Champions 2012: Cavani scores, Napoli dreams

In the 5th round of the UEFA Champions League group elimination stage, Inter settled for a tie (1-1) against Trabzonspor to ensure a spot in the next round of the competition. Milan also was certain of its qualifications despite being defeated at home by Barcelona (2-3) in a tough match that saw Milan coming up short in the end even after coming back from behind twice (Ibrahimovic and Boateng scoring) against last year’s champions. The most memorable match of the day Napoli’s win against the powerful Manchester City (2-1) with Cavani (photo) scoring both goals and giving Napoli a good chance to seal qualification in the next round.

Champions 2012: Cavani leads Napoli to key win

In the 2nd round of the UEFA Champions League group elimination stage, all 3 Italian clubs found key wins. Napoli beat (2-0) at home Villareal led by Cavani (photo) and Hamsik offering a convincing performance and clinching valuable points in a very competitive group. Milan also nailed its first European win (2-0) this season against a modest Viktoria Plzen with Ibrahimovic and Cassano finding the net. Inter under the care of Ranieri also clinched an important win at Mosckow against CSKA with Zarate scoring the winning goal after allowing the home team to come back from 2 goals down.

Serie A 02: Napoli’s Cavani 3 goals knocks out Milan

Highlights of the 2nd round of Serie A.

Leaders: In a much anticipated match, Napoli demonstrated that is a contender for the title by knocking Milan out with a convincing victory (3-1). Milan took the lead with Aquilani but Napoli came back from behind and sealed the win with 3 goals scored by a superb Cavani (photo). Alongside at the top of the standings we also find Juventus which won at Siena (0-1) with a goal scored by Matri, Udinese which defeated Fiorentina (2-0) and the surprising Cagliari that won easily at home against Novara (2-1).

Contenders: In mid-table stands out Genoa Which won at Lazio (1-2) coming back from behind and Catania which narrowly defeated Cesena (1-0). Moving up the standings are also Lecce which won at Bologna (0-2) with a convincing performance and Parma that defeated Chievo (2-1) thanks to 2 goals scored by Giovinco.

Laggards: Amazingly after an awful start to the season at the bottom of the standings we find teams like Lazio, Milan, and even Inter and Roma which settled for a boring scoreless match showing how much these 2 teams are struggling. Finally at the bottom of the standings Atalanta defeated Palermo (1-0) and continues to reduce the penalty in points it started the season with.

Results: Atalanta – Palermo 1-0; Bologna  – Lecce 0-2; Cagliari-Novara 2-1; Catania – Cesena 1-0; Inter-Roma 0-0; Lazio – Genoa 1-2; Napoli – Milan 3-1; Parma – Chievo 2-1; Siena – Juventus 0-1; Udinese – Fiorentina 2-0.

Standings: Napoli, Cagliari, Juventus, Udinese 6; Genoa, Catania 4, Fiorentina, Palermo, Lecce, Parma e 3; Chievo, Lazio, Milan, Novara, Siena, Inter e Roma 1, Cesena e Bologna 0, Atalanta -2.

Champions 2012: Napoli shines with Cavani

In the group stage of the UEFA Champions League, Napoli came close to winning in England against Manchester City but settled for a tie (1-1) forcing the home team to come back from behind. Napoli took the lead with Cavani (photo) and show how dangerous it can be on the counter offensive which will be a valuable asset to leverage in a difficult group. Milan also did well, without shining, grabbing a tie (2-2) at Barcelona thanks to an early lead scored by Pato and a very late goal scored by Thiago Silva. Inter on the contrary started with an awful loss at home (0-1) against Trabzonspor showing all the difficulties the team is having this new season. The Italians did not started the Champions well with Udinese earlier in the summer being eliminated by Arsenal and thus losing the right to participate in the group stage.

Serie A 37: Zuniga secures Champions for Napoli

Highlights of the 37th round of Serie A

Leader: Milan celebrated in its stadium its 18th national title by easily defeating Cagliari (4-1) led by Robhinho who scored 2 of the winning goals. With this win Milan sealed a Serie A season that it dominated despite having a young coach Allegri at its helm.

Contenders: In the key match of the day, Napoli and Inter settled for a tie (1-1) with Eto’o scoring first and Zuniga (photo) tieing the match allowing Napoli to secure third place and a spot in next year’s Champions League. The battle for 4th place meanwhile continued with Udinese winning at Chievo (0-2) and Lazio routing Genoa (4-2). Confirming disappointing seasons, on the contrary, Roma lost at Catania (2-1) while Juventus lost at Parma (1-0).

Laggards: In the most dramatic match of the day Palermo won at Sampdoria (1-2), a result that sanctions Sampdoria’s relegation to Serie B despite the club’ successes in recent years. The wins obtained by Cesena against Brescia (1-0) and Lecce at Bari (0-2) enabled both teams to celebrate with certainty the ability to play in Serie A next year as well.

Results: Bari – Lecce 0-2; Catania – Roma 2-1; Cesena – Brescia 1-0; Chievo – Udinese 0-2; Fiorentina – Bologna 1-1; Lazio – Genoa 4-2; Milan – Cagliari 4-1; Napoli – Inter 1-1; Parma – Juventus 1-0; Sampdoria – Palermo 1-2.

Standings: Milan 81; Inter 73; Napoli 69; Udinese 65; Lazio 63, Roma 60; Juventus 57; Palermo 56; Fiorentina 50; Genoa 48; Catania 46; Parma 45; Cagliari 44; Chievo, Cesena 43; Bologna 42; Lecce 41; Sampdoria 36; Brescia 31; Bari 21.

