Giornata 34 Review / Inter's CL Semi-Finals Leg 1 Preview

(http://cm-dl.calciomercato.com/public/parser_image/save/abc69a0ed53c4ee1cabe93a438a2b1b8.jpg)

Unfortunately I have to rain on the exciting parade that is Serie A and call out the stupidity of the tifosi. The rioting at the Roma derby is the act of pure stupidity. It is why Serie A is drifting away from the best of Europe, more so the cause than the affects of Calciopoli. It is a shame.

Nonetheless, Roma retain top spot in quality fashion. You know Mirko is fired up when he doesn't even take his shorts off.

Real quick before the review...

Barcelona @ Internazionale: TUE 2:45 EST 5:00 Delay on FSC, or pay money and watch live online
I don't even know what to say in reaction to Fox Soccer's failure to show this match live aside from, we didn't have this problem with ESPN...
As for the match itself, I think Inter has a decent shot at pulling away with a win tomorrow night. This is simply because they won't be coming away with anything from Nou Camp. I'm hearing a lot of 1-0 scorelines in favor of Inter and I think I like that too. You just don't know though. This could just finally be Inter's year.


Back to Serie A...

Matches of the Week:
Juventus @ Inter 0-2: Maicon 76 (I), Eto'o 92 (I)
Ridiculous goal from Maicon that not only won them the match, but may have also set the tone for the rest of Inter's season. Embarrassing fun fact for Juve, they were the only team this week, aside from last place Livorno, to fail to score.

Lazio vs Roma 1-2: Rocchi 14 (L), Vucinic pen 53, 63 (R)
What a match. Roma have been so much like Inter in that they find ways to pull massive wins out of their asses. With that said, they also look like champions. As for Lazio, this is one of the few times teams regret earning a PK, as it sparked Roma's comeback, as well as the BALLSY move by Claudio Ranieri to sub out both captain and vice-captain Totti and Danielle De Rossi.

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

Livorno @ Chievo 0-2: Pellissier 28 (C), Abbruscato 88 (C)
It should be interesting to see how Chievo will fare next year. Will they enhance the squad or will they be content with simply staying up in the top flight? A Livorno loss plus either an Atalanta or Bologna win sees them mathmatically relegated, the final nail in the coffin.

Bologna @ Udinese 1-1: Zapata og 3 (B), Di Natale 91 (U)
Bologna's tryin hard to get relegated. By the way, if Di Natale is getting called up to La Nazionale, why isn't Fabrizio Miccoli? Both scoring goals like crazy and neither play for one of the big three. I sure as hell hope the Azzurri will be scoring goals in South Africa or else it'll be a real disappointment leaving players like Miccoli and Cassano home.

Fiorentina @ Atalanta 1-2: Ferreira Pinto 6 (A), Tiribocchi 69 (A), Montolivo 75 (F)
Atalanta's been lookin good lately. If they can avoid losing for the last four matches, I would not be surprised to see Bologna replace them in the drop zone.


Genoa @ Parma 3-2: Palacio 33, 52 (G), Zaccardo 60 (P), Bocchetti og 62 (P), Fatic 72 (G)
Genoa is so fun to watch because you can always expect a lot of goals from their matches. Palacio also has to be the most solid signing of the season, in terms of filling in their role. I'd also like to point out that Bocchetti's own goal is something out of FIFA (the video game), where you can't cancel a command quick enough and so your player does something you totally didn't intend, not that some own goals are intended but this one was way off.


Milan @ Sampdoria 1-2: Borriello 20 (M), Cassano pen 59 (S), Pazzini 92 (S)
Having followed Milan very closely for the past three seasons, I knew hands down that they would lose this match. Samp has been on too good of form and their home field advantage was always too much. What is nice though is that Mancini still makes me think I might still have a future playing in Serie A.

Napoli @ Bari 2-1: Lavezzi 28, 57 (N), Almiron 75 (B)
Imagine if Lavezzi could score like this consistently. Great stuff overall for Napoli to go to Bari and come away with a win.

Palermo @ Cagliari 2-2: Cossu 28 (C), Jeda 87 (C), Miccoli 89 (P), Hernandez 95 (P)
What an embarrassing showing from Cagliari in the final minutes, especially after putting in a great performance against a strong Palermo side. At least the race for 4th just got even more interesting.

Siena @ Catania 2-2: Maxi Lopez 11 (C), Maccarone 49 (S), Biagianti 50 (C), Vergassola 69 (S)
Some great goals scored in this one. Siena seem to believe that they still have a shot at staying up. At -6, it's difficult, but not impossible. This is why we watch.