SSC Napoli, Juventus FC and Andrea Agnelli – Serie A Round 26 findings (Part 1)
In round 26 of the Serie A, Scudetto hopefuls AC Milan, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Lazio-c39775 and SSC Napoli managed to record routine victories while Juventus and AS Roma slumped to unexpected defeats.
The latest round of the Italian league had none of those anticipated marquee clashes, yet the games managed to produce a lot of excitement and talking points. The action started with US Palermo travelling to face a dangerous Bologna outfit on Saturday. The
Rosanero continued their poor away form as they went down by a 1-0 score line. Inter Milan welcomed http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Cagliari-Calcio-c38716 later the same day. Andrea Ranocchia’s offside goal made sure the Nerazzurri stayed in the Scudetto hunt albeit as outsiders.
AC Milan, Lazio and Napoli defeated Chievo Verona, AS Bari and Catania Calcio respectively but Juventus and AS Roma made the headlines with their shock defeats. The Old Lady was handed out a 2-0 beating by relegation threatened UC Lecce, while Roma threw
up a three-goal lead in Genoa, as the Rossoblu recorded an amazing 4-3 victory. In the aftermath of the defeat, Caludio Ranieri handed in his resignation as http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Roma-c31603 coach.
Here are some of the key talking points from the week's Serie A action:
Napoli’s brave Scudetto challenge continues
Before the start of the season, not even the most optimistic of the Partenopei fans would have expected Napoli to be challenging AC Milan for Scudetto honours. However, Aurelio de Laurentiis’ impressive transfer work, and Walter Mazzarri’s charismatic leadership
have dragged Napoli to within three points of the league leaders.
AC Milan and http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Napoli-c40003 go head-to-head on Monday in a top of the table clash that promises to be an enthralling affair. The Partenopei are just three points behind the Rossoneri. The winner of this titanic game has a very good chance of going on to win the
Scudetto.
The Azzurri were dumped out of the Europa League by Villarreal last night. While the 2-1 away defeat was extremely harsh on the hardworking Neapolitans, it could turn out to be a blessing in disguise. Without European fixtures crowding out the calendar and
draining player energies, Napoli will now be able to pay undivided attention to the Serie A. Needless to say, the last few weeks in the battle for Serie A supremacy will be worth watching.
Things go from bad to worse for Juventus FC
As if occupying a Europa League spot – which is a disgrace for a club of Juventus’ pedigree – was not enough, Juventus somehow slumped to a 2-0 defeat at home to UC Lecce. This was the same team that the Bianconeri thrashed by a 4-0 score line in the first
part of the season.
2011 has been a disaster for the Juve faithful. In 17 fixtures that Juve played in the earlier part of the season, La Vecchia Signora suffered only two defeats. January onwards however, the Bianconeri have already recorded five defeats in nine league outings.
The 2-0 humiliation at the hands of Lecce was arguably Juventus’ worst performance of the season.
The Old Lady President, Andrea Agnelli was left fuming with his team’s lack of effort.
“The team worked so little against Lecce that they didn't need a post-match shower”, Agnelli was famously quoted as saying in the aftermath of the defeat. The president has demanded 12 straight victories from his troops if they want to
finish in the top four – an unlikely task - but the frustration is evident from the comment.
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