The last week of an exciting Serie A season has passed and with Inter already capturing its 17th Scudetto, one storyline involved the relegation fight between Bologna and Torino. Marco Di Vaio scored his 24th goal of the season as Bologna defeated Catania 3-1 at home and will remain in the Serie A. Torino FC however will be relegated after they fell 3-2 to Roma at the Stadio Olimpico. Francesco Totti's PK in the 83rd minute proved to be goal that sent Torino to the Serie B.

The marquee matchup featured a Top 4 meeting between AC Milan v. Fiorentinawith Champions League positioning at stake. The Brazilian duo of Kaka & Pato scored in the 2nd half as Il Rossoneri defeated I Viola 2-0 in Florence. The result did not change the standings for either squad. Milan finished 3rd despite being level on points with Juventus because Milan lost the head to head tiebreaker.

Fiorentina held on to the last Champions League spot despite Genoa pulling level on points after their 4-1 home win against Lecce. Diego Milito scored twice in his final match with Genoa to solidify 5th place. Genoa lost the head to head tiebreaker with Fiorentina to just miss the last Champions League spot and secure a Europa League spot along with Roma.

The final week of the Serie A was action packed as every match had at least two goals and 7 of the 10 matches had at least 3 goals. No one can say that Italian Serie A doesn't play an attacking, attractive style of football.

Here are the Week 38 results and final standings:

SUNDAY, MAY 31st

Bologna 3 - 1 Catania
BOL: Nicola Mingazzini (5'), Claudio Terzi (26'), Marco Di Vaio (68')
CAT: Takayuki Morimoto (50')

Fiorentina 0 - 2 AC Milan
ACM: Kaká (55') & Pato (76')

Inter Milan 4 - 3 Atalanta
INT: Sulley Muntari (6'), Ibrahimovic (12' & 81'), Cambiasso (80')
ATL: Cristiano Doni (10' & 53') & Luca Cigarini (25')

Juventus 2 - 0 Lazio
JUV: Vincenzo Iaquinta (3' & 59')

Napoli 3 - 0 Chievo
NAP: Francesco Montervino (4'), Mariano Bogliacino (7'), Piá (18')

Reggina 1 - 1 Siena
REG: Christian Stuani (pen 45')
SIE: Massimo Maccarone (76')

AS Roma 3 - 2 Torino
ROM: Jeremy Menez (35'), Mirko Vucinic (74'), Francesco Totti (pen 83')
TOR: Tommaso Vailatti (9') & Nicola Ventola (88')

Udinese 6 - 2 Cagliari
UDI: Asamoah (10'), Pepe (11'), Flores (15'), Pasquale (58'), Quagliarella (81'),
Ighalo (89')
CAG: Robert Acquafresca (pen 55') & Andrea Parola (57')

Genoa 4 - 1 Lecce
GEN: Bosko Jankovic (22'), Domenico Criscito (52'), Diego Milito (56' & 67')
LEC: Simone Tiribocchi (32')

Palermo 2 - 2 Sampdoria
PAL: Fabrizio Miccoli (8') & Davide Succi (42')
SAM: Giampaolo Pazzini (45') & Marius Stankevicius (59')

STANDINGS

Inter Milan, Juventus, & AC Milan straight into 09-10 Champions League Group Stage
Fiorentina into Champions League playoff round

Genoa & Lazio into 09-10 Europa League playoff round
AS Roma into Europa League 3rd qualifying round

Torino, Reggina, and Lecce relegated into Serie B

Related posts:

1. Serie A Roundup — Week 34 4 matches remain in the 2008-09 Serie A season and...
2. Serie A Roundup — Week 32 All those that thought that the Serie A wasn’t explosive...
3. Serie A Roundup — Week 29 The Serie A is heading down to the last few...

The penultimate round of calcio italiano was action packed as only 2 matches had less than 2 goals combined from both teams. At this point the only drama will be what team will finish 2nd and what team will be the last to be relegated.

