Serie A findings: Round 16 – What we learned from this week’s fixtures (Part 1)
Serie A round 16 was played on the weekend, in what was yet another day match day full of enthralling football. We had some mouth-watering fixtures at hand and they failed to disappoint.
Napoli travelled to Genoa on Saturday and registered a 1 – 0 victory that will keep them in the hunt for a Champions League spot. The battle of the recovering giants; Udinese vs. Fiorentina also took place on Saturday where Udinese won a highly entertaining
game by a slender 2 – 1 score line. Antonio Di Natale was the hero yet again for Zebrette.
League leaders AC Milan registered a routine 3 – 0 victory over Bologna to extend their lead further at the top while Juventus defeated high flying Lazio 2 – 1 last night and leapfrogged Aquile into second in the Calcio rankings.
Nine games were played over the weekend – Inter Milan vs. Cesena was postponed due to Inter’s Club world cup preparations – and that left us with some talking points. Bettor.com now analyses the key points for its readers.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic is critical to Milan’s Scudetto ambitions
The lanky Swede has been blasted for failing to turn up in critical Champions League matches but there is no striker more decisive when it comes to domestic campaigns. Ibrahimovic’s acquisition over the summer has turned AC Milan from being a Europa League
team to a genuine Scudetto contender.
Ibra has scored nine goals thus far in the league, just one less than Capocannoniere chart leader Antonio Di Natale; while adding seven assists to the Rossoneri cause. Where his goal-scoring contribution is critical to Milans cause, it’s his hold-up play
and his ability to bring his teammates into plays that has added an altogether different dimension to the Rossoneri attack.
AC Milan’s squad depth has been a worry ever since they won the Champions League in 2007 and little has changed in terms of squad depth over the years. As things stand, Rossoneri have just two natural strikers in their ranks; Ibra and Pato. While Pato has
been struggling with injuries for the last two seasons, Ibra has barely missed a game this season and even complained about the outrageous amount of football he is being made to play. For AC Milan to harbour any hopes of winning the Scudetto, Ibrahimovic will
have to be kept in top-top condition.
Antonio Di Natale to win the Capocannoniere award
Zebrette skipper turned 33 in October this year but his performances have been that of a 26 year old. Di Natale won the Serie A top scorer last year when he scored 29 goals in Serie A. Zebrette struggled to make an impact and languished in the bottom half
of the league for much of the season and it was the only the form of Toto that saved them the relegation blushes.
Di Natale couldn’t reproduce the same form earlier this season and Zebrette failed to register a point until match day five when they drew with Sampdoria. Once Di Natale hit the stride however, Zebrette stormed up the rankings and now sit comfortably ninth
in the league; level on points with seventh placed Inter Milan who occupy the last Champions League berth.
Toto has scored eight goals in his last five league outings and judging by the form he is displaying, Zebrette skipper will retain the Capocannoniere trophy with consummate ease.
Tags: