Serie A is quite boring, especially for the first place, but tomorow the last 16 of the biggest European competition comes to the fore. Celtic Glasgow-AC Milan tomorrow, Inter Milan-Valencia and AS Roma-Lyon on Wednesday are the matches of Italian teams. A difficult heath for everybody, very difficult to get through, especially for the Romans. Lyon has been dominating French League for five years, and it should win this year as well, but in Champions League their best result was a quarter final. Now Lyon is a little bit weaker than the beginning of the season, but still a dangerous opponent. Juninho Pernambucano is sure we'll see the rtue Lyon next Wednesday. In Rome the enthusiasm is great, it's first time the Giallorossi get through UCL the groups stage.

Coach Spalletti denies any dispute with Totti after the captain's substitution at Empoli. "French are strong -the coach from Certaldo says- but I'm convinced AS Roma will play two great games". Probably center back Philippe Mexes will take part of the game against his compatriots. If in Rome, Stadio Olimpico will be full, in Milan for an absurd decision only season tickets holders can watch the game, even the ones buying tickets before Catania riots had to renounce, and will get only a full refund of the ticket. Mancini should have his best formation, with many players that just had a rest day on Saturday. Valencia is a hard nut to crack, especially after their win in front of Spain and Europe champions of Barcelona. They have a good forward duo (Villa and El Moro Morientes), and good midfielder. Inter has a lot to loose, and the same is for Italian football: imagine what could happen if the team that is triumphing in the Serie A League was sent off by a Spanish team...
Anyway, Baraja and Vicente haven't been called up due to someinjuries.

AC Milan is maybe the weakest Italian team at the moment in this last-16 tie, but also has the easiest task. Celtic Glasgow has been a surprise of the groups stage, but still seems to be at a lower level than the Milanese. The problem for Ancelotti is that some key players won't take part to the match: Ronaldo already played in Champions at Real Madri), Dida is injured and Gilardino is not sure he will play. Only Oliveira is ok among the forwards. Then, the Celtic Park is a hot stadium, ad the Scottish have a player like Shunsuke Nakamura that can create some danger. "I'd like to be in good condition -the Japanese says- I think it will be a great match". Well, we hope all of these matches will be great, but for the Italian clubs...

Inter 1 Cagliari 0 (Burdisso)
Empoli 1 AS Roma 0 (Pozzi)
Siena 3 AC Milan 4 (Ronaldo 0-1, Vergassola 1-1, Oliveira 1-2, Maccarone 2-2, Ronaldo 2-3, Maccarone 3-3, Ambrosini 3-4)


Burdisso, this is best year at Inter for Argentina defender

This is the last week without night matches, so teams that will play Champions League next Tuesda and Wednesday played all in advance this afternoon. With its 1-0 win to Cagliari (header of Burdisso after 12'), Inter broke all records with its 16th consecutive win in Serie A, and extended its lead to 14 points on AS Roma. A double face match, this afternoon: a good first half, with Luis Figo teaching football and Ibra 'big foot' giving a ball to Burdisso that the Argentinean defendere just needed to be pushed into Cagliari's goal. Second half wasn't really unforgettable, Inter thought too much about Valencia, and just kept the match under control. Cagliari went close to equalize just once, on the other side Stankovic hit the crossbar. So, now let's think about Valencia: it's a pity that an absurd decision kept people out of San Siro, except the holding season tickets ones.

It could have been a quiet Saturday, but forward Nicola Pozzi of Empoli gave with his beautiful goal a big help to Inter. The 1-0 win of Empoli is the biggest surprise of the day, in an empty stadium (the game was played behind closed doors). This is the real difference between the Nerazzurri and their opponents: Inter can start -and win- without Materazzi, Javier Zanetti, Vieira, Maxwell, Maicon, Adriano. AS Roma today field a formation without Chivu, Mexes, Taddei and Mancini: the Romans were unlucky, hit two goal posts but at the end they lost. Now Tuscans -we already talked about them here- are speeding along to Champions League qualifying. AS Roma just needs to forget about the defeat and think of Champions League and Lyon.

Just two points below Empoli we find AC Milan. The Rossoneri got 3 important points in Siena, and Ronaldo scored twice: the 1-0 goal with a header -not exactly his speciality- and Milan third goal after a slalom of Kakà, when he could just score from 3 metres. Surely Ancelotti had a good Ronaldo, we're not sure the Brazilian was of no use to Real and coach Capello. The problem, for AC Milan, is that he cannot play in Champions League, and for Glasgow also Gilardino probably won't be available. Be sure that it won't be easy at Celtic Park next Wednesday, but Milan has been the best Italian team in Europe during these years. A very good afternoon also for Siena forward Maccarone: Big Mac, back from England, scored twice but he couldn't avoid Siena's defeat.

Serie A Table:
Inter 63, AS Roma 49, Palermo 42, Empoli 35, AC Milan (-8) 33, Lazio (-3) 31, Catania 31, Atalanta 29, Udinese 29, Sampdoria 27, Fiorentina (-15) 25, Siena (-1) 25, Cagliari 23, Livorno 23, Torino 22, Reggina (-11) 19, Chievo 18, Messina 17, Parma 15, Ascoli 12.

Inter, Roma, Empoli, Milan, Siena, Palermo, Catania played 23 matches, all the others 22.

Well, the average level of the Italian league fell-in after its enlargement to 20 teams, then some top teams have been penalized and cannot fight for final win, but Inter’s record is something really difficult to make.

The first winning match was the 4-1 vs. Livorno, but the 4-3 win in the derby last October was the sparkle that started this long strip that is still open but since yesterday, after the 3-1 vs Torino, is the longest all time in Serie A. The match at “Stadio Olimpico” in Turin was not easy in the forecast, you never know what may happen after Christmas holidays –in fact in Serie B Juventus lost away at Mantova-, and Torino was in a good shape and could make some problems to Javier Zanetti & c.

The problem for other teams is that Inter has physical, technical and strategic supremacy over any rival it ever had in this season, at least in National championship.Yesterday in Turin, Adriano scored first goal, a header after a perfect cross by Maicon, an underrated player that, as a friend of mine -a journalist- says, in another context would have already been named “the new Cafù”.

First half finished with other three chances for Inter, again a header by Adriano and a shot of the Brazilian striker finished out, then a far shoot by Vieira saved by Torino goalie, Abbiati. In second half, Torino never gave the feeling of being a danger the Nerazzurri, but at 58’ Fiore tried to serve Stellone but the ball touched the famous Materazzi’s chest, beating Julio Cesar: 1-1.

Well, great teams come out in difficult times. Do you know how many time passed for Inter to score its 2-1 goal? Thirteen (13) seconds after the kick-off! And Ibrahimovic’s goal is one of the best in the season, the Swedish was so good in keeping the ball not too high and its angle shot finished into the far corner. Torino was never able to come close to the draw, and at the end Vieira served Adriano with a beautiful chip pass and Abbiati committed a foul on Adriano that was going to goal: red card to Torino goalie, Materazzi scores from 11 metres, it’s the final 3-1 goal.

Now, after AS Roma’s draw in Messina (1-1), Inter Milan has a 9 pts advantage at the end of the first half.

You can see here the highlights of the match, please click here and then click on “highlights” on top at the right.

Inter the strongest, Catania the nice surprise, AS Roma the team playing best football, AC Milan the most unsatisfying. These are the results of a survey by a press agency that asked to almost all Serie A coaches their opinion on some questions about 2006.

In particular, they were asked to point out:
1) The strongest team, the nice and the bad surprise.
2) Which team played best football?
3) Players in the spotlight
4) In which percentage “Calciopoli” influenced this season?
5) Will new referees’ inexperience influence this season?

According to most of them Inter Milan is the strongest team, except five coaches that pointed out AS Roma, including Inter coach Roberto Mancini. Catania is a newcomer, but the Sicilians are now fighting for a Champions League spot and they still have to play the match vs Empoli, postponed for bad ground conditions. That’s why the majority of coaches consider Catania the team that did good beyond expectation.

On the contrary, AC Milan is the team that did worse than reasonable expectations, though Ancelotti didn’t give an answer to that (he knows AC Milan had a very bad first half, but everybody there is already in low spirits and he doesn’t want to make things worse). AC Parma’s Pioli honestly says his team was very bad. For almost all coaches AS Roma is the team showing best football (but Mancini says Lazio), while according to them there are two players in the spotlight: Quagliarella (UC Sampdoria) and elder forward Riganò, Messina.

Except for Mancini and Guidolin (Palermo), who don’t answer, Calciopoli scandal is influencing the season for more than 50%, especially because of Juventus’ absence and other teams’ penalization. Only one coach, Arrigoni (Livorno), says it was a real catastrophe just because fans are loosing their faith in football.

At the end, according to the totality of managers, referee’s inexperience won’t influence the season: maybe they can make mistakes, but they won’t privilege anybody in particular.
Please forgive us for all this little talk about nothing, but Serie A will restart only on January 13th! ;)

PS I wish a great 2007 to all Olè Olè guys!

Three games in a week, then the longest stop we’ve ever seen in serie A between Dec. 24th to Jan 14th. This evening we’re in the middle of the “Tour de Force”, with Inter Milan and AS Roma away for very dangerous matches. In particular, it won’t be easy for Inter at Stadio Olimpico in Rome. The Nerazzurri has a very bad tradition against SS Lazio, its “bete noir”. They lost twice a scudetto there at the very last game, in 1935 and 2002, with the same score: 4-2. Inter fans don’t forget Ronaldo seated on the bench after the substitution, sobbing like a baby, on that damned 5th of May.

Today it’s another Inter, not only for technical characteristics but also for its strength of mind. Even Adriano’s delay last Monday, when he didn’t show up in the morning training session, something that would have created a case last year, has been tolerated by coach Mancini. So, the Brazilian striker is in today’s match list. SS Lazio is in good shape, after its win in Rome derby the Biancocelesti drew in Livorno (but they deserved to win) and still want to confirm the tradition: last win at the Olimpico for Moratti’s team is dated March 3rd, 1996: 1-0 with an own goal by Alessandro Nesta. Will Inter invert the course? Mancini, former Lazio player and coach, hopes so.

Another “Stadio Olimpico”, this time in Turin, is the stage of the second most important match of day 17, Torino-AS Roma. The Turinese, after a bad beginning of season, has marked 13 points in last six games, drawing only with Milan away. Coach Zaccheroni is very experienced, and President Cairo did well leaving him at his place,even when everybody was asking his dismissal. Young star Alessandro Rosina is new idol for the Granata fans. It won’t be easy also for AS Roma, despite the good match Sunday night (4-0 to Palermo). By the way, for January transfers session the Giallorossi have signed Francesco Tavano, on loan from Valencia.

Elsewhere, Palermo can take its revenge, playing home against taillight Ascoli, AC Milan needs an important success facing outsider Catania (the Sicilian are fourth, fighting for UCL qualifying). Atalanta vs Udinese, Messina vs Parma, Chievo vs Reggina, Sampdoria vs Livorno, Empoli vs Siena (a Tuscany derby) and Cagliari vs Fiorentina complete day 17. We just hope this evening we won’t see all referees’ mistakes as last Sunday, when everybody (players, coaches, executives) made a scene for everything.

Porto vs Chelsea FC
Mourinho is back. But Porto coach Jesualdo says “there’s nothing special in this. They are two times English Champions, one of the best teams in the world, I’m satisfied”

Celtic vs AC Milan
“We’ve been lucky –says AC Milan executive, Umberto Gandini- though Scottish team has tradition, and is very strong, it’s good to avoid Spanish clubs. It’s always exciting to play in a British stadium”. According to Celtic FC website, “Gordon Strachan’s men will face the Italian giants”

Lilla vs Manchester Utd.
French underdogs managing director, Jerome Lestir: “I know very well Manchester executives, we used to work together. I don’t know players so much, but I think it will be a great match and our purpose is always to go through last eight”.