Juventus snapped a 7-game winless streak with their 3-0 road win against Siena. Juve icon Alessandro Del Piero scored twice to give La Vecchia Signora the 3 points and pull even with AC Milan on points. Il Rossoneri fell to AS Roma 3-2 at home in Paolo Maldini's last home game. Massimo Ambrosini's double wasn't enough to take down Il Giallorossi. Roma's iconic captain Francesco Totti scored in the 85th minute to give Roma the win. Totti's goal secured Roma's place in next season's Europa League.

Torino fell back into the relegation zone after their 3-2 loss at home to Genoa. Future Inter Milan striker Diego Milito scored twice including the game winner in the 89th minute to secure their place in next season's Europa League and put Torino in a precarious position for relegation.

Bologna moved out of relegation despite their 0-0 draw at Chievo, Marco Di Vaio failed to improve his chance to be named Capocannoniere as Serie A's leading goal scorer. Inter's Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored in Inter 2-1 road loss to Cagliari to move into a tie with Di Vaio at 23 goals for the season.

Here are the results & standings for Week 37:

WEDNESDAY, MAY 20nd

Lazio 1 - 0 Reggina
LAZ: Mauro Zárate (26')

SUNDAY, MAY 24th

Atalanta 2 - 2 Palermo
ATL: Gianvito Plasmati (50' & 67')
PAL: Davide Succi (32') & Fabrizio Miccoli (75')

Lecce 1 - 1 Fiorentina
LEC: Simone Tiribocchi (50')
FIO: Martin Jørgensen (90')

AC Milan 2 - 3 AS Roma
ACM: Massimo Ambrosini (75' & 81')
ROM: John Arne Riise (36'), Jérémy Menez (80'), Francesco Totti (85')

Chievo Verona 0 - 0 Bologna

Torino 2 - 3 Genoa
TOR: Ivan Franceschini (40') & Rolando Bianchi (49')
GEN: Diego Milito (pen 32' & 89') & Ruben Olivera (48')

Sampdoria 2 - 2 Udinese
SAM: Mauricio Isla (og 32') & Antonio Cassano (pen 44')
UDI: Gaetano D'Agostino (pen 13') & Felipe (61')

Siena 0 - 3 Juventus
JUV: Alessandro Del Piero (18' & 89') & Claudio Marchisio (37')

Cagliari 2 - 1 Internazionale
CAG: Andrea Cossu (34') & Robert Acquafresca (71')
INT: Zlatan Ibrahimovic (8')

Catania 3 - 1 Napoli
CAT: T. Morimoto (42'), Guiseppe Mascara (pen 88'), Vito Falconieri (90')
NAP: Mariano Bogliacino (28')

STANDINGS

Related posts:

1. Serie A Roundup — Week 32 All those that thought that the Serie A wasn’t explosive...
2. Serie A Final Roundup — Week 38 The last week of an exciting Serie A season has...
3. Serie A Roundup — Week 36 After 36 weeks & a New Years/Christmas break, Italy has...

After 36 weeks & a New Years/Christmas break, Italy has its champions. Congratulations to FC Internazionale Milano for clinching their 17th Scudetto. The Nerazzurri won the title after arch-rivals AC Milan lost on Saturday 2-1 on the road to Udinese. For good measure, Inter gave their home fans a show by trouncing Siena 3-0 at home to solidify their place as Italy's best team. Goals by Esteban Cambiasso, Mario Balotelli, & Zlatan Ibrahimovic put everyone in an even better mood for their 4th straight Serie A Championship. Even sweeter is the fact that Inter has equalled AC Milan for the 2nd most Scudetto titles in history.

Some other notable action in the Serie A for Giornata 36 is the slide of 3rd place Juventus who extend their winless streak to 7 matches as they drew 2-2 at home to Atalanta in an empty Olimpico Di Torino stadium. Maximilano Pellegrino scored the equalizer in the 44th minute for Atalanta to share the points as Juventus couldn't breakthrough in the 2nd half. The result is Juve's 5th straight draw and cost Claudio Raineri his job.

Fiorentina is the complete opposite as I Viola won their 4th straight match with their 1-0 home win over beaten '09 Coppa Italia finalists Sampdoria. Alberto Gilardino scored his 19th goal of the season to get the 3 points. 4th place Fiorentina have won 7 of their last 8 matches and now trail Juve by 1 point in the standings.

While the championship race is over, the relegation battle is still fierce. Torino kept themselves out of the relegation zone with a big 2-1 road victory versus Napoli. Alessandro Rosina's 72nd minute goal gave Torino the points and kept them 1 point from relegation. Reggina moved off the bottom of the table with a 2-1 home win over Cagliari as Lecce fell to Bologna in a bottom 3 matchup. Sergio Volpi's dramatic 2nd half injury time goal gave Bologna a massive 2-1 home win against Lecce. The win keeps Bologna in 18th just 1 point back of still-safe Torino.

Here are the results & standings for Week 36:

SATURDAY, MAY 16th

AS Roma 4 - 3 Catania
ASR: Perrotta (13' & 31'), Vucinic (17'), Panucci (91')
CAT: Tedesco (15'), Mascara (47'), Morimoto (72')

Udinese 2 - 1 AC Milan
UDI: Gaetano D'Agostino (pen 31') & Cristian Zapata (49')
ACM: Massimo Ambrosini (93')

SUNDAY, MAY 17th

Bologna 2 - 1 Lecce
BOL: Marco Di Vaio (37') & Sergio Volpi (94')
LEC: Simone Tiribocchi (30')

Fiorentina 1 - 0 Sampdoria
FIO: Alberto Gilardino (21')

Juventus 2 - 2 Atalanta
JUV: Vincenzo Iaquinta (26') & Cristiano Zanetti (36')
ATA: Luca Cigarini (2') & Maximiliano Pellegrino (44')

Napoli 1 - 2 Torino
NAP: Joao Batista Inacio Pia (42')
TOR: Rolando Bianchi (51') & Alessandro Rosina (72')

Reggina 2 - 1 Cagliari
REG: Fabio Ceravolo (26') & Franco Brienza (49')
CAG: Andrea Lazzari (18')

Genoa 2 - 2 Chievo
GEN: Diego Milito (pen 58')& Ruben Olivera (71')
CHI: Giampiero Pinzi (35') & Sergio Pellissier (85')

Palermo 2 - 0 Lazio
PAL: Fabrizio Miccoli (pen 6') & Giulio Migliaccio (87')

Inter Milan 3 - 0 Siena
INT: Esteban Cambiasso (45'), Mario Balotelli (52'), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (76')

STANDINGS

Related posts:

1. Serie A Roundup — Week 25 Week 25 of the Italian Serie A did not produce...
2. Serie A Roundup — Week 28 Even though Italians teams faltered in the Champions League earlier...
3. Serie A Final Roundup — Week 38 The last week of an exciting Serie A season has...

Week 35 of the Serie A was full of tight matches showing the competitive balance of Italy's 1st Division of Football. Only one match had a goal differential of more than 2 goals and there were 6 draws over the weekend. One of those draws delayed a Scudetto celebration for Inter Milan. Chievo battled Il Nerazzurri to a 2-2 draw in Verona. Luciano's 73rd minute goal delayed Inter 's celebration of a 4th consecutive Scudetto.

The marquee match featured the two winningest clubs in Serie A history as Milan hosted Juventus at the San Siro. Vincenzo Iaquinta's goal in the 60th was a quick response to Clarence Seedorf's goal in the 57th minute as the game eventually ended in a 1-1 draw. The draw ended Milan's 5-game winning streak but extended their unbeaten streak to 9 matches. Juventus has now drawn in 4 straight games and are now winless in their last 6 matches.

Fiorentina tightened their grip on the last Champions League spot by defeating Catania on the road 2-0. I Viola have won 6 of their last 7 matches while their main competition for that last UCL spot needed a late goal to salvage a point. Genoa drew 1-1 at Atalanta with Domenico Criscito scoring in 2nd half injury to get the point.

