Serie A and B round-up

[David Votoupal]

Just a round-up from Serie A and Serie B games on the weekend.

SERIE A
Bologna 3 Ancona 2
Chievo 0 Roma 3
Empoli 0 Milan 1
Inter 2 Perugia 1
Lazio 2 Juventus 0
Lecce 1 Parma 2
Modena 1 Brescia 1
Sampdoria 2 Siena 1
Udinese 1 Reggina 0

Standings (after 12 rounds):
1.Roma- 30
2.Milan- 30
3.Juventus- 26
4.Inter- 25
5.Parma- 24
6.Lazio- 22
7.Sampdoria- 19
8.Udinese- 18
9.Modena- 15
10.Siena- 14
11.Chievo- 14
12.Bologna- 10
13.Reggina- 10
14.Brescia- 9
15.Lecce- 8
16.Perugia- 7
17.Empoli- 6
18.Ancona- 4

Perugia and Ancona remain winless, and along with Empoli must surely be contemplating life in Serie B at this rate. Remember that only three teams will be automatically relegated and the 15th-placed side will face off with the 6th-placed side in Serie B, as Serie A will be expanded to 20 teams for 2004-05. It looks like the current bottom seven will scrap it out to avoid those places.

Milan and Roma remain unbeaten while Juventus lose ground, and it's good to see Sampdoria more than hold their own on their return to Serie A. As of now, Modena, Chievo and Siena look to be in the comfort of mid-table.

SERIE B
Ascoli 4 Fiorentina 0
Atalanta 2 Bari 0
Avellino 0 Como 0
Cagliari 1 Verona 1
Livorno 2 Catania 2
Messina 4 Genoa 0
Palermo 2 Albinoleffe 1
Pescara 0 Vicenza 0
Salernitana 0 Treviso 0
Ternana 2 Piacenza 0
Torino 1 Triestina 1
Venezia 0 Napoli 0

Standings (after 18 rounds):
1.Atalanta- 38
2.Palermo- 37
3.Ternana- 34
4.Livorno- 30
5.Messina- 30
6.Torino- 29
7.Piacenza- 27
8.Cagliari- 25
9.Ascoli- 25
10.Catania- 24
11.Pescara- 23
12.Venezia- 22
13.Treviso- 22
14.Fiorentina- 22
15.Salernitana- 21
16.Napoli- 21
17.Triestina- 20
18.Albinoleffe- 20
19.Genoa- 19
20.Verona- 18
21.Vicenza- 18
22.Bari- 15
23.Como- 12
24.Avellino- 9

Atalanta remain unbeaten and should be odds on to return to Serie A after one season, and it's likely that Palermo and Ternana will join them. The fight for the other promotion places- and the relegation places for that matter- is likely to be a huge scramble as there is very little that really separates these teams. The result of the day was Ascoli's 4-0 thrashing of Fiorentina, which will surely mean the end for Alberto Cavasin. Francesco Guidolin is apparently being lined up to replace him.

Napoli have began climbing away from trouble but have only won three games all season for a 3-12-3 record so far. Serie C1 beckons for Como and Avellino, and both Fascetti and Zeman can feel nervous about their respective futures- Avellino's only win this season was one awarded to them following the mayhem caused by Napoli yobs.

 

[GOALden Hawk]

Atalanta - back where they belong next year.

 

[David Votoupal]

Atalanta have always been among the yo-yo clubs- they go down, go back up and have a few good seasons before the cycle starts again. It's hard not to like them because they've always been able to nurture some excellent players as opposed to throwing money around, and it shows as they don't appear to have the financial woes which afflict many Italian clubs.

It'll be good to see Ascoli back up there someday, under Carlo Mazzone they were a force at the start of the 1980s plus the fact that players such as Walter Casagrande and Liam Brady were among those who passed through their ranks.

Clubs like Pisa and Ascoli were able to hold their own because they had excellent club presidents- Ascoli had Costantino Rozzi while Pisa had Romeo Anconetani, both of them really knew what they were doing and were capable of building something without a great deal of resources.

 

[mattyc2422]

I would turn for Alberto Gilardino.

 

[moomba]

Anyone followed the progress of Zola at Cagliari. I wonder if he is feeling just a touch regretful given the form of Chelsea, and the real possibility of some silverware this season.

Moomba

 

[Presti_is_god]

Anyone have the fixture for the next round.

 

[David Votoupal]

http://soccerway.com/results should have what you need.

 

[GoalsFrom50Out]

Serie A:

13/12/03 Perugia - Sampdoria
13/12/03 Udinese - Lecce
14/12/03 Reggina - Chievo
14/12/03 Ancona - Lazio
14/12/03 Bologna - Internazionale
14/12/03 Brescia - Empoli
14/12/03 Juventus - Parma
14/12/03 Roma - Modena

 

[David Votoupal]

One thing that many have found disconcerting in recent years- particularly since Napoli's relegation in 1998- has been the under-representation of the south in Serie A. A far cry from the days when Napoli, Foggia, Bari, Lecce, Avellino, Catanzaro and further back Sicilian sides like Palermo, Catania and Messina held their own in Serie A.

At the moment, the only southern sides in Serie A are Reggina and Lecce.

This may very well change, when you see the three Sicilian sides generally doing well in Serie B. Bari's struggle is rather unfortunate- a sizeable port city and a big stadium, and brought through many fine youngsters in recent years.

 

[GoalsFrom50Out]

Isn't Rome technically in the south?

 

[David Votoupal]

Depends on who you ask really. What people frequently refer to as the "South" is the Mezziogiorno regions of Campania, Puglia, Basilicata, Calabria and Sicily.

 

[tribey]

Originally posted by David Votoupal
One thing that many have found disconcerting in recent years- particularly since Napoli's relegation in 1998- has been the under-representation of the south in Serie A.

The south has traditionally been an Italian underclass though, and football is no different. Except for the Maradona-orchestrated slap in the face of the late eighties the north has held sway in every aspect.

Can't see it changing either.

 

[The Spornstar]

Originally posted by GoalsFrom50Out
Isn't Rome technically in the south?

Technically I think it's dead centre (to the west)