The eternal Hernan Crespo has struck again, ending Fiorentina’s Coppa Italia run. While the Coppa Italia isn’t too interesting in the early stages, I really do enjoy it when it reaches the round of eight, like it has now. Maybe it’s due to the different mentality teams have when they play knockout football, and it occasionally produces spectacular last-minute goals.

Parma hosted Fiorentina in the round of eight of the Coppa Italia, and the match dragged deep into extra time with both sides creating chances, but Fiorentina having more. Fiorentina’s substitute Santana came on in the first half of extra time, and just six minutes from the end of extra time he produced a long-range goal. All of the Fiorentina team celebrated wildly, with Santana taking his shirt off, thinking that he had sealed Fiorentina a spot in the quarter-finals of the Coppa Italia.

But a minute later, the eternal Hernan Crespo got on the end of Lucarelli’s header to volley right at the Fiorentina keeper Avramov. While it should’ve been a fairly simple save, Avramov let Crespo’s solid volley spill into the back of his net. After the late equalizer, Crespo popped up again just two minutes later with the winner. Avramov parried a shot, and Crespo’s predatory instincts took over as he rushed to tap the ball into the goal to make it 2-1.

So much emotion in just one match, hopefully the other round of eight Coppa Italia matches will be just as exciting. The next ones taking place are Inter – Genoa and Palermo – Chievo on the 11th of January. The day after Juventus will face Catania, and then on the 17th of January Napoli will face Bologna. Then on the 18th we have some very exciting matches, with Roma facing Lazio and Sampdoria facing Udinese. And the final match of the round of eight will be played on the 19th of January between AC Milan and Bari.

Plenty of exciting match-ups in the Coppa Italia, what are your thoughts regarding the competition? And what are your thoughts of Crespo’s magnificent double which puts Fiorentina out of the tournament? Comment below!

The Serie A is getting more and more exciting, especially after these recent results, and the matches which will be played this Sunday. Napoli got an important 1-0 win away against Genoa, Palermo came back to beat Parma 3-1 at the Renzo Barbera, and Udinese also completed a comeback win at home, 2-1 over Fiorentina. While we had three important matches today, there’s plenty more action to come tomorrow when AC Milan travel to Bologna and then Juventus host Lazio.

Napoli defeated Genoa 1-0 at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris, and what separated the two sides was a bullet header by Marek Hamsik. It was Gargano’s free kick on the 25th minute, swung in with great pace, which Hamsik flicked wonderfully past Eduardo. Genoa created opportunities, but they weren’t able to capitalize on key chances. This win puts Walter Mazzari’s side in second place, equal on points with Lazio who will be facing fourth placed Juventus tomorrow. The bianconeri are three points behind Lazio and Napoli, so if Juve can manage to win, there will be three teams equal on points in second place.

Palermo hosted Parma at the Renzo Barbera stadium, and Parma coach Pasquale Marino was unable to see his side take the lead due to his mother’s death. It was a header by Lucarelli which hit the back of the net after a well placed corner. The first half lacked the usual inspiration which Javier Pastore provided for Palermo, and Delio Rossi eventually decided to take the Argentinean off at halftime. Instead it was the Chilean Pinilla who took his place, scoring the equalizer just five minutes into the second half, and then assisting Miccoli for Palermo’s second goal. Kasami secured the result when his header bounced off of Zaccardo’s head, and into the back of the Parma net for an own goal.

And in the third match today, Udinese came back against Fiorentina to win 2-1, and it was a match filled with wonderful goals. Santana struck first, a low, long-range effort which Handanovic had fallen asleep on allowed the visitors to take the lead. But in the second half Guidolin’s side reacted, first with Pablo Armero’s thunderbolt strike from far out, and then Di Natale’s goal which was preceded by some beautiful one-touch build-up play. An important win for Guidolin’s side which is making up for their bad start to the season, and right now Udinese are 8th in the table.

What are your thoughts regarding these matches? Plenty of exciting play, moments, and goals, and hopefully more will come tomorrow when Juventus and Lazio face off. Share your comments below!

Serie A is becoming more and more interesting, and with Lazio continuing their winning streak, could we see a surprise winner for the scudetto? Lazio are currently first in the table with a four point lead on second placed Inter Milan. While we’re just nine games into the season, maybe Lazio can manage second place? We’ll just have to see if their good form continues, or whether they’ll die down into the midtable.

1. Mutu returns for Fiorentina

After a nine-month doping ban, there was doubt whether Mutu would even continue his football-playing career. But the Romanian returned in great form for Fiorentina, playing a full 90 minutes away against Catania. Although the match ended 0-0, there were some sparks of action, like when Mascara hit the woodwork from a free kick, and when Mutu had a great header parried by Catania keeper Andujar. Yet Mutu’s return couldn’t mask the way that Mihajlovic’s side played, and Fiorentina weren’t playing well enough to earn three points. Mutu had a great shot saved by Andujar again, stopping him from a dream return. But Mutu’s return is certainly a positive thing for Fiorentina fans, especially with the lack of Jovetic’s creativity, they now have someone experienced who can score important goals.

2. Bari sink to 20th with latest defeat

Last season Bari were a fantastic team which went out to win matches against the top teams of the Serie A, but it’s a different story this year. While Bari finished in 10th place last season, a wonderful finish for a newly-promoted side, this season they find themselves bottom of the table. Their latest defeat was to Udinese, and both goals were fantastic. The first was a wonder-strike into the top-left-hand corner from Alexis Sanchez, and the second was a powerful finish by Isla into the crossbar and into the back of Gillet’s net. So what has happened to Giampiero Ventura’s side? And do you think that Ventura could be sacked, and replaced by who? Remember to comment below regarding Bari’s situation at the bottom of the table.

3. The relegation battle will be tight

Looking at the table, something struck me regarding who might go down to the Serie B, this season’s relegation battle will be very interesting. What makes me say that is the fact that there are 10 teams within three points of the bottom of the table. That mean that if your team has a bad match, and a couple of other sides have a good match, then you could find yourself in the relegation zone. Right now there’s Cesena, Bologna, and Bari in the bottom three of the table, but I expect those three teams to survive this season. So who will go down? Well I think that this season Lecce, Brescia, and Parma will go down, but that’s just my opinion. So please share your opinion on who you think will be playing in the Serie B next season by commenting below!

4. and 5. Cassano will remain at Sampdoria who grab a win without him

I’ve decided to unify my fourth and fifth things to note about Serie A, mainly because they both include Sampdoria and Cassano. A couple of days ago Cassano decided not to attend an awards ceremony that the Sampdoria president Riccardo Garrone had asked the player to attend. After this event, there was a heated exchange between the player and president which opened up a can of rumors regarding a possible move for Cassano to Juventus, Inter Milan, and maybe even Chelsea. But now the storm has died down, Cassano said sorry to the president with this statement,

I’m sorry for what happened, and I’ve already said sorry to Mr. Garrone, which respect and like very much, in the presence of my teammates. To my teammates I wish them good luck for the game against Cesena. I read that the situation would be connected with speculations about the market, but I reaffirm that, always that there’s the possibility, it’s my solid intention to remain with Sampdoria.

So it seems like everybody is happy even if Cassano didn’t play in Sampdoria’s 1-0 win away against Cesena. And Sampdoria suffered without Antonio, Walter Mazzarri’s side could only find a winner in the 93rd minute of the match, with Giampaolo Pazzini tapping in Marilungo’s low ball across the box.

While I wanted Cassano to move away from Sampdoria, to a bigger club where he would be surrounded by world class players, it isn’t all that bad that he has remained in Genoa. Hopefully he’ll continue to play for Sampdoria, and play well enough to get into the Italian national team. With Balotelli’s return from injury, I can’t wait to see the two pair up under the guidance of Prandelli as Italy tries to qualify for the European Championships of 2012.

What are your thoughts regarding this weekend’s Serie A action? Share your comments below!

The Serie A this weekend started with Fiorentina vs. Bari at the Stadio Artemio Franchi. And while I expected Bari to take advantage of Fiorentina’s bad form, it was the Viola who took the game to Bari. The final result was a 2-1 win for the home side which dominated the game. Here’s what happened in that match, and a look ahead to the other fixtures we’ll see this weekend.

This game began with no action at all, neither side could create a decent chance, and any shots being taken were either over the bar, or ridiculously wide. In this boring beginning, it was Fiorentina who looked more dangerous with their high pressing which caused Bari to slow down. The first goal eventually came in the 34th minute, a very nice strike by Donadel which was probably intended to be a cross for Gilardino, yet the ball swerved away from Gillet, onto the post and in.

A great strike which didn’t spark life into the game which continued to be difficult to enjoy. Giampiero Ventura’s side were slow, and unable to create anything, while Fiorentina were more dynamic but still didn’t create much. Finally in the 82nd minute, Fiorentina scored another goal, it began with a great move from Ljajic who tried to curl a shot in, but Gillet parried. From there, Gilardino lept onto the ball, and somehow got it into the back of the net to make it 2-0.

The game seemed done and dusted, but Bari offered a small reaction to Fiorentina’s second goal, and the Galletti pulled one back in the 90th minute. A corner was swung into Fiorentina’s box, and Parisi made great contact with his head to make the score 2-1. The last minutes were filled with Fiorentina trying to waste time, while Bari frantically scampered around in search of an impossible equalizer.

The match ended 2-1 for Fiorentina, and it’s a fair result for the winners mainly because it seemed like they were the only team playing for most of the match. This win bumps Fiorentina up the table into 11th place, but we’ll have to see how other teams do this weekend, and whether Fiorentina will be overtaken by teams playing their matches tomorrow.

Probably the most interesting match which is happening tomorrow is Inter Milan – Sampdoria, a huge clash which Rafa Benitez’s side will need to win if they want to try and win the title. AC Milan will have to face Napoli in Naples, a tough match which could slow the rossoneri down in their run for the title. And the current table leaders, Lazio, will host Cagliari at the Stadio Olimpico.

It’s full of interesting matches coming up, and we had an okay one today. What are your thoughts regarding Fiorentina and Bari? Any predictions for tomorrow’s matches? Mine are a 3-1 win for Inter Milan over Sampdoria, a 2-2 draw between Napoli and AC Milan, and a 2-0 win for Lazio. Share yours by commenting below!

AC Milan seemed to have found the right combination in the Champions League against Auxerre. A simple 2-0 win with Ibrahimovic scoring both goals supposedly solved all the problems around the rossoneri. But after the match, Ibrahimovic decided to insult Milan legend Arrigo Sacchi, and show everyone what a difficult character he is to deal with. His debut at the San Siro can be described as disappointing, and a 1-1 draw against a resolute Catania side can’t be seen as a positive result for this Milan side.

Fiorentina also experienced some disappointment in their home stadium, the Stadio Artemio Franchi. A 2-1 loss against Lazio continues Fiorentina’s poor run this season, and fans are beginning to get impatient with Mihajlovic. Three matches in the Serie A, one draw, and two losses, a very bad run for a group of fans who were hoping that the team could return to the Champions League.

The match started well with Jovetic’s replacement, Adem Ljajic, tucking away a penalty with ease. The 18 year-old Serbian was on our list of the 8 best prospects of the Serie A. Then, Lazio struck back with Ledesma, the Argentinean’s shot was deflected leaving Fiorentina’s keeper, Sebastian Frey, out of position. Then Lazio found the winner with 21 year-old Libor Kozak (another one on the list of the 8 best prospects of the Serie A) tapping in a great shot by Hernanes. Fiorentina were unable to equalize, and this loss leaves them with only one point in the Serie A out of a possible nine.

As for AC Milan’s result, things looked to start just like they did last week against Cesena, Catania were in front 27 minutes in. It was a truly spectacular volley which gave Catania the lead, Capuano directly hit the ball with force into the bottom right-hand corner. It was truly an unsaveable shot, and Abbiati already looked shaky on Catania’s previous chances on goal. The rossazzurri played smart, defensive, counter-attacking football against an AC Milan side which had trouble creating chances.

It wasn’t Ronaldinho who grabbed the equalizer, and it wasn’t Ibrahimovic either. It was the indomitable Filippo Inzaghi who salvaged a point for AC Milan. His impeccable positioning provided him the tap-in from Ronaldinho’s pinpoint pass. The rest of the match was disappointing to say the least for any AC Milan fans, you’d think that the rossoneri, in their home stadium could find a way to score a winner, but they didn’t. Catania fought well and earned an important point away from home.

What were your thoughts on AC Milan’s loss? Share your thoughts by commenting below!

Prandelli led Fiorentina to a very important point, but this season there will be no Champions League, and no Europa League for the Viola. While Mihajlovic has taken over, things don’t look very different with Fiorentina for this upcoming season, only two players were bought and only two players were sold/released. Probably the biggest factor that won’t be affecting Fiorentina’s season is Jovetic, the young forward tore some knee ligaments in training some time ago and will be out for about 8 months. This means that Fiorentina will be missing the energy that Jovetic provided, something which could make the Viola suffer this upcoming season.

New signings

Fiorentina have only bought two players this transfer market, and with no Champions League money for this season, the club will be spending less. They bought D’agostino from Udinese, a smart midfielder who can play alongside Montolivo, or play further up the field in a more attacking role. The other signing which joined Fiorentina this summer was Boruc, a Polish goalkeeper from Celtic. Boruc was bought in preparation that maybe Frey could leave for a different club, probably somewhere in the EPL, but the Polish keeper is also a good alternative to when Frey can’t play.

What’s missing

With Jovetic’s injury Fiorentina will probably have to buy a new forward, especially because the forwards in the team are beginning to get old. While Gilardino’s replacement seems to be Babacar, Marchionni and Vargas have no replacements on the wings, and Jovetic’s spot needs to be filled. This could be solved either with Mutu returning to play for Fiorentina, or the Viola buying Giuseppe Rossi or maybe getting Obinna on loan. Rossi could be used behind Gilardino, or he could be played out on the left side, where Vargas currently is. As for Obinna, he’s best used on the wings, and he could be the perfect replacement for Marchionni on the right side.

Formation

Mihajlovic seems to want to stick with Prandelli’s previous 4-2-3-1, and the biggest change between the two coaches will be the attacking style. While Prandelli likes to play a very attacking style with plenty of speed, Mihajlovic might prefer a more counter-attacking style, which waits for the right moment to strike. The starting 11 seems to be very similar to Prandelli’s, Frey in goal with De Silvestri, Gamberini, Felipe, and Pasqual playing in defense, in front of the back-line Montolivo would play alongside D’Agostino, and then you’d have Marchionni on the right, Vargas on the left, with Ljajic supporting Gilardino. The only change that could occur is maybe D’Agostino moving up to play in Ljajic’s place, as a trequartista, where he was played in a friendly recently.

Mihajlovic has a big challenge ahead of him, he’ll have to please a group of fans which was used to Champions League and strong performances in the Serie A. Without Jovetic, the team will be missing an important player which got them out of some tight situations last season, hopefully Ljajic can bloom and become an important player for them, or D’Agostino will have to do his best playing as a number 10. This season the team looks very similar to the team which arrived 11th last season, and maybe the team might suffer again with a new coach and few new players.

What do you think about Fiorentina’s chances in the Serie A? Can they regain the Champions League? Share your thoughts below!

Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Inter Milan’s Swedish hitman had a big night on Monday 2 days after the Nerazzurri’s surprising 3-1 loss to Atalanta. Ibra won the award as the 2007-08 Serie A Footballer of the Year at The Oscars Del Calcio ceremony. Inter’s goal scoring assassin beat out Juventus’ icon Alessandro Del Piero for the award. Ibrahimovic also won the award for the Best Foreign Player of the Serie A and Goal of the Year. The big Swede was huge in securing Inter’s 3rd consecutive Scudetto despite missing parts of the 07-08 season with a recurring knee injury. Nerazzurri fans love him for his brave display on the last day of the 07-08 season when he scored 2 goals in a 2-0 victory versus Parma that clinched the Scudetto for Inter by 3 points over runner-up AS Roma.

Other award winners include:

Alessandro Del Piero – Best Italian Player

Il Capocannonieri of the 07-08 season scored a surprising 21 goals in leading Juventus to a 3rd place finish and was at the forefront of repairing La Vecchia Signora’s image in the wake of the match fixing scandal.

Gianluigi Buffon – Juventus – Best Goalkeeper

Unquestionably one of the Top 5 keepers in the world and the safety net of a defense that was the 2nd stingiest in the 07-08 season.

Giorgio Chiellini – Juventus – Best Defender

The 24-year old is Italy’s next great defender and has secured a regular spot in center defense for The Azzurri and is Fabio Cannavaro’s permanent replacement.

Marek Hamsik – Napoli – Best Young Player

The 21-year old Slovakian international midfielder is Napoli’s leading goal scorer this season along with Argentine striker German Denis and his reputation is growing as one of the most dangerous attacking players in Italy.

Cesare Prandelli – Fiorentina – Best Coach

Prandelli led I Viola to an unexpected 4th place finish in 07-08 ahead of AC Milan and an exciting run to the UEFA Cup semifinals.

Those of us who paid attention in high school know the Renaissance began in Italy and spread across the West causing a change in art, music, and thought.  Its affects have greatly shaped the modern world.  The center of the Renaissance began in Florence or as it is known in Italy: Firenze.  Talented people like Leonardo Da Vinci, Botticelli, and Michelangelo (and the other Ninja Turtles) applied their talents and dazzled the public.  In the 21st century in Florence there seems to be another renaissance happening, not only is AC Fiorentina back from the depths of Serie C1 but there is also a talent dazzling the public, on the soccer pitch.  He is Italian and his name is Alberto Gilardino. 

