-piece goal just before the half as Mirko Vučinić nodded home a corner from David Pizarro on 44′. Simone Perrotta was able to give his side the lead 20 minutes later, ghosting into the box unnoticed to head home a cross from Vučinić. After gaining the lead, i Lupi simply fought to maintain it. The substitutions of Jérémy Ménez for Rodrigo Taddei and Roberto Acquafresca for Cristiano Doni changed the entire complexion of the game; suddenly Roma were on the backheel and fighting only to maintain their lead while the home side heaped on piles of offensive pressure. For the most part Roma held up nicely under the waves of attack; Riise almost scored an own-goal on 85′ but instead cleared the ball nicely, while Atalanta had a legitimate appeal for a penalty on Juan two minutes later which was happily waved off. Finally the fulltime whistle blew and Roma were able to take a much-needed 3 points home to Trigoria. We’ve finally cracked the top 10! Rejoice ironically – but only for a second. We have il Derbi della Capitale to think about.

Udinese 2-0 Livorno – The other Bianconeri were able to achieve a much better result this weekend than Juventus. A cracker of a free kick from Antonio Di Natale opened the scoring on 29′, bringing his total for the season to a round 10. 7 minutes later, Antonio Floro Flores doubled his side’s money, heading home after a build-up that was again largely the work of Di Natale. The one-two punch was more than enough to subdue the Tuscan visitors at the Stadio Friuli and le Zebrette ran away with the 2-goal win. I almost feel bad for Sersi Cosmi, fervent Romanista that he is, until I remember that it was his cursed side which sent us on the downward spiral earlier this season from which we are just now recovering (ie, getting Totti back). But then again, Udinese was a part of that spiral too… Aw, to hell with the both of them.

The Hunter finally found his gun!

AC Milan 2-0 Catania - AC Milan were given a golden opportunity to leapfrog Juventus in the standings this weekend, with i Bianconeri dropping points at Cagliari and i Rossoneri overcame Catania in Sicily to make the most of that chance. Leonardo’s side were held to a goalless draw by the Rossazzurri for 93 minutes, but Milan ‘flop’ Klaas-Jan Huntelaar finally made good on his promise to score an added time brace and catapult his side into second place. First the Dutchman sent a low strike in after some lovely control by Filippo Inzaghi, and then only seconds later after the restart he struck again, chipping Andújar beautifully to make it 2-0 for Milan. Well, the Hunter certainly took his time, but it seems that he has finally found his form for his new side – and his timing couldn’t have been better.

Futbol:

Ibra done good.

Barcelona 1-0 Real Madrid (El Clásico)- Well, it might be called El Clásico, but there was nothing ‘classic’ about Spain’s biggest derby this evening. Barcelona and Real Madrid played out a scrappy game in which neither truly came into their stride or were able to showcase their own particular brand of football. Despite injury concerns, Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Zlatan Ibrahimovic were all able to feature in the game, but the big Swede would be the only one to make his mark on the match. The Camp Nou was buzzing with energy as 98,000 of los Culés welcomed their most hated rivals to their home ground. Madrid, however, were not daunted, and were the first to impress, with Xabi Alonso and Kaká putting in perhaps their most impressive performances in the shirt of Los Blancos to date. Cristiano Ronaldo played for a solid hour, but was clearly not at full fitness and unable to terrorize the Barcelona backline as he might have wished. Meanwhile, Lionel Messi caused all sorts of trouble but was ultimately kept fairly quiet by Real Madrid’s defense, who put in a surprisingly solid performance. It was the combination of the substitute Ibrahimovic and Dani Alves which would prove deadly, as the diminutive right-back put in an inch-perfect cross which Ibracadabra struck home with authority to put the home side ahead on 55′. However, that would be the only goal of the match, and besides red cards for both Sergi Busquets (63′) and Lassana Diarra (90′), there was not much other action to speak of. In fact, in light of the last Clásico, in which Barca drubbed Madrid 6-2, tonight’s match was a bit of a dud.

Sevilla 2-2 Málaga (Andalusian Derby) – Sevilla’s closest (and fiercest) rivals are Real Betis, against whom they contest the Derby of Seville. However, with Real Betis currently languishing in Segunda División, Sevilla’s closest rivals in the interestingly-named Autonomous Community of Andalucía are perhaps their neighbours in Málaga, who are currently languishing at the bottom of the Primera División. So, we have the Andalusian Derby; and while the rivalry might not be as intense as El Clásico, I personally found the game itself to be much more entertaining. At the Estadio Sánchez Pizjuán Sevilla were looking to bounce back from a 1-0 defeat in midweek to Romanian side Unirea Urziceni, but they certainly did not get off to a good start. Although in a bizarre incident Málaga substitute Albert Luque was shown the red card from the bench, it was still the visitors who took the early lead. Fernando opened up the scoring for the visitors on 22′, and Duda made it 2-0 just before the half after being set up by Fernando. It seemed as though Málaga were headed towards all three points, but a spectacular second-half performance from Luis Fabiano ensured that the spoils were shared in Seville this weekend. The Brazilian struck first on 58′, heading home past Gustavo Munúa, and then on 72′ struck again, smashing the ball into the lower corner of the net to bring his side level. Both sides fought hard for an equalizer, and Sevilla came closest right at the death with a point-blank header from Fernando Navarro that Munúa probably saved by accident. In the end, each team would come away with a single point in a 2-2 draw that was anything but uneventful.

Fußball:

Bayern München 3-0 Hannover 96 – Well, it seems that die Roten have finally regained their lost form, overcoming midtable side Hannover 96 with ease in a match that featured goals from two of their most talented young stars. Thomas Müller tapped in from close range on 19′ to open the scoring, but Bayern looked shaky at times and were not convincing in their possession of the ball. Constant Djakpa caused all sorts of trouble for Phillip Lahm up the flank, and drew a good save from Hans-Jörg Butt, but was unable to affect the scoreline before the stroke of halftime. Ivica Olic made sure that the visitors got off to a good start in the second half, rising at the far post to meet a Danijel Pranjic cross with his head and double Bayern’s lead. For the rest of the half the home side did everything they could do to reduce Bayern’s lead, but to no avail – it would ultimately be Mario Gomez who would get the last laugh, beating the offside trap on 90′ and slotting home to make it 3-0 for his side. This victory sees Bayern rise to 4th in the Bundesliga standings, while Hannover 96 sit at 12th.

Someone control this guy!

Bayer Leverkusen 4-0 VfB Stuttgart – Leverkusen exit this weekend sitting three point clear atop the Bundesliga table, and it can largely be contributed to one man: Stefan Kießling. The 25-year old striker has been absolutely on fire for his club of late and bagged a hattrick this weekend at the Bayarena to cement his place atop the German scoring charts as well. Kießling struck on 22′, 59′ and 87′, while Eren Derdiyok added a goal of his own on 38′ to complete a 4-0 drubbing of a lacklustre Stuttgart side.

