Champions 2010: Fiorentina and Milan eliminated

In 2nd match of the Champions League’s round of 16, Prandelli’s Fiorentina bowed out of the competition after putting up a major fight. The florentine team almost made it through defeating at home Bayern Munich (3-2) with Jovetic (photo) scoring twice but the 2 goals conceded in the 2nd half were fatal in light of the 1st match’s result. Leonardo’s Milan (with key Pato and Nesta out injured) on the contrary went down hard and never seemed to have a chance, also losing the second match (4-0) to Manchester United away from home after playing a very awful match. Inter is now the only Italian team that has a chance to move on to the competition’s next stage pending the match scheduled for next week.

Champions 2010: Vargas’ Fiorentina first to qualify

Despite Fiorentina’s budget is much smaller than its more celebrated Italian clubs, the Florentina club is the only one so far to have qualified for the next stage of the European Champions League. In a difficult group, Fiorentina seals the qualification with a narrow victory over Lyon (1-0) with Vargas (photo) scoring on penalty. On the contrary all 3 other clubs in the league will have to aim for wins in the last round of the group stage in order to qualify. The round was pitiful for the 3 star clubs starting with Milan which settled for a tie at home against Marseilles (1-1) after risking a dangerous loss. Inter, dominating in Serie A, virtually did not even show up in Barcelona where it lost (2-0) conceding 2 early goals and never creating any great chances to score. The same with Juventus which crumbled at Bordeaux (2-0) and now faces a serious risk of exiting early the competition.

Champions 2010: Jovetic’s Fiorentina wins & hopes

The 2nd round in the group elimination stage of the UEFA Champions League was almost a complete disaster for the 4 Italian clubs taking part in the competition. Fiorentina was the only club to celbrate somewhat by defeating Liverpool with 2 goals scored by the young Jovetic (photo). Juventus settled for a scoreless tie at Munich against Bayern while Inter was held to a (1-1) tie in Russia against Rubin Kazan thanks to a goald scored by Stankovic. Finally Milan crumbled at home losing to Zurich (0-1). Given the inconsistent performances so far, the Italian clubs will have to do much more if they wish to qualify to the next stage.