The rebirth of Alberto Gilardino’s career has come with his high price transfer from Milan to Florence.  His renaissance story began in 2005, when he arrived at Milan after back to back 23 goal seasons at Parma, he was to form a devastating goal scoring attack with Andriy Shevchenko.  They played together for only one year then Sheva was off to Chelsea and his failed experiment to become a top Premiership goal marksmen. 

As for “Gila” despite a decent goal scoring rate he got less playing time and became more of a fixture on the bench as Carlo Ancelotti leaned more on Kaka and Pippo Inzaghi to get goals. His playing time and subsequently his goals decreased every year since his arrival at the San Siro and he seemed to have lost his form with Milan losing confidence in him. Last season he played 18 minutes total in the final 2 months of the season. A season that saw Milan out of the Top 4 for the 1st time since 2000-2001 season.

Then 2008, in need of a new outlook and with rumors spreading of Milan acquiring strikers like Didier Drogba, Emmanuel Adebayor, and Samuel Eto’o. Gila met up with an old acquaintance who knew exactly how to use his goal scoring talents. That man was his old coach at Parma and current coach at Fiorentina, Cesare Pirandelli. The reunion with Pirandelli has re-ignited Gilardino’s career and the 15 million euros I Viola spent to get him has been worth it. A true rebirth indeed. In 8 appearances (both Champions League and Serie A) he has 7 goals this season. All last year he had 9 goals.

His timing has been excellent as well, he scored a goal in the 89th minute to get a point from Juventus. He scored twice against Lyon in the Champions League to get a point on the road.  He has scored game winners against Bologna & Genoa and sits in a tie for 4th place in the Serie A goal scorers table.  He is Fiorentina’s offense scoring 4 of their 6 goals in Serie A and scoring 3 of their 4 Champions League goals. 

If Gilardino can continue his goal scoring exploits and Fiorentina make a serious run at the Scudetto and/or the Champions League.  Gila could be looking at another Serie A & Italian footballer of the Year award thus hailing a new Renaissance in Florence with Alberto Gilardino leading the way. 

NEW UEFA.com Gilardino Interview

First results from match day two left both Italian clubs drawing even against opponents BATE Borisov and FC Steaua Bucuresti.

Yesterday’s Match Summary

BATE Borisov 2 – 2 Juventus

After falling behind two goals to nil in the early going, Juventus needed two Vincenzo Iaqunita goals to salvage a point away to newcomers Borisov.

Carlo Garganese/Goal.com – despite being shifted out in an alien right midfield position by Ranieri, Giovinco was absolutely outstanding. He created both of Iaquinta’s goals, the second with a brilliant slide rule pass. He also put Nedved clean through on goal, and every chance Juve had came through him.

Pros – the Formica Atomica (Atomic Ant) young Sebastian Giovinco played the entire match and orchestrated both Bianconeri goals, see goal highlights.
Cons - of the match, the absence of Gigi Buffon in net and D. Trezeguet as a striking option, Brazilian Amauri would make a late appearance after doubts of readiness prior to match time.

Lineups

BATE Borisov: Veremko; Yurevich, Sosnovski, Rzhevski, Kazantsev; Likhtarovich (Sivakov 69), Volodko; Stasevich, Kryvets, Nekhaychik (Mirchev 86); Rodionov (Pecha 92)

Juventus: Manninger; Grygera, Legrottaglie (Knezevic 18), Chiellini, De Ceglie; Giovinco, Sissoko, Camoranesi (Marchisio 46), Nedved; Del Piero, Iaquinta (Amauri 81)

Final score in the other Italian club match ended,

Fiorentina 0 – 0 FC Steaua Bucuresti

BATE Borisov vs Juventus Goal Highlights

[display_podcast]

Related Articles

channel4 football Italia – Iaquinta thanks Atomic Ant
yahoo sport UK – post commentary

Match Schedule

Tuesday 30 Sept. 2008  

20:45 Fiorentina vs FC Steaua Bucuresti
20:45 FC BATE Borisov vs Juventus

Wednesday 01 Oct. 2008

20:45 Bordeaux vs AS Roma
20:45 Internazionale vs Werder Bremen

all times (CET)

UEFA.com Magazine Interviews

UEFA.com magazine interviews Juventus legend, UEFA president Michel Platini

UEFA.com Training Ground Interviews

FEATURES: Pierluigi Collina on the ways referees should prepare