Werder Bremen 2-2 VfL Wolfsburg – Edin Dzeko’s double was not enough for the reigning Bundesliga champions to grab all three points away at the Weserstadion. Each time the young Bosnian scored to give his side the lead, the home side were quick to equalize, and ultimately the two squads cancelled one another out and had to settle for a point apiece. Hugo Almeida and Per Mertesacker were on hand to restore parity for their side, with the latter scoring at the very death in the 91st minute of stoppage time. The sharing of points means that Werder Bremen now sit at 2nd place in the Bundesliga standings, while Wolfsburg remain 8th.

]]> http://apintofthebitter.wordpress.com/2009/11/24/well-well-well-what-did-you-expect/ Tue, 24 Nov 2009 23:16:10 +0000 Justin http://apintofthebitter.wordpress.com/2009/11/24/well-well-well-what-did-you-expect/

It’s a fun-filled week after that excruciatingly long (in my mind) and pointless (ditto) International break. I won’t spoil too much (up here) because there are a few matches to take joy from today and I wouldn’t want to steal my own thunder by spilling the beans right away. So I’m just gonna take it slow and leave the best posts to la -

ACF Fiorentina 1-0 Olympique Lyonnais – Well, La Viola have sealed their Group of 16 qualification! Fiorentina will be joining their French compatriots (ha!), having defeated said Frenchmen by a single goal at the Stadio Artemio Franchi this evening. It would be Juan Manuel Vargas who provided the difference for the home side, with a spot kick on 27′ after AC Milan almost-signing Aly Cissokho downed Marco Marchionni in Les Gones’ area. However, I think the true credit for the victory belongs to Sebastien Frey, whose stellar display between the sticks saved Cesare Prandelli’s men’s collective behinds time and time again – their defense simply is not the same without Alessandro Gamberini marshalling the back line. Oh, one other minor detail regarding their match: it eliminated Liverpool  from the Champions League. Humble Fiorentina move on, while the Scousers are sent home to cry in their… scouse. Beating up on a French team and an English team with the same result? Two birds with one stone, I say. All that’s left to do is seal first place with a victory at Anfield – normally a tall order, but hell, I’m feeling good about it right now.

Your clock is ticking, Rafa!

Liverpool 1-0 Debrecen – Need I even bother? Does it matter? Liverpool have been knocked out of the Champions League as a result of La Viola’s win over Lyon (for those of you who may have skipped the above paragraph) David Ngog put the Reds ahead early in a game which they started confidently – the Frenchmen was first to the ball within the box on 4′ to poke home and give his side an early 1-0 lead. Rafa Benitez’s men put in a spirited performance in the first half, but by the second they were well away what the score was in Firenze and, with their destiny out of their hands, seemed content to simply boot the ball around. Now completely out of Champions League running despite tonight’s victory, the only heart that the Merseysiders can take is in the fact that they can get their revenge on Fiorentina by spoiling their 1st place hopes at Anfield in 2 weeks time. It seems strange after a victory, but Rafa Benitez unemployment watch, anyone?

Rubin Kazan 0-0 Dynamo Kiev – Rubin Kazan were crowned Russian champions earlier this week, but were unable to work any magic in snowy Tatarstan tonight to bolster their European hopes. Both the Russians and Ukrainians seemed aware of the importance of the match, which could have seen either rise to within grasping distance of Round of 16 qualification, and both sides started the match with tense and tentative play, unwilling to give ground but unwilling to push too far forward as well. The visitors actually dominated the play for much of the match, carrying possession and keeping the Rubinovye on their heels. However, it would be the Russians who came closest to scoring in the 90 minutes, with Oleksander Shovkovski being forced to swat away an acrobatic attempt from Alejandro Dominguez just before the halftime interval. In the end, neither side would get ahead, but both still have a chance of qualification thanks to the result that Barcelona and Inter achieved at the Camp Nou this evening.

Xavi will haunt Jose's nightmares for weeks.

Barcelona 2-0 Inter – Ah, the European Inter we know and hate – and the European Barcelona that we know and (some people) love. Italy’s most dominant team domestically once again failed to show up on the European stage, and were beaten black and blue (get it?) all over the pitch by a dominant Blaugrana side in Catalonia. It was all Barcelona from the very start, as the home side started early and didn’t really slow it down until the match was more than won. I Nerazzurri were reminded of their own glaring deficiencies as they found themselves unable to deal with Barca’s more technically proficient midfield (Xavi, anyone?) and perhaps the more forward-thinking tactics of Pep Guardiola. Barcelona struck twice early in the match, with Gerard Piqué side-footing in a corner on 10′ and Pedro volleying into the top corner after some beautiful team build-up on 27′. To illustrate the point of Catalan dominance, Inter didn’t even get their first shot off until 35′, and Victor Valdés wasn’t called into action until almost halftime to make a routine save on Il Principe, Diego Milito, who wasn’t looking very princely tonight. The scoreline could have been a lot higher if not for the world-class netminding of Julio Cesar, who proved a strong last line of defense against Barcelona’s constant onslaught. Though not exactly a blowout, Inter’s match has shown once again that Jose Mourinho’s men simply do not have the quality or the mentality to succeed in European football. Mourinho himself spoke of the large gap in quality after the match, citing individual talent as a key area in which La Beneamata simply could not compete. I tend to agree, and with creative genius Wesley Sneijder sidelined that gap becomes even more apparent, but I also think it comes down to tactics. Barcelona always play football on their own terms, with brilliant passing and constant movement, while Mourinho’s men play a more tentative game, content to simply grind out wins while expressing only momentary flashes of genius. Regardless of this result, it seems that both these sides will be advancing to the next round (unless Inter lose at home to Rubin Kazan in a fortnight), but to be swatted out of the Camp Nou so easily is surely a blow to i Nerazzurri and especially their loudmouthed tecnico.

Arsenal 2-0 Standard Liege – A run of the mill match for Arsenal – a Beer and Waffles speedbump, if you will. The Londoners cruised past their visitors at the Emirates Stadium on the strength of 2 first-half goals from Samir Nasri and Denilson on 35′ and 45′ respectively. Manuel Almunia was saved his blushes once by the grace of the woodwork, but other than that it was mostly smooth sailing for the Gunners, who have apparently bounced back nicely after a half-arsed defeat to Sunderland on the weekend. As predicted/warned waaay back when, Arsene Wenger’s men have topped Group H with ease.