In the relegation battle, Torino took on Bologna with the winner jumping out of the relegation zone for this week. Both sides split the points with a 1-1 draw. Torino's Alessandro Rosina buried a PK to give them a 1-0 lead in the 37th minute but refs returned the favor to Bologna in the 86th minute. Il Capo Cannoniere leader Marco Di Vaio sank a PK in the 86th minute to secure the draw. Torino remains in 17th place just one point out of the relegation zone.

Here are the results & standings from Week 35:

SATURDAY, MAY 9th

Sampdoria 5 - 0 Reggina
SAM: Daniele Dessena (1'& 31'), Delvecchio (37'), Marilungo (46'), Pazzini (52')

Lazio 1 - 3 Udinese
LAZ: Tommaso Rocchi (56')
UDI: Floro Flores (60'), D'Agostino (69'), Quagliarella (86')

SUNDAY, MAY 10th

Atalanta 1 - 1 Genoa
ATL: Jaime Andrés Valdés (9')
GEN: Domenico Criscito (90')

Lecce 1 - 1 Napoli
LEC: Andrea Zanchetta (pen 43')
NAP: Joao Batista Inacio Piá (33')

Chievo 2 - 2 Inter Milan
CHI: Michele Marcolini (27') & Luciano (73')
INT: Hernán Crespo (3') & Mario Balotelli (65')

Torino 1 -1 Bologna
TOR: Alessandro Rosina (pen 37')
BOL: Marco Di Vaio (pen 86')

Siena 1 - 0 Palermo
SIE: Emanuele Calaiò (60')

Cagliari 2 - 2 AS Roma
CAG: Alessandro Matri (34') & Robert Acquafresca (58')
ROM: Francesco Totti (63') & Simone Perrotta (69')

Catania 0 - 2 Fiorentina
FIO: Stevan Jovetic (11') & Luciano Zauri (93')

AC Milan 1 - 1 Juventus
ACM: Clarence Seedorf (57')
JUV: Vincenzo Iaquinta (60')

STANDINGS

Related posts:

1. Serie A Roundup — Week 25 Week 25 of the Italian Serie A did not produce...
2. Serie A Roundup — Week 31 The matches of Week 31 of the Serie A were...
3. Serie A Roundup — Week 37 The penultimate round of calcio italiano was action packed as...

4 matches remain in the 2008-09 Serie A season and after week 34 the only thing that was settled was the participants dueling for the last Champions League spot. Fiorentina kept 4th place with a 1-0 home win over relegation threatened Torino. Peruvian midfielder Juan Vargas scored to keep i Viola 1 point ahead of Genoa for the last Champions League spot.

Genoa got a hat trick from their superstar goal scorer Diego Milito in their 3-1 home win over Sampdoria in an intense Derby della Lanterna. Italy's oldest club snapped a 2-game losing skid and swept the season series from their city rivals. Roma's 0-0 home draw against Chievo sees I Giallorossi 7 points back of Genoa and virtually out of the Champions League spot race.

Juventus continued their head scratching slide with their 2-2 draw at home against Lecce. Argentina born forward José Castillo scored the equalizer in 2nd half injury time to extend La Vecchia Signora's ill-timed winless streak to 5 games.

The Milan sides continued their winning ways with 2-0 victories. 1st place Inter moved closer to their 17th Scudetto with goals from Ibrahimovic & Muntari to beat Lazio. While Il Rossoneri kept pressure on Inter with goals from Kakà & Pippo Inzaghi to get 3 points against Catania.

Here are the results and standings from Week 34:

SATURDAY, MAY 2nd

Bologna 1 - 2 Reggina
BOL: Vaggelis Moras (87')
REG: Franco Brienza (40') & Edgar Barreto (46')

Inter Milan 2 - 0 Lazio
INT: Zlatan Ibrahimovic (58') & Sulley Ali Muntari (70')

SUNDAY, MAY 3rd

Genoa 3 - 1 Sampdoria
GEN: Diego Milito (30', 73', 93')
SAM: Hugo Campagnaro (45'+3')

Catania 0 - 2 AC Milan
ACM: Kakà (51') & Pippo Inzaghi (27')

Palermo 5 - 1 Cagliari
PAL: Migliaccio (29'), Miccoli (38'), Tedesco (50'), Cavani (57'), Succi (87')
CAG: Jeda (48')

Siena 2 - 1 Napoli
SIE: Houssine Kharja (11') & Massimo Maccarone (25')
NAP: Inacio Pia' (80')

Udinese 3 - 0 Atalanta
UDI: Fabio Quagliarella (43' & 74)' & Giovanni Pasquale (91)

AS Roma 0 - 0 Chievo

Juventus 2 - 2 Lecce
JUV: Pavel Nedved (54' & 66')
LEC: Axel Konan (11') & José Castillo (93')

Fiorentina 1 - 0 Torino
FIO: Juan Manuel Vargas (57')

STANDINGS

Related posts:

1. Serie A Final Roundup — Week 38 The last week of an exciting Serie A season has...
2. Serie A Roundup — Week 29 The Serie A is heading down to the last few...
3. Serie A Roundup — Week 27 This weekend witnessed impressive hat tricks from 2 players that...

Whomever said that the race for the Scudetto was over, spoke too soon. Inter Milan suffered a stunning 1-0 loss on the road to Napoli. Ex-Juve striker Marcelo Zalayeta scored in the 73rd minute to give Napoli the win and extend Inter's winless streak to 3 games. The loss was the Nerazzurri's 3rd of the season and may have opened the door to 2nd place AC Milan to challenge Inter for the Scudetto.

AC Milan continues its fierce late season charge with a 3-0 win at the San Siro over Palermo. 2 PK goals from Kaká and another score from Super Pippo Inzaghi gave Il Rossoneri the win. Milan extended their unbeaten streak to 7, having won 6 in that span. AC Milan has pulled 2 points ahead of Juventus and moved to within 7 points of their league leading arch rivals.

Fiorentina moved into 4th place and the last Champions League spot with an impressive 4-1 win at home versus fellow Champions League spot contender, Roma. A double by Alberto Gilardino helped I Viola to the 3 points. Fiorentina leaped over Genoa after Genoa lost 2-0 to Bologna on the road. Marco Di Vaio scored his league leading 21st goal for Bologna in the victory.

Here are the results and standings from Week 33:

SATURDAY, APRIL 25th
Chievo 1 - 2 Udinese
CHI: Sergio Pellissier (71')
UDI: Gaetano D'Agostino (pen 35' & 93')

Fiorentina 4 - 1 AS Roma
FIO: Juan Manuel Vargas (6'), Alberto Gilardino (47' & 67'), Massimo Gobbi (73')
ROM: Julio Baptista (86')

SUNDAY, APRIL 26th
Bologna 2 - 0 Genoa
BOL: Marco Di Vaio (pen 15') & Claudio Terzi (25')

Lazio 0 - 1 Atalanta
ATL: Leonardo Talamonti (24')

Lecce 2 - 1 Catania
LEC: Gianni Munari (11') & Simone Tiribocchi (25')
CAT: Jorge Martínez (47')

AC Milan 3 - 0 Palermo
ACM: Kaká (pen 10' & pen 56') & Filippo Inzaghi (19')

Reggina 2 - 2 Juventus
REG: Antonino Barillá (26') & Emil Hallfreðsson (69')
JUV: Alessandro Del Piero (pen 48') & Cristiano Zanetti (73')

Torino 1 - 0 Siena
TOR: Rolando Bianchi (10')

Sampdoria 3 - 3 Cagliari
SAM: Guido Marilungo (26' & 43') & Antonio Cassano (86')
CAG: Alessandro Matri (47'), Robert Acquafresca (pen 68'), Daniele Conti (80')

Napoli 1 - 0 Inter Milan
NAP: Marcelo Zalayeta (73')

STANDINGS

Related posts:

1. Serie A Roundup — Week 27 This weekend witnessed impressive hat tricks from 2 players that...
2. Serie A Roundup — Week 28 Even though Italians teams faltered in the Champions League earlier...
3. Serie A Roundup — Week 32 All those that thought that the Serie A wasn’t explosive...