AS Roma vs Olympique Lyon
AS Roma player Daniele De Rossi: “I know very well Juninho Pernambucano, Carew (ex AS Roma), Malouda and Abidal. At this stage, I had no preference. We’ll see how far can we go, facing a tough team such as Lyon” Bernard Lacombe, representing OL: “They may suffer in a long competition but they’re very dangerous in a single event. Houllier knows them very well, as he played against them with Liverpool. We can take the advantage of the second match at Gerlande, and I think we will score in Rome”

Barcellona vs Liverpool
Winner 2006 vs winner 2005. Joan Laporta, Barcelona Chairman: “The truth is that Liverpool is one of my favourite opponents. Though second match will be at Anfield Road, we’re the title holders, so other teams have to fear us”. Rafa Benitez, Liverpool coach: “It is a difficult draw for us but we have two months to prepare for these games and we have nothing to lose. At the moment they are playing in Japan in the World Club Championships and everybody is saying really good things about them”

Real Madrid vs Bayern Monaco
Twelve Champions Cups in the aggregate. Predrag Mijatovic, Madrid’s general manager: “Bayern is a great team, but we can beat it. All matches in last sixteen are complicated, but I think all Spanish teams have good chances”.

Inter Milan vs Valencia
According to Inter CEO Ernesto Paolillo, also Nerazzurri have good chances. “We’ll face a strong attack, but we have a very good coach and a fantastic squad. We don’t want to repeat the Villareal defeat”. Italian Amedeo Carboni, team manager at Valencia: “Inter has players used to play competitions like Champions League, but I think they also are not happy about this draw.”

PSV Eindhoven-Arsenal
Arsene Wenger: "“The draw is not kind, not unkind. PSV have experience of this level. They dominate Dutch football and every year now they are in the last 16, Quarter-Final, Semi-Final even of the Champions League against Milan. So it is a tough draw".

All draws are full of danger, but I think that tomorrow one is the worst. The issue is that games will be played after two months, the teams that are in good shape in December might be weaker in February. On the contrary, the easiest team to face now could become a hard nut to crack.

For example, AC Milan. The Rossoneri fell behind to the 15th place in Serie A, Dida is injured and who knows when he will be back, the defenders are old and no one can take Sheva’s place in the centre of the attack. No one could give Milan a chance to win, all runners-up would like to find it in the drop box. But…who knows how will it be in the next two months? It’s not only good luck if Berlusconi’s team has won 6 Champions Leagues in its history. Nobody in Milanello issues a statement about the draw, but we guess they’d like to avoid Real and Barcelona.

By the way, it seems that Inter’s Coach Mancini preferred to finish at second place in his Group just to avoid the Azulgrana that were behind Chelsea in Group A. That’s why Inter had six big players on the bench in Munich. Mancini is so afraid of Barcelona, that he doesn’t matter if probably his team will face one of the greatest English teams: Chelsea, Man UTD, Arsenal or Liverpol. Or Lyon, the most impressive team of the Group Stage. Of course, as clubs from the same association cannot be drawn against each other, as well as winners and runners-up of the same group, another solution is Valencia. Which fell behind in Spanish Liga standings but, as I told before, who knows in February? Last year Inter was sent-off by Spanish underdog Villareal…
For sure, most of Group winners would like to avoid Inter itself.

AS Roma, at the end. Francesco Totti says he prefers Manchester, not because he considers the Red Devils the easiest challenge: he just dreams of playing at Old Trafford. Giallorossi did not loose their faith in a Serie A victory, even after the debacle in the derby. Anyway, for Spalletti’s team this is the first time in final 16 round, neither Capello was able to go through. Draw for the Romans have a lot of hidden dangers, they won’t draw Valencia ad AC Milan, but probably they will encounter an English team, or Bayern Munich or, again, Olympique Lyon.

Well, this is the situation of the Italian teams the day before the draw. We don’t have to wait too much, we’ll know everything tomorrow, at about 2pm.

Living in Rome without being a fan of Roma or Lazio allows you to see things with neutral eyes. The very first time you meet someone, be sure he (or she) will ask you “Which football team do you support?”, and will behave towards you depending on your answer. Of course, if you are –for example- an Inter Milan or a Juventus fan, they will try to make you change your mind and –if you won’t- they’ll look at you with a little compassion, never involving you in football discussions. Except if you come from another part of Italy.

The week before the derby , everywhere you go you can hear people of any age, sex, classes talk about Totti’s ankle or Lazio coach Rossi saying he will dive into a famous fountain if his team wins.
AS Roma fans, as usual, claim they’re Rome first team, and say Lazio fans are “burini”, meaning they all come from the countryside in the surroundings of the capital, while “true Romans” are 100% yellow and red. On the contrary, Lazio fans are claiming they are the first team in Rome, as Lazio was founded in 1900, while AS Roma came out of the merger of three different football teams, in 1927. Well, this is just a sample of the way people live the moments before the most important match of the year.

Then, one hour before the kick-off, streets are empty: people are inside the Olympic Stadium or watching the game on TV, at home or in one of the many pubs in the city. The only voice you can hear is the TV commentator’s one, unless nothing important happens. But when someone scores, obviously people shout or curse.

Yesterday, it happened that SS Lazio won 3-0, and this is not usual. Consider that in 2000, when Lazio won the scudetto, they lost 4-1, and Roma scored its 4 goals in 25 minutes. So, you can imagine this morning in offices, pubs, supermarkets: you could see someone smiling and showing 3 fingers to an angry friend of his, and in some popular quarters small groups of old men shouting and arguing. Be sure that this goes on until April 29th, when AS Roma may have its revenge in the second derby of the season.

PS: last night coach Rossi really dived into the fountain, with 10°C…

Looking at “Renzo Barbera” Stadium in Palermo, and all the streets around at about 7 pm, it was clear that Palermo-Inter would have been the main event in the long history of the “pink and black” team. Unfortunately for Palermo, the match was the most beautiful of the season, but Inter deserved the victory even more than it was at the end (2-1).

After Juventus' relegation, there are four teams that can compete with the Milanese in a single match: AS Roma, AC Milan, Fiorentina and Palermo. Well, it has been 12 points for the “nerazzurri” against them and – except for the derby - all matches were away. Tonight, in front of about 40,000 in attendance, with no empty seats and viewers in more than 180 countries watching the game on TV, Palermo was one of the starts in a spectacular “Sunday Night” match. Mancini made the surprising choice of playing Adriano ahead of Crespo. Cruz and Dacourt for Inter, and Biava and Di Michele for Palermo were injured, and among the Sicilians' starting 11 was the young defender Paolo Hernan Dellafiore, an Italo-Argentinean that Palermo signed last Summer, coming from Inter in exchange for Grosso.

After six minutes, Ibrahimovic shot from 30 meters and Palermo’s goalie Fontana (four years at Inter) made a big mistake, letting the ball pass under his hip: 1-0 for Inter. Palermo is suffering, and Inter have incredible ball possession, and then Adriano, after a chip pass from Ibra, comes very close to scoring the second goal, but his strike is out. Minute 45, a cross from the left, a header by Bresciano, and Amauri scores with a volley that hits the goal-post and goes in: 1-1. Maybe Materazzi could have been closer to the Brazilian striker, but his mistake is just a spot on his perfect first half. In the beginning of second half, the two scorers have to leave for an injury, Crespo and Caracciolo replace them. Adriano shows that, when he plays for the team and not for himself, he’s the valuable player we used to know. The problem is that, after his long absence, he cannot run for 90 minutes, but the injury of Ibra complicated Mancini’s plan.

Materazzi hits the same goal-post of Amauri, but he’s not as lucky as him and Corini saves on the line. An Inter counter-attack gives a new advantage to the “nerazzurri” at minute 60’ with French captain Vieira. Palermo is KO, but in the last five minutes Inter suffers and Caracciolo hits another goal-post, but it’s not enough and Inter wins. The MVP is Dejan Stankovic: a wall, not a midfielder!
Now the ranking says: Inter 33, Roma 29, Palermo 27.

Sampdoria-Roma in the name of Totti. The AS Roma captain runs twice with a thumb in his mouth (his way to exult for a goal after his baby’s birth) to celebrate his double to Sampdoria. The “blucerchati” just try to resist, but at halftime Roma is already ahead 3-1, with its leader in a very good shape. Final score is 4-2 for the “red and yellow” team. Everybody in “Ferraris Stadium” clapped to Totti’s second goal (a fantastic volley from the left), even Sampdoria fans: after today’s match the discussion about his refusal to play for Italian National Team is still open. In fact, Totti dedicated his two goals to Platini and Matarrese (Italian League Chairman) that recently criticized his choice. We think that – though National Team should not be refused by anybody - Totti has the right to say no, but at the same time coach Donadoni has the right not to call him once he’s ready. Anyway, now AS Roma is second in the Serie A rankings, and nobody could bet a single Euro for the final win of a third team which is not Inter Milan or Roma.