Unirea Urziceni 1-0 Sevilla – This one’s just up here for its comic value. Sevilla have looked strong all season, both domestically and in European competition, but have fallen for the first time in these group stages after the Romanians were gifted a win through an Ivica Dragutinovic own-goal and the help of the woodwork. The match’s only goal came just before the interval, with the Serbian defender heading an incoming long ball directly into the back of his own net. Comic gold, that (when it’s not happening to you, anyways). Though the Andalusians continued to dominate much of the play throughout the second half, they were unable to overcome that deficit and ultimately fell to the home side in Bucharest. Dragutinovic’s own-goal may have helped the Romanian side to qualify, as they now sit second in the group behind Los Rojiblancos with 8 points. Interestingly, Urziceni have only score 6 goals in this competition, and 3 of those have been own-goals gifted to them by their opponents! If these guys make it through, they’ve definitely earned it.

These are th- Well, you get the point.

Diego Milito tikisi 3 taškų mače prieš "Barcelona".

Milano “Inter” puolėjas Diego Milito prieš rytojaus išvykos dvikovą su “Barcelona” klubu nusiteikęs itin kovingai ir tikisi tik pergalės.

“Atvykome į Barseloną, norime laimėti ir patekti į sekantį etapą. Jei sužaisime pergalingai, kartu tai bus didelis psichologinis pakylėjimas ateities kovoms”, – kalbėjo 30 metų argentinietis.

Po 4 turų Čempionų lygos F grupėje Italijos klubas užima 1 vietą (6 taškai), o “Barcelona” – 3 (5 taškai).

Why do I always type a little blurb here? It never really says anything; I just feel weird diving straight into the match results themselves without any preamble. It’s too… impersonal that way. So hello, hi, here we are, so let’s get down to it:

Calcio:

AS Roma Totti 3-1 Bari – Romanisti always repeat one thing when Er Pupone is sidelined: No Totti, no Party. But sometimes we get so caught up in our own negativity that we forget the flip-side of that equation: Totti = party. Er Capitano made his return today against Bari, back from over a month out after going into knee surgery earlier in the season. And just to remind us why we miss him when he’s gone, he scored a hattrick. In the first half hour. The first came on 7′ – a spot kick after Jean-François Gillet downed Mirko Vucinic in the area. Then, only 7 minutes later, Totti launched a searing free-kick into the back of the net to make it 2-0. On 28′, he scored a world-class – and seemingly impossible – goal, beating Bari’s defense, Gillet and firing an acute-angle shot into the far corner. Beauty. Roma did their usual thing in the second half, sitting comfortably back on their large lead and letting i Galletti tire themselves out. However, the visitors finally pulled one back when youngster Marco Andreolli nodded the ball into his own net on 73′. A bit of a blemish, but a pretty good party nonetheless. To Gillet’s credit, he was outstanding for most of the match (those stretches when Totti was not destroying his self esteem), as was Julio Sergio, who was very solid behind the Roman back four. Mirko Vucinic was phenomenal, back to his old self again, while the only real black spot for Roma was Nicolas Burdisso, who was an absolute horrorshow at right-back. Also, the own goal was unfortunate. But all in all, a very good party with Er Capitano back at the helm. I can’t wait until we get Danielino back – then we can really party.

Inter 3-1  Bologna – The Inter Offside webpage referred to this match as a ‘Mortadella Speedbump’ — that pretty much sums it up for me. The reigning champions probably felt as if they could simply stroll into the Stadio Dall’Ara and come back out with three easy points, and their hosts failed to prove them wrong. There was a bit of tension early in the match; Diego Milito put Inter ahead on 22′ off of a corner from Maicon, only for Marcelo Zalayeta to equalize within 60 seconds, smashing the ball past Julio Cesar and into the top corner. The next 20 minutes saw both teams get really into the game, but Mario Balotelli should have put his side ahead when he beat the Bologna backline and dummied ‘keeper Emiliano Viviano – only to waste enough time that Viviano was able to get up and rob him of his much belated shot. One could see Jose Mourinho rise from his bench, flailing in anger. However, Supermario was able to atone for his sins just before the half; another Maicon corner saw the young striker rise powerfully in the air and head home to make it 2-1 for the Nerazzurri. He picked up a knock in the process, however, and was subbed off for Samuel Eto’o, who made a rare start on the bench. The visitors would make their lead more comfortable midway through the second half, with Esteban Cambiasso, who was in excellent form, burying a left-foot strike on 72′. To be honest, the hosts never looked like they were going to get back into the game, and Inter cruised to a comfortable win over the Emiliani.

AC Milan 4-3 Cagliari – It was a bit of a rollercoaster ride in the San Siro this afternoon, but i Rossoneri came out on top. Clarence Seedorf gave the home side an early lead on 5′, but gli Isolani weren’t interested in falling behind and Alessandro Matri equalized just 3 minutes later. The visitors would take the lead on 30′ when Andrea Lazzari found himself completely unmarked at Milan’s back post and gave his side a 2-1 lead. This time though, it was Milan’s turn to come from behind, as Marco Borriello and Alexandre Pato bagged a pair of goals in quick succession to put their side up 3-2 by the 39th minute. Pato’s goal was particularly nice, a rocket-powered blast into the top shelf which sent the San Siro crowd into an uproar. Milan would further consolidate their lead after the break, with Ronaldinho stepping up to the spot after Borriello had been felled in the area and burying it, sending Federico Marchetti the wrong way. He seems to score all of his goals that way, doesn’t he? More on him later. Cagliari was able to reduce Milan’s lead to a single goal when Nenê beat Dida on 68′, but Milan would hold onto their rather precarious lead and edge their visitors 4-3 in what turned out to be an exciting goalfest. Now, Ronaldinho. He was quite possibly – I’d almost say easily – the man of the match; back to his Barcelona form and full of tricks and flicks. That he only got onto the scoresheet via PK is misleading, as he was the creative force behind Milan’s devastating offense all night. That being said, their defending was quite shoddy, and against a better team (no offense, Cagliari, I like you guys) they might have come away with a rather different result. That being said, an excellent high-scoring match to put il Diavolo into 3rd place. Who says Serie A is boring?

Juventus 1-0 Udinese – Oh that’s right, Juventini say Serie A is boring. Because Juve is boring. I Bianconeri edged, well, i Bianconeri in Turin to keep their Scudetto hopes alive tonight. After the kickoff, it was all Juventus; Diego and Mauro Camoranesi both came close in the first quarter of an hour. After that though, the game went into a bit of a lull, and neither side looked dangerous (or did anything important) before the halftime break – unless you count a Udinese goal rightly disallowed for offside. After the restart, it was once again Juventus who set the pace, and this time it paid off. Summer signing Martin Cácares set up summer signing Fabio Grosso, who beat Samir Handanovic with ease to put the home side up 1-0 on 51′. Udinese fought hard throughout the remainder of the half, and both Handanovic and Gigi Buffon were called upon to make class saves, but ultimately the most exciting thing to happen before the fulltime whistle was Alessandro Del Piero’s appearance as a substitute. Juventino or not, you gotta love that guy.

Football:

A hattrick? No, that was just a warm-up.

Tottenham Hotspur 9-1 Wigan Athletic – Stop the press! What in God’s name do they put in the water in Tottenham? The Spurs recorded the second-biggest Premiership blowout in history at White Hart Lane over a hapless Wigan Athletic, with Jermain Defoe grabbing 5 himself in the second half. Peter Crouch opened the scoring for the home side on 9′, and believe it or not, that was it for the first half. Defoe got started right away after the break though, netting on 51′ and 54′, before Paul Scharner (who may have also pulled a Thierry Henry) pulled one back for the Latics to make it 3-1 on 57′. Defoe wasn’t done yet though, and to complete his hattrick restored the Spurs 3-goal margin just seconds later. Aaron Lennon got in on the action with a goal of his own on 64′, and then Jermain Defoe topped off his hattrick with a brace on 69′ and 87′. Chris Kirkland put the ball into his own net on 88′ to make it 8-1, and then Niko Kranjcar scored in the 4th minute of stoppage time to make the scoreline a whopping 9-1. To put this into perspective, didn’t table-toppers Chelsea lose to Wigan this season? Holy shit, dude.

Chelsea 4-0 Wolverhampton – Speaking of Chelsea, Carlo Ancelotti’s men took part in a rout of their own this weekend, though it seems rather paltry in comparison with their London neighbours’ rather excessive beatdown. The Wolves simply had no chance at Stamford Bridge, and with Florent Malouda opening the scoring with a 25-yard strike on 5′, it seemed a cricket score was imminent. Michael Essien furthered that notion, bagging a brace within a 10 minute span by finding the back of the Wolves’ net on 12′ and 22′. The visitors simply had no response to the dominant Chelsea play, and their ill-advised 2-5-3 formation left plenty of gaps for the Blues to exploit. The teams went into the half with the score 3-0, but not before Sylvain Ebanks-Blake forced a class save from Petr Cech. As the game progressed, Wolverhampton reverted to a more solid 4-4-2, it was not enough to stop Joe Cole from scoring his first Premiership goal in over a year, making the score 4-0. Another quite impressive blowout/shutout from Ancelotti’s men, but until they score 9 goals I think they’ll feel that their crosstown rivals have the upper hand. Then again, they’re leading the league, so who cares about the Spurs?

Liverpool 2-2- Manchester City – Every time a Koppite cries, and angel get its wings. Or so I’ve been led to believe. Either way, both the Reds and the Blues (no, no, other Reds. Other Blues too.) dropped points and further away from the top 4 with a 4-goal draw at Anfield on Saturday. Martin Skrtel gave the home side the lead on 50′, only for Emmanuel Adebayor and Stephen Ireland to respond on 69′ and 76′ respectively to give the Citizens a 2-1 lead. A loss at this stage in the competition would have meant disaster for the Scousers, but luckily Yossi Benayoun cut any Mancunian celebrations short by responding with a goal of his own on 77′ to equalize and make it 2-2. And 2-2 the score would remain. This result is neither a complete disaster for Mark Hughes or Rafa Benitez, but you gotta think that the two of them, and their grossly underperforming squads, have gotta be feeling a little uncomfortable right now.

Manchester Utd 3-0 Everton – As for the other Reds and Blues of Manchester and Liverpool, a draw was not in the cards. The Red Devils trounced the Toffeemakers at Old Trafford to stay within five points of Chelsea in the table. Darren Fletcher opened the scoring for the homeside on 35′ with a beautiful goal that has been compared (somewhat hyperbolically) to the work of Zinedine Zidane. After the half Michael Carrick and Luis Antonio Valencia would add a goal each, while David Moyes’ men could do little but keep the scoreline respectable. I gotta say, the Merseyside derby is going to be downright depressing this year…

Pictured: Arsenal player not fit for today's match.

Sunderland 1-0 Arsenal – Oh, Arsenal. The Gooners had gone over a dozen games without a loss, but as usual Arsene Wenger’s men got a little too close to the sun and their wings simply burned up. Also, they had a lot of injuries. The Londoners put in an unfocused and ramshackle performance against a determined Sunderland side who clearly wanted the result more. And they got it. Sunderland simply rode out wave after wave of potent Arsenal attacking play, though admittedly, it didn’t seem like the Gunners wanted to do much other than controlling the ball in midfield. On 71′, the home side finally got their chance and Darren Bent buried it to make the score 1-0 for the Black Cats. Wenger’s men had simply no will to get back into the game (perhaps their minds were occupied with thoughts of next week’s clash against Chelsea) and ultimately fell to a steely Sunderland side. This is the second time this year that the Black Cats have beaten a top 4 side – and this time it can’t even be blamed on a beach ball.

Futbol:

Real Madrid 1-0 Racing Santander – Well, Los Galacticos are still without their biggest star – Cristiano Ronaldo – and they’re still not playing as ‘Galacticos’ perhaps should, but they’re finally where Galacticos should be: on top. Gonzalo Higuaín provided the difference that Manuel Pellegrini’s men needed to take down mid-table residents Racing Santander, with a strike from close range on 22′. Both sides had second-half goals disallowed for offsides, with both Karim Benzema and Sergio Canales putting the ball into the back of the net only to be notified by the referee that they need not celebrate. As has been the norm this year, Madrid did not completely convince, but their narrow victory was nevertheless enough to see them go top of the table for the first time this season after Barcelona picked up a similarly unconvincing result in Bilbao.

Because Bear Country is more frightening than Basque Country.

Barcelona 1-1 Athletic Bilbao – Treble Champions they may be, but at times this season Barcelona have failed to look the part. They faltered again in their title race during this weekend’s trip to Basque Country. Though many of their starting 11, including Zlatan Ibrahimovic, were out with knocks, one could still expect Barcelona to produce a result against midtable opponents such as Bilbao. Early in the match, Los Leones put pressure on their visitors, peppering them with corners and free kicks, while Barca looked simply content to play on the counter. Soon however, Barca wrested control of possession from their hosts, and began to look like the side to score, though when it came to finishing they came up empty – at least in the first half. However, after the restart the Blaugrana got off on the right foot, with Daniel Alves running on to the end of a perfect throughball from Xavi and finding the back of Bilbao’s net. Athletic immediately responded by bringing Toquero into the game; a move that would prove very effective as the substitute would equalize for the home side within 10 minutes of coming onto the pitch, running onto a long ball and smashing it home. All that was left to do for Bilbao was to park the bus and ride out the waves of Barcelona attacks – which they did – in order to gain a point and drop the reigning champions down to second place. What has happened to Pep Guardiola’s men?