All those that thought that the Serie A wasn't explosive need to look at Week 32 to see that it is.  Let's begin with the Derby D'Italia.  Juventus and Inter played to a 1-1 draw in Turin that saw the drama intensify in the 2nd half. Mario Balotelli scored to give Inter the lead in the 64th minute and after Juve's Tiago was sent off in the 76th minute it seemed as though the Nerazzurri would get the 3 points but questionable substitutions by Jose Mourinho and the insertion of Sebastian Giovinco by Juve coach Claudio Rainieri eventually led to Zdenek Grygera's goal in the 91st minute and a share of the points.

Juve's draw makes them winless in their last 3 matches and with Milan's 5-1 destruction of Torino. Il Rossoneri moved into a 2nd place tie with Juventus.  Pippo Inzaghi scored a hat trick to extend Milan's unbeaten streak to 6.

Roma improved its chances at a Champions League spot with a 3-2 home win versus Lecce.  Francesco Totti scored twice to give Roma the victory.  Roma's win was good timing as the other Champions League contenders lost.  Genoa lost 1-0 at home to Lazio and Fiorentina lost 3-1 on the road to Udinese.

Here are the results and standings from Week 32:

SATURDAY, APRIL 18th

Genoa 0 - 1 Lazio
LAZ: Mauro Zárate (65)

Juventus 1 - 1 Inter
JUV: Zdenek Grygera (91')
INT: Mario Balotelli (64')

SUNDAY, APRIL 19th

Atalanta 0 - 1 Reggina
REG: Fabio Ceravalo (40')

Cagliari 2 - 0 Napoli
CAG: Jeda (5') & Andrea Lazzari (92')

Catania 2 - 0 Sampdoria
CAT: Giuseppe Mascara (pen 39') & Jorge Martínez (48')

Palermo 4 - 1 Bologna
PAL: Belleri (og 6'), Kjær (44'), Succi (63'), Cavani (92')
BOL: Marco Di Vaio (84')

Roma 3 - 2 Lecce
ROM: Francesco Totti (3' & pen 59'), Matteo Brighi (13)
LEC: Munari (31') & Papadopoulos (55')

Siena 0 - 2 Chievo
CHI: Sergio Pellissier (23' & 48')

Udinese 3 - 1 Fiorentina
UDI: Kwadwo Asamoah (10'), Gaetano D'Agostino (pen 47' & 69')
FIO: Dario Dainelli (67')

Milan 5 - 1 Torino
MIL: Filippo Inzaghi (13', 37', 60'), Kaká (pen 68'), Ambrosini (90')
TOR: Ivan Franceschini (80')

STANDINGS

Related posts:

1. Serie A Roundup — Week 33 Whomever said that the race for the Scudetto was over,...
2. Serie A Roundup — Week 30 Well Serie A fans, welcome back.  The national team solidified...
3. Serie A Final Roundup — Week 38 The last week of an exciting Serie A season has...

The matches of Week 31 of the Serie A were overshadowed by the tragedy of devastating earthquakes that killed around 230 people and injured many more in Central Italy. Matches across the country held a moment of silence out of respect for those that were affected by the quakes. All but 1 match was played on Saturday as Easter Sunday ceremonies took hold of the predominantly Catholic nation. That match was Udinese's 2-0 road win over Reggina and it took place on Sunday because Udinese played a UEFA Cup quarterfinal match on Thursday.

The marquee match of the week featured 4th place Genoa and 2nd place Juventus. Genoa defeated Juve 3-2 as the home side got a brace from Ex-Barcelona midfielder Thiago Motta. However, the game winner was scored in the 88th minute by Raffaele Palladino as Genoa dropped La Vecchia Signora 10 points behind Inter for the Scudetto.

The Derby della Capitale was another heated affair with goals early & often and red cards late & often. 3 goals were scored in the 1st 10 minutes with Lazio's Goran Pandev and Mauro Zarate scoring in the 1st 4 minutes to give Lazio an insurmountable lead that ultimately lead to a 4-2 victory. The victory snapped Lazio's 3-game losing streak and pretty much ended Roma's chances at a Champions League spot.

Here are the results and standings from Week 31:

Genoa 3 - 2 Juventus
GEN: Thiago Motta (29' & 45') & Raffaele Palladino (88')
JUV: Alessandro Del Piero (pen 45') & Vincenzo Iaquinta (84')

Lazio 4 - 2 AS Roma
LAZ: Goran Pandev (2'), Mauro Zarate (4'), Lichtsteiner (57'), Kolarov (85')
ROM: Philippe Mexès (10') & Daniele De Rossi (81')

Bologna 1 - 4 Siena
BOL: Massimo Marazzina (20')
SIE: Emanuele Calaio (6'), Daniele Portanova (11'), Ghezzal (62'), Kharja (81')

Fiorentina 2 - 1 Cagliari
FIO: Manuel Pasqual (53') & Juan Manuel Vargas (85')
CAG: Daniele Ragatzu (86')

Inter Milan 2 - 2 Palermo
INT: Mario Balotelli (15') &  Zlatan Ibrahimovic (pen 39')
PAL: Edison Cavani (73') & Davide Succi (76')

Lecce 1 - 3 Sampdoria
LEC: Fabio Caserta (pen 59')
SAM: Giampaolo Pazzini (11') & Antonio Cassano (pen 30' & pen 88')

Napoli 0 - 0 Atalanta

Chievo 0 - 1 AC Milan
ACM: Clarence Seedorf (53')

Torino 2 - 1 Catania
TOR: Rolando Bianchi (82') & Cesare Natali (88')
CAT: Jorge Martínez (85')

Reggina 0 - 2 Udinese
UDI: (85') Antonio Floro Flores (85' & 90'+1)

STANDINGS

Related posts:

1. Serie A Roundup — Week 30 Well Serie A fans, welcome back.  The national team solidified...
2. Serie A Roundup — Week 24 Week 24 of the Serie A featured two massive top...
3. Serie A Roundup — Week 34 4 matches remain in the 2008-09 Serie A season and...

Well Serie A fans, welcome back.  The national team solidified their chances of going to South Africa so now its time for the clubs to solidify their chances for either a Scudetto,  European competition place, or avoid relegation.  With only 8 weeks left, teams need points and need them NOW.

Inter Milan may have secured their 17th Scudetto with a lucky 1-0 road win over Udinese. Nerazzurri were gifted the 3 points when Udinese defender Mauricio Isla put the ball in his own net in the 77th minute.  Inter continues to top the table with 72 points extending its lead to 9 points over Juventus.

Juve dropped points to Inter after a thrilling 3-3 draw vs Chievo.  Sergio Pellissier scored a hat trick to lead Chievo but La Vecchia Signora got a point on an own goal by Chievo's defender Andrea Mantovani. The draw breaks Juve's 5-game winning streak.

The contenders  for the last two Champions League spots will push the drama till the very end as all the teams in contention won their matches.

3rd place Milan beat Lecce 2-0 at home on the strength of two 2nd half injury time goals from Ronaldinho & Pippo Inzaghi.  4th place Genoa kept within 4 points of Milan with a tough 1-0 road win over Reggina. Thiago Motta scored in the 78th minute to maintain Genoa's standing. 5th place Fiorentina stayed 2 points back of Genoa with their 2-1 road win over Atalanta.  Alberto Gilardino scored the game winner in the 89th minute providing heart -wrenching drama for I Viola.