Serie A 22: Cavani’s Napoli keeps Milan’s pace

Highlights of 22nd round of Serie A:

* The Leader: Allegri’s Milan seems unstoppable collecting yet another win away from home defeating Catania (0-2) with the usual Robinho and Ibrahimovic scoring the winning goals. This is a good result given the many injuries crippling the team but Milan’s schedule is about to get more difficult with the Champions League matches.

* The Contenders: Napoli for now seems to be the key title contender for Milan. Mazzari’s Napoli today won trouncing Sampdoria (4-0) with super Cavani (photo) scoring 3 of the winning goals. Behind Napoli, Lazio stayed the course defeating ever more struggling Fiorentina (2-0) while Inter came back from behind to beat at home Palermo (3-2) thanks to the goals of Pazzini, its newly acquirer striker.

* The Strugglers: While Roma falls behind in standings for now given that its match at Bologna was postponed due to heavy snow, Juventus seems definitively out of steam conceding yet another loss (1-2) at home to an ever more surprising Udinese. Further down the standings we find important home wins for Cagliari over Bari (2-1) and Genoa over Parma (3-1) but the key result was Chievo’s win at Brescia (0-3) which allows Chievo to move further away from the relegation zone.

Results: Bologna – Roma (suspended); Brescia-Chievo 0-3; Cagliari – Bari 2-1; Catania-Milan 0-2; Genoa – Parma 3-1; Inter – Palermo 3-2; Juventus – Udinese 1-2; Lazio-Fiorentina 2-0; Lecce – Cesena 1-1; Napoli – Sampdoria 4-0.

Standings: Milan 47; Napoli 43; Lazio 40; Inter, Roma 38; Udinese 36; Juventus 35; Palermo 34; Cagliari 29; Chievo, Sampdoria, Genoa 27; Fiorentina, Parma, Bologna 25; Catania 22; Lecce 21; Cesena 20; Brescia 18; Bari 14.

Notes: Inter, Fiorentina, Genoa, Sampdoria, Bologna and Roma all have to make up 1 match. Bologna penalized by 3 points for financial irregularities.

Serie A 13: Hamsik’s Double Pushes Up Napoli

In the 13th round of Serie A, Milan continued its run at the top defeating at home Fiorentina (1-0) thanks to a goal scored by Ibrahimovic. Taking advantage of Lazio’s tie (1-1) at Parma, Allegri’s Milan today built up a 3 pointslead over second place. With Benitez’s Inter continuing to crumble with yet another loss today at Chievo (2-1), Napoli moved up to third place after easily beating at home Bologna (4-1) led by Hamsik (photo) who scored 2 goals. Behind it however we find DelNeri’s Juventus, which won at Genoa (0-2) led by Krasic, and Ranieri’s Roma which easily defeated Udinese (2-0) led by Menez. In mid-table while Catania narrowly beat Bari (1-0), 3 external victories stand out: Palermo’s win at Cesena (1-2), Caglari’s win at Brescia (1-2) and Sampdoria win at Lecce (2-3) thanks to 3 goals scored by Pazzini.

Results: Brescia-Cagliari 1-2; Catania-Bari 1-0; Cesena-Palermo 1-2; Chievo-Inter 2-1; Lecce-Sampdoria 2-3; Milan-Fiorentina 1-0; Napoli-Bologna 4-1; Parma-Lazio 1-1; Roma-Udinese 2-0.

Standings: Milan 29; Lazio 26; Napoli 24; Juventus 23; Roma 22; Inter, Palermo 20; Chievo, Sampdoria 19; Catania, Udinese, Genoa 17; Fiorentina, Parma 15; Cagliari, Bologna 14; Lecce 12; Brescia, Cesena 11; Bari 9.

Serie A 11: Hamsik’s Napoli stops Juve, Inter runs

In the 11th round of Serie A, Inter easily won at Livorno (0-2) led by Milito and takes off in the standings building a huge 7 points over second place. This was possible because while Sampdoria was blocke to a scoreless tie at home by Bari, Juventus lost at home to a revived Napoli (2-3) wasting a 2 goals lead. Juventus incredibly lost by conceding 3 goals to the guests in the last 30 minutes of the match led to victory by Hamsik (photo) who scored twice.  Rising up to third place we find another revived team, Milan which easily defeated Parma (2-0) thanks to 2 goals scored by Borriello. In other matches, Fiorentina returned to victory over struggling Catania (3-2) while Roma came from behind to beat Bologna (2-1). Finally among a string of ties in mid-table, only Cagliari moved up the table defeating Atalanta (3-0). Standings: Inter 28; Juventus, Sampdoria 21; Milan 19; Fiorentina 18.

Serie A 33: Zalayeta threatens Inter’s title

Just when the title’s battle seemed sealed, today came Inter’s loss to Donadoni’s Napoli (1-0) thanks to a goal scored by Zalayeta (photo) which could reopen the season. As a matter of fact while Inter has slowed down, Milan surged to second place by beating Palermo (3-0) led by Kaka and has cut down the deficit from the leader to 7 points with 5 rounds to go to the end of the season. Juventus on the contrary continues to struggle being held to a tie at Reggina (3-3) is now in third place and will have to watch out for surging Fiorentina which resoundly beat an ever more disappointing Roma (4-1). Standings: Inter 74; Milan 67; Juventus 65; Fiorentina 58; Genoa 57; Roma 52;