Fußball:

Bayern München 1-1 Bayer Leverkusen – Well, Die Roten haven’t sunk any further into their slump, but they haven’t de-slumped either, achieving a draw against league-leading Bayer Leverkusen at the Allianz-Arena this weekend. Mario Gomez and Stephan Kießling each netted for their respective sides early on in the match; both goals came within the first 15 minutes of play. Bayern started off energetically, with their aggressive attack leading to Mario Gomez’s opener on 8′, which he sidefooted in on an advantage play after Miroslav Klose was fouled. However, their visitors soon caught up to them in pace and were able to exploit the home side’s defensive weaknesses; Kießling easily beat the offside trap and slotted the ball coolly past Hans-Jörg Butt to make it all square on 14′. Each team had spells of pacy and bright looking attack, but neither could capitalize during those stretches; Leverkusen keeper Rene Adler saved his side time and time again with world class saves to prevent Bayern from getting out in front. Even Thomas Müller, who has so often been Bayern’s ace-in-the-hole this season proved ineffectual, and was subbed in the second half for Ivica Olic, returning from a lengthy injury layoff. The chances petered out towards the end of the game, and a 1-1 draw it would remain – a result that sees Bayer reclaim 1st and Bayern languish in 7th.

Werder Bremen 6-0 SC Freiburg – Poor Freiburg. On more than a few occasions this season they have found themselvesin situations where they are simply out of their depth. The home side suffered a humbling defeat to Die Grün-Weißen in their own Badenova-Stadion, falling 6-0 in an all-out slaughter. Hugo Almeida opened the scoring for the visitors on 33′, Marko Marin added a second on 55′, Almeida doubled his money on 57′, Mesut Özil netted on 67′, Naldo on 73′ and substitute Markus Rosenberg made it 6-0 with 8 minutes left to play. Freiburg once again made a case for having the worst defense in the Bundesliga (they have the highest number of goals against; 30) and sit 13th in the league table, while this victory propels Werder Bremen to second, just a point behind leaders Bayer Leverkusen. I guess the English aren’t the only ones who know how to have a good blowout!

Photo courtesy Kris Voakes

UEFA Champions League nights in Milan can be enjoyed in very different ways, and Matchday 4 threw up polar opposite experiences for the city’s football fans.

Tuesday’s trip to the San Siro to witness AC Milan’s entertaining 1-1 draw with the Galácticos of Real Madrid provided the glamorous side of calcio, but it was Wednesday night’s nail-biter between Dynamo Kiev and Inter which provided all of the drama, and where better to experience this drama than with lifelong Interista Alessandro Polenghi, owner of Milan’s 442 sports pub, known locally as the first-choice place to watch football from all over the world.

With four screens capable of showing four different games at a time and walls covered by more than 200 scarves from around the world – plus more than 80 sat in the basement awaiting new wallspace from potential future expansion – the Milan pub is second only to the San Siro itself in the list of places to be in the city on Champions League nights.

As for Inter, their season has been very much the ultimate Jekyll-and-Hyde experience. Seven points clear atop Serie A, the Nerazzurri went into Wednesday’s match in Ukraine sitting at the bottom of Group F, more than a year on from their last win in European competition.

It was with this form in mind that landlord Alessandro predicted a long night ahead for his club. “We are not one of the best teams in Europe, and we do not play well in the Champions League, so I expect nothing tonight,” he claimed, expressing pessimism typical of those in blue and black on such nights. All this despite Barcelona’s failure to win at Rubin Kazan earlier in the night, meaning that an Inter win would see the Italian giants top their group with two games to play.

Alessandro’s pessimism seemed well-placed when ex-AC Milan forward Andriy Shevchenko’s deflected shot looped over Júlio César to give Dynamo a deserved half-time lead against a lacklustre Nerazzurri. Time, then, for Alessandro to vent his frustrations.

Or maybe not.

“I am calm because, as I said, I expect nothing from Inter in the Champions League.,” Alessandro said.  “If we go out, I’ll just buy some popcorn and watch everybody else fight it out for the trophy!”

What, though, of Inter manager José Mourinho, whose position has been questioned given the club’s precarious European future? “I wouldn’t sack him now, as it’s not a good idea to change mid-season, but at the end of the season he will be gone,” Alessandro told me.  “But at the end of the day, the manager can be the best or the worst in the world – It’s down to the players, and we don’t have the players for the Champions League.

“We have had only one chance and they have had three or four, but it was the same at home to Dynamo and also against Barcelona. At the end of the day, (those clubs) are just better than us.”

Wednesday’s second half threw up a change of emphasis for the Italian side, though, as a double substitution by Mourinho helped to bring about a more attacking second 45 minutes. Despite a number of chances coming and going, though, Inter still couldn’t break through.

Samuel Eto’o and Mario Balotelli squandered the best opportunities as the 442 customers grew increasingly nervous. A glance to the right told them Fiorentina were steaming past Debrecen, while the screen on the left was showing Liverpool’s late breakthrough in Lyon, but the locals’ own game still was not bringing them the result they craved.

By the time Diego Milito equalised in the 86th minute, Inter had more than deserved something from the game. In 4-4-2, the relief was palpable, but it had nothing on the atmosphere when Inter’s Wesley Sneijder fired home the winner three minutes later.

The scenes in the pub were akin to what you’d see on the Curva Nord inside the stadium.  Alessandro – a season ticket holder for Inter at San Siro – now buried under friends behind the bar as the Interisti celebrated their impending return to winning ways after eight consecutive European failures.

The result – and, more pertinently, the second half performance – suddenly brought new optimism, and Alessandro allowed himself a celebratory drink at full-time. “I think, in the end, Inter deserved it, though Dynamo defended very well. But that second half is as good as we’ve played in the Champions League for ages.

“Maybe Mourinho deserves some credit, but it all happened in the last five minutes. I didn’t expect a finish like that.”

So, could this dramatic win change Inter’s European fortunes?

“Maybe. We now have a great chance to qualify because Barca-Inter is now a kind of final for the group phase and we have the advantage of the draw,” Alessandro said.  “I still say there are better teams than us, but sometimes the winners are not the best team in the competition, like Porto and Liverpool were not.

“The Champions League is won in the last 16, the quarter-finals and the semi-finals… the final is a lottery. Hopefully we can now qualify as group winners and avoid a difficult game in the last 16.”

With that, he was back to work, but the bouncing and strutting that were now part of his demeanour had not been in evidence before kick-off. It typifies the new-found belief about Inter after their late, late show in Kiev. Don’t write them off just yet.

Kris Voakes

What a fantastic football game yesterday. It was a roller coaster ride that took Inter from last place to first! Mourinho went all out to get us our first win in nine Champions League games. At one point the team had one central defender on the pitch, and the way Lucio was playing you’d say he was an attacking midfielder. Zanetti yesterday played every position he could. Had Inter not won yesterday it would have been truly unfair. The second half was dominant.

Wesley Schneider’s influence on the team grows more and more each week. Mario Balotelli is making it impossible for the coach to keep him on the bench. Diego Milito is the calmest player I’ve seen in an Inter jersey. To be so relaxed in front of goal for that equalizer saved the day. It was impossible to sleep after the game last night. As you can tell from the quality writing that I’m still way too excited to even put in a coherent sentence.

Two weeks from now we go play Barcelona and lets hope we can carry this momentum. Its going to be a huge match up with the possibility of elimination looming on Barca’s head. Now I wonder what Zlatan would think of them apples? If we do not win, then we have a HUGE game against Rubin Kazan on the final group game. Exciting times!

Till then I’m going to bask in the wonder of last night’s win. The team is growing with each match. The injury spell is behind us and Jose can start fielding his best team from now on.

Forza INTERNAZIONALE

Better late than never, I suppose. Or at least, Jose Mourinho and Claude Puel will suppose. Hell, even Cesare Prandelli had to wait until the second half before his squad came to life. But I digress. Here’s what happened in CL business today:

"WTF HAXX"

Liverpool 1-1 Olympique Lyonnais – Another disappointing day in the life of a Reds fan. They fought and fought all night against Lyon, with Ryan Babel finally putting them ahead on 84′, only for Lisandro Lopez to rob them of all their hard work with a cheaply-had goal in extra time. Or so the story goes. But didn’t Lyon fight just as hard back to keep Liverpool scoreless for those 84 minutes? Don’t they deserve some credit for never saying die, even when it seemed Liverpool had already won the game at its last breath? I for one am not going to feel sorry for the Scousers – not this time – because this was a game that they knew they had to win, and the fact of the matter is that they didn’t do enough to win it. Sure Dirk Kuyt worked his ass off all game, but what good is hard work if you’re too exhausted to make sure you put in a quality performance in the final third of the pitch? That goes for you too, Javier Mascherano. Editor’s Note: This may not seem to make a whole lot of sense, but believe you me, it’s pure genius. I won’t say it wasn’t a disappointment for the ‘Pool – because it was – but I will say that that doesn’t mean they deserved it anymore than Lyon. The Benitez unemployment countdown continueesss!!

Marchionni is improving in leaps and bounds.

Fiorentina 5-2 Debrecen – I may have more than a healthy amount of bias, but I am becoming a believer in Fiorentina as a legitimate continental side. Sure, their defense leaks like a sieve at times, and the two goals scored against them this evening were borderline humourous (one can partially blame the absence of starting keeper Sébastien Frey for that), but la Viola have showed that they can bury them when it counts, as they did in a second-half goalfest this evening at the Stadio Artemio Franchi. I Gigliati took an early lead in the match when Adrian Mutu executed a diving header off of Marco Marchionni’s cross on 14′, and looked strong coming out of the starting gates, but they lost steam by the end of the first half and Debrecen were keen to take the wind from their sails as Gergely Rudolf equalized on 37′. The teams would go into the half level, but when they reemerged, it was all Fiorentina. Three goals in 10 minutes came from Dario Dainelli (51′), Riccardo Montolivo (58′) and Marco Marchionni (61′) to give la Viola a commanding 4-1 lead. I must give credit to Debrecen though, as they certainly did not say die. Substitute Adamo Coulibaly put his head onto the end of a pinpoint cross to pull one back for his side on 69′ and remind the jubilant Florentine supporters that the match was not over yet. However, Fiorentina were quick to assert their dominance; on 73′ Alberto Gilardino responded with a header of his own to restore his side’s 3-goal lead and the game pretty much ended there. Fiorentina repeated their first-half trick of gradually slowing the pace of the game, content to kick the ball around aimlessly with the comfort of their large lead. A victory in their next match (against Lyon) will see Fiorentina secure their passage to the first knockout round. Who would’ve thunk it?

The Barcelona bus doesn't even have snow tires!

Barcelona 0-0 Rubin Kazan – Picture this: You’re in Siberia, on a frozen tundra of snow and ice – the only way out is to score a goal on the net that is inexplicably situated in front of you. That’s already a pretty tall order, because you’re from Catalonia, and not exactly used to this very Russian weather. Oh, and then someone parks a bus between you and the goal. Ta-da! You’re Barcelona in Tatarstan this evening. Personally, I hate Russian weather. Editor’s Note: The author has never been to Russia. Chelsea lost their Champions League final match 2 years ago because some genius thought an open-air stadium in Moscow was a good idea – I’m sure Barcelona would agree with me tonight that an open-air stadium anywhere in Russia is just bad news. The Blaugrana were held by the Russian champions, unable to crack their 11-man defense or cope with the Russian cold. The best effort of the evening came on 2′, when Zlatan Ibrahimovic beat his markers only to hit the post. Both sides would trade a handful of chances throughout the remaining 88 minutes, but ultimately no one would be able to get ahead, and those sneaky Russians would steal another point from the reigning champions of Europe. Good on ya, Kazan!

Pictured: Enemy #1 of Inter Milan

Inter 2-1 Dynamo Kiev – If Jose Mourinho’s hair isn’t just a little more grey- I’m sorry, silver, after this evenings game, the man might be ageless. It seemed like the same old (hilarious) story – Inter dominate every week domestically, but go on to choke (and choke hard) in European play. The rest of us point and laugh, then realize they’re still 7 points clear of anybody else in the Scudetto race and go home to weep softly to ourselves. Well, I do, anyways. But I digress. It took only 21 minutes for Inter to fall behidn in the Ukrainian capital this evening – that old Nerazzurri nemesis, Andriy Shevchenko was back to haunt them once more and take the lead with a ridiculous left-footed volley from outside the 18-yard box. Inter had their world rocked, for a spell, but they would fight back, and fight back hard. I’m not exactly sure how it’s possible, but La Beneamata spurned a seemingly endless stream of chances throughout the remaining 69 minutes. No one was innocent; Samuel Eto’o, Mario Balotelli, Diego Milito, Lucio, Walter Samuel – each had a golden opportunity served up for them on a silver platter, and each duffed theirs in turn. In the 86th minute, Diego Milito would finally bring Inter level, latching on to the end of a spectacular low cross/throughball (?) from Wesley Sneijder and nudging it past Stanislav Bogush. Inter had been fighting for more than an hour to achieve that equalizer, and when that ball went in, Mourinho’s side roared to life. Just 3 minutes later, Wesley Sneijder would win the game for Inter and break Ukrainian hearts with just seconds to spare – Sulley Muntari launched a low shot at the Kiev net, and Diego Milito prevented the rebound from exiting play in order that Sneijder could run onto the ball and bury it – for once and for all. Inter take the lead in their group with this win, if only by a point, and break their barren winless spell in European play. Jesus guys, it took you long enough!