Here are the results & standings for Week 30:

Atalanta 1 - 2 Fiorentina
ATL: Gianvito Plasmati (49')
FIO: Stevan Jovetic (59') & Alberto Gilardino (89')

Cagliari 1 - 0 Catania
CAG: Alessandro Matri (80')

Juventus 3 - 3 Chievo
JUV: Chiellini (34'), Andrea Mantovani (og 53'), Iaquinta (79')
CHI: Sergio Pellissier (25', 44', 90'+1')

Palermo 1 - 0 Torino
PAL: Edinson Cavani (51')

Reggina 0 - 1 Genoa
GEN: Thiago Motta (78')

Roma 2 - 1 Bologna
ROM: Francesco Totti (12' & 58')
BOL: Massimo Marazzina (26')

Sampdoria 2 - 2 Napoli
SAM: Angelo Palombo (28' & 63')
NAP: Marcelo Zalayeta (44') & Germán Denis (90'+2')

Siena 2 - 0 Lazio
SIE: Emanuele Calaiò (25') & Massimo Maccarone (85')

Udinese 0 - 1 Inter Milan
INT: Mauricio Isla (og 77')

AC Milan 2 - 0 Lecce
ACM: Ronaldinho (90'+1') & Filippo Inzaghi (90'+3')

STANDINGS

Related posts:

1. Serie A Roundup — Week 32 All those that thought that the Serie A wasn’t explosive...
2. Serie A Roundup — Week 37 The penultimate round of calcio italiano was action packed as...
3. Serie A Roundup — Week 28 Even though Italians teams faltered in the Champions League earlier...

The Serie A is heading down to the last few matches. There are 9 weeks left for teams to slip down the table or rise up the table. The marquee matchup of the weekend was AS Roma vs Juventus, too bad the match was one-sided as La Vecchia Signora dominated I Giallorossi in Rome.  The score 4-1, Vincenzo Iaquinta scored twice to give the Turin side its 5th straight win and extend its unbeaten streak to 7 matches.  The loss dropped Roma into 6th place a full 5 points from a Champions League spot.

Genoa & Fiorentina both won to make their duel for the last Champions League place more compelling.  Genoa took care of Udinese 2-0 at home, Diego Milito scored his 16th goal of the season as Genoa maintained 4th place in the standings. Fiorentina kept pace with a tough 1-0 win at home versus Siena. Once again, Adrian Mutu saved I Viola with a goal in the 72nd minute to break Fiorentina's 2 game losing streak and keep them in 5th place just 2 points back of Genoa.

Here are the results from Week 29 - home teams listed first:

Saturday, March 21

Catania 1 - 0 Lazio
CAT: Michele Paolucci (24')

Roma 1- 4 Juventus
ROM: Simone Loria (48')
JUV: Iaquinta (34' & 55'), Mellberg (68'), Nedved (74')

Sunday, March 22

Bologna 0 - 1 Cagliari
CAG: Robert Acquafresca (45')

Chievo 1 - 0 Palermo
CHI: Luciano (46')

Fiorentina 1 - 0 Siena
FIO: Adrian Mutu (72')

Genoa 2 - 0 Udinese
GEN: Giuseppe Sculli (60'), Diego Milito (94')

Inter Milan 3 - 0 Reggina
INT: Esteban Cambiasso (6'), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (10' & 58')

Lecce 2 - 2 Atalanta
LEC: Fabio Caserta (9' & 91')
ATL: Simone Padoin (29' & 48')

Torino 1 - 3 Sampdoria
TOR: Rolando Bianchi (29')
SAM: Pazzini (8'), Sammarco (24'), Cassano (69')

Napoli 0 - 0 AC Milan

STANDINGS

Related posts:

1. Serie A Roundup — Week 25 Week 25 of the Italian Serie A did not produce...
2. Serie A Roundup — Week 27 This weekend witnessed impressive hat tricks from 2 players that...
3. Serie A Roundup — Week 28 Even though Italians teams faltered in the Champions League earlier...