Midweek Giornata 30 Preview/Giornata 29 Review

(http://www.soccerway.com/national/italy/serie-a/2009-2010/regular-season/tables/)

Quick mid-week Giornata 30 preview then Giornata 29 recap below. This season's ending is getting more exciting each week!

Giornata 30 Preview (All matches Wed 3:45PM EST except Juve-Napoli)

Match of the Week:
#4 Palermo @ #8 Genoa: Wed 3:45PM EST

#5 Sampdoria @ #11 Bari

#3 Roma @ #14 Bologna Live on ESPN360

#9 Fiorentina @ #15 Catania

#13 Chievo @ #16 Udinese

#2 Milan @ #12 Parma Live on ESPN360

#10 Cagliari @ #18 Atalanta

#20 Livorno @ #1 Inter Live on RAI, 6:00pm delay on FSC

#19 Siena @ #17 Lazio

#6 Juventus @ #7 Napoli THURSDAY 3:45pm EST Live on FSC

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Match of the Week:
Inter @ Palermo 1-1: Milito pen 10 (I), Cavani 24 (P)
Very exciting game between two of the top sides. Although Lucio is one of the few players I hate in soccer, he showed why he's on Inter's backline by causing such a hastle to Palermo's own defense and straight up earned that penalty. Cavani showed some class of his own with a great finish that your typical striker would have put right into Julio Cesar's arms.
(My Prediction: 2-2)

Livorno @ Atalanta 0-3: Padoin 13 (A), Chevanton 55 (A), Ferreira Pinto 54 (A)
Wow, where's this been all year for Atalanta? They piled it on Livorno who seemed to have none of the shape they had against Roma last week. Unfortunatelty for both of them, Lazio is opening up a gap that may have already doomed both of them.
(My Prediction: 3-0 Livorno)

Parma @ Bari 1-1: Zenoni 36 (P), A Masiello 85 (B)
A nice match between two promoted teams who'll be sticking around after this season. Crespo looks like he still has some juice in the tank as well. Also interesting to see two linesWOMEN working this match. I wonder if players' protests would be different if they have to take it up with a female.
(My Prediction: 2-2)

Lazio @ Cagliari 2-0: Rocchi 4 (L), Floccari 37 (L)
Both Rocchi and Floccari absolutely shredded Cagliari's backline and 18 yd box. To pile on the pain, I don't believe there is one offensive highlight for Cagliari in the linked video. Overall a big, big win for Lazio. Cagliari meanwhile is succumbing to mid-table normalcy.
(My Prediction: 2-1 Cagliari)

Catania @ Chievo 1-1: Pellissier 64 (Ch), Maxi Lopez pen 74 (Ca)
How many licks does it take for Sergio Pellissier to get the center of a friggin tootsie pop? apparently 64 minutes of chance after chance. And as we all know, when you give up that many chances, all it takes is a stupid mistake by your defender to give up a PK and along with it, 2 precious points.
(My Prediction: 1-0 Catania)

Genoa @ Fiorentina 0-3: Santana 4 (F), Gilardino pen 73 (F), Babacar 86 (F)
Fiorentina dismantles Genoa as they have nothing left to look forward to except a possible Europa Cup spot. With no other distractions aside from a distant Coppa Italia 2nd leg, I would imagine they will be an extremely difficult team to play from here on out.
(My Prediction: 2-1 Fiorentina)

Napoli @ Milan 1-1: Campagnaro 13 (N), Inzaghi 26 (M)
Opportunity blown for Milan to go top. Although Napoli was no push over, they let up an embarrassing goal and squandered many chances of their own. Nice to see Super Pippo get on the scoresheet though.
(My Prediction: 2-2)

Udinese @ Roma 2-4: Toni 15 (R), Vucinic 24, pen 65, 82 (R), Di Natale pen 38, 61 (U)
What kind of teams come back to win after blowing early 2-goal leads? Those in a scudetto hunt. Mirko came up massive plus a little help the ref with Menez's dive to go up 3-2. Udinese are falling back into the relegation pack. Di Natale is still such class.
(My Prediction: 3-1 Roma)

Juventus @ Sampdoria 0-1: Cassano 76 (S)
Samp simply handled Juventus. I can't help but think that Juve is struggling from a lack of youth as Milan has been over the past few years. Trezequet and Del Piero just can't seem to be able to cut it. As for Cassano, nice to see him making a difference and testing a third-string keeper like that. Now they're right up in the thick of the Champions League race.
(My Prediction: 3-1 Sampdoria)

Bologna @ Siena 0-1: Larrondo 10 (S)
For all the chances Siena had, you would think Bologna would have punished them after only being able to put one away. Nonetheless, everything outside of finishing looked very sharp as was their goal. Bologna still sits 6 points above the drop though.
(My Prediction: 0-2 Bologna)