Arsenal 4-1 AZ Alkmaar – Today’s last relatively important match (which I for some reason feel obligated to mention) consisted of Arsenal handily defeating Dutch champions AZ Alkmaar at the Emirates Stadium. Cesc Fàbregas bagged a brace, Samir Nasri added a third, and Vassiriki Diaby made it 4 to complete a solid (and fairly routine) home rout. Jeremain Lens would pull back a consolation goal for his side with little time left in the match, but ultimately the Dutch simply could not contend with Arsene Wenger’s squad, who have hit their stride with a blistering run of form lately and are a danger to anyone they face.

These are th- Well, you get the point.

Un gol per tempo per andare in fuga, una rete siglata dal solito Diego Milito e l’altra dall’onnipresente Maicon. L’Inter vince a Livorno e allunga in vetta alla classifica. Gara non semplice per gli uomini di Mourinho che, complice il turnover, non riescono a trovare la giusta fluidità di gioco al cospetto di un Livorno coperto e pronto a rendersi pericoloso con l’unica punta Tavano. Tuttavia al 49′ arriva la rete che mette il match in discesa: Milito incrocia un destro dal limite che non lascia scampo all’estremo amaranto. Il raddoppio di Maicon arriva nel finale e congela il risultato sul 2-0.

Della battuta d’arresto della Juve ne approfitta parzialmente la Sampdoria che si fa imporre lo 0-0 nella gara dell’ex Cassano contro il “suo” Bari. Torna al successo la Fiorentina che grazie a Marchionni (doppietta) e a Gilardino liquida la pratica Catania 3-1 nonostante il momentaneo pari di Mascara. Risolleva testa e umore anche la Roma nel giorno in cui Mirko Vucinic trova il primo gol in campionato: il 2-1 al Bologna, passato in vantaggio con Adailton, porta le firme del montenegrino e di Perrotta.

Non riesce, invece, il colpaccio alla Lazio che impatta a Siena 1-1 nonostante il gol iniziale di Mauri. Maccarone ristabilisce il risultato per i toscani. Termina 1-1 anche Chievo Udinese: al gol di Floro Flores risponde Yepes. Ottimo, in fine, il successo del Cagliari che batte l’Atalanta nettamente per 3-0 con una doppietta di Nenè e la singola di Matri.

Finisce 0-0 il posticipo tra Palermo e Genoa che ha chiuso l’undicesima giornata. Primo tempo scoppiettante con occasioni da entrambe le parti: Scarpi, che ha sostituito in porta l’infortunato Amelia, al 15′ salva il risultato con una parata miracolosa su conclusione di Miccoli. Al 44′ doppio grande intervento di Sirigu che respinge le conclusioni prima di Palladino, poi di Rossi. Secondo tempo con meno emozioni e con le squadre che appaiono più stanche, il risultato non cambia. Il Genoa si porta a 17 punti e aggancia in classifica Napoli e Parma. Gli uomini di Walter Zenga salgono a quota 16.

Well, it’s the morning after Halloween and I will assume that many of you, like myself, are nursing wicked hangovers. Therefore I’ll try to keep it simple – bright lights and big words are the enemies right now.

Football:

If this sight makes you drool, you might be a Scouser.

Fulham 3-1 Liverpool – Well, it seems that the scousers are back in the soup (see lobscouse), having been roundly trounced at Craven Cottage by ultra-defensive enemies of everyone, Fulham. Diomansy ‘Yes that is his name’ Kamara gave the home side an early lead on 24′, which Fernando Torres would cancel out (by virtue of a terrific volley) just before the half. The second half would begin inauspiciously, but in the final 20 minutes it all began to unravel for the visiting Reds. Substitute Erik Nevland restored the Cottagers’ lead on 73′, and Liverpool’s efforts to first back to level terms took a couple of swift successive blows when Jamie Carragher and Phillip Degen were sent off within two minutes of eachother. If that wasn’t enough, the killing blow would come on 87′, when Clint Dempsey netted again to put Fulham two up and send Scousers everywhere into fits of despair. Is it time to begin a Rafa Benitez unemployment countdown?

Arsenal 3-0 Tottenham Hotspur – Well, the Spurs have made a positive enough start to this season under Harry Redknapp, but they weren’t good enough to beat an in-form Arsenal side at the Emirates Stadium in the North London derby this weekend. Robin van Persie bagged a brace, one on either side of the half (42′, 60′), while captain Cesc Fàbregas added his own goal just after the Dutchman’s first on 43′. Tottenham simply had no answer for the Gunner’s swift, fluid football – especially since they were missing the important trio of Aaron Lennon, Luka Modric and Jermain Defoe. Not a result that will much please ‘Arry, but at least Arsene Wenger had a banner evening; besides putting Arsenal right at the heels of United in the table, it was also the Frenchman’s 1000th point as a Premiership manager.

Chelsea 4-0 Bolton – Déjà vu, much? Yesterday’s victory was the second time in one week that the high-flying Blues have absolutely dismantled Bolton by a score of 4-0. Carlo Ancelotti’s side haven’t been scored upon since they dropped points against Aston Villa several weeks hence, but their opponents’ nets have been absolutely overflowing. Chelsea have established something of a rhythm of starting late, and stayed true to that form: Frank Lampard opened the scoring two minutes into first-half added time, and even then only on a spot kick after Jlloyd Samuel hauled down Didier Drogba in the penalty area. However, Chelsea would come to life in the second half, and the Wanderers were helpless to watch as Deco, then their own man Zat Knight and the finally Didier Drogba all found the back of the home side’s net. What utter destruction – next weekend’s fixture against Manchester United should be one to watch.

Manchester Utd 2-0 Blackburn – The Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov were on target for United as Ferguson’s men blew past the Rovers this weekend. It’s nice to see the oft-invisible Bulgarian show up for a match every once in a while, and he made his presence known early in the second half with a strike that put the Red Devils ahead on 55′. That lead would be enough to see them through to the dying moments of the game, when Wayne Rooney would add his name to the scoresheet and simply put the game out of the Rovers’ grasp.

Futbol:

Barcelona 1-1 Osasuna – If the last couple of weeks have shown us anything, it’s that Barcelona and Real Madrid, the Giants of Spanish football, are anything but invincible. Barcelona faltered yesterday in their quest for La Liga dominance, drawing away at Osasuna. The match was a fairly sparse affair with Seydou Keita only opening the scoring in the 72nd minute after some extended and very Barca-esque build-up. However, the night was not to be Barcelona’s, as deep into injury time Javier Camunas raced up the left flank and launched a low, hard cross across the mouth of the net. Gerard Piqué, rushing back to defend his goal, inadvertently collided with the end of the cross, deflecting the ball past a scrambling Victor Valdés and into the back of his own net. A hugely disappointing result for Barcelona, who seemed well on their way to 3 points until the unfortunate, and costly, error. Piqué’s couldn’t do much about it, and shouldn’t really be held responsible – but lord knows he will.

Higuain would make the difference for Madrid at the Bernabéu.

Real Madrid 2-0 Getafe – It is remarkable that despite every match being (at least) 90 minutes, and every match (starting, at least) with 22 players on the pitch, often it only takes one player and a very short spanse of time to completely change the course of a match. Such was the case in Real Madrid’s victory over Getafe at the Bernabéu, in which Gonzalo Higuaín scored twice in the span of 3 minutes to give his side a commanding lead over their visitors. Los Blancos were forced to play for the majority of the match with only 10 men after defender Raúl Albiol brought down Getafe striker Soldado on the edge of the penalty area. However, Higuaín’s efforts ensured that the 10-man Galacticos would nevertheless come away with 3 points – with Barcelona’s misfortune, Manuel Pellegrini’s men now trail by only 1 point.

Calcio:

Mazzarri's comeback kids celebrate their namesake.

Napoli 3-2 Juventus – Forget Partenopei. Forget Vesuviani. Forget Azzurri. Walter Mazzarri’s Napoli are the comeback kids. Behind Juventus 2-0 in Torino, with 30 minutes left in the game, most teams would simply lose hope – give up, close up shop and try not to concede any more goals. Not Napoli – or at least, not this reincarnated Napoli. A pair of goals from David Trezeguet and Sebastian Giovinco had seen Juventus get ahead of their visitors in the first hour of the encounter. Defensive errors had proven costly for the Southerners, as it was Matteo Contini’s mistake that provided Juventus with their second goal. However, the substitution of Jesús Alberto Dátolo for Hugo Campagnaro would revitalize Mazzarri’s side, and in the span of 6 minutes, the deadly combination of Marek Hamsik and Dátolo were able to draw their side level with La Vecchia Signora with 25 minutes left to play. This sudden leveling of scores seemed to have Ciro Ferrara’s men reeling, and they were very much on their back heels as they wondered what had happened to their comfortable lead – the tactician’s solution was to bring on Amauri, who did so well in i Bianconeri’s dismantling of Sampdoria in midweek. Unbelievably, it would be Napoli who would break the deadlock with just 9 minutes left in the match – it would be Hamsik who would grab his second of the evening, crashing a poorly cleared ball into the roof of the net and all but securing victory for his side. Juventus would come back to life in stoppage time, and seemed on the verge of undermining Napoli’s glorious comeback, but ultimately the only thing they would come away with would be a red card for their Caveman Brazilian striker Amauri, who went crashing headlong into Napoli keeper Morgan De Sanctis in hopes of equalizing, only to boot the netminder in the face and be sent off. A result which should have Napoli fans absolutely rapturous and should shut up Juventini quite nicely for the time being. Che bella partita!

Nice to have you back!

AS Roma 2-1 Bologna – He’s back, and we’re back. For now. It seems that Mirko Vučinić has finally found his lost form – the Montenegrin put in a man of the match performance this afternoon to ensure that Roma snapped their losing streak and grabbed all 3 points against lowly Bologna. It seemed like a familiar story – Roma had the lion’s share of the early chances and dominated the game from the outset, but it was Bologna who took the first lead in the match when Marco Di Vaio got behind the Giallorosso defense and set up Adailton for an easy tap-in on 32′. We’ve got no Francesco Totti, no Daniele De Rossi (suspended) and, it seems, no hope. Here’s where the story changes though; Roma didn’t roll over and die, but rather equalized not 3 minutes later when Mirko Vučinić found himself, the ball and a golden opportunity, and (this time) duly buried it. It was the first time in recent memory that Vuči has been what he should always be (except in the presence of Er Pupone): the best player on the pitch. Boy, did it make a difference. Jérémy Menez also had a good match, though he was anonymous at times; it would be his shot that would rebound out of the arms of Emiliano Viviano and straight into the path of Simone Perrotta, who buried the sitter. That’s right, Perrotta, King of doing the exact opposite of that, buried a sitter. I’ll give you a moment to let that sink in. Anyways, we won the match, and should take heart from it – Vuči had a good one, Menez had a good one, Mexes had a good one, heck even Motta had a good one. Let’s just hope the next few can be good ones too.

AC Milan 2-0 Parma – Another man who found this form this weekend was Milan’s Ronaldinho, who ran Parma ragged and provided Marco Borriello with both of the goals that would separate their squad from what has been an impressive Parma side this season. The first game in only the 12th minute, as ‘Dinho executed a masterful zigzagging run before slotting the ball through to Borriello, who coolly finished. That lead would last most of the match, but the pair weren’t finished yet, and deep into second-half injury time, Ronaldinho would send an arcing cross through the penalty area; Borriello, having acres of space, met the end of the pass with a perfectly timed bicycle kick, completing his brace and a solid afternoon for i Rossoneri. AC Milan now moves up to 4th place and it seems that Leonardo, whose job looked so imperiled just a few short weeks ago, has finally gotten into the swing of things. Good for Milanisti, I suppose.

Inter 2-0 Livorno – Inter was able to do this weekend what Roma couldn’t on Wednesday – beat a team that is seemingly destined for relegation, and do it comfortably at that. Diego Milito and Maicon found the back of the net for i Nerazzurri, the former scoring his second goal in 2 games since returning from injury. Gotta make up for lost time, right? With this victory, Jose’s men sit 7 points clear atop the Serie A table – same old, same old.

Fußball:

Bayern München 0-0 VfB Stuttgart – Mario Gomez’s return to his old Bundesliga stomping ground was a quiet affair, a goalless draw marked by very even play, despite the home side firing on all cylinders early at the Mercedes-Benz Arena. Neither side created any clear-cut chances, and so neither side was able to best the other.

INTER MILAN notched up one of the results of the season with their 5-0 trouncing of Genoa this weekend.

This was more impressive as they did it without their two stars, Samuel Eto’o and Diego Milito, and Genoa had a previously unbeaten home record.

But all that paled into insignificance, as did the goals from Esteban Cambiasso, Mario Balotelli, Patrick Vieira and Maicon, alongside this effort from Serbian Dejan Stankovic.