The Serie A Battles Part III- The second to favourites for the final UEFA Champions League spot
The Serie A battle is a short and compact account of the different battles taking place in the energetic, and often temperamental Italian league.
In the first part we explored the two leaders of the standings that have flown past the rest to attain a convincing lead over the rest.
The second part was about the teams that are behind the giants, and jostling each other in the ferocious fight for the final champions league qualification spot.
While http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Napoli-c40003, Udinese and AS Roma who are close behind. While the second part was about Napoli and Lazio, this part will be a detailed analysis
of Udinese and AS Roma, who are in the same arena as Lazio and Napoli, and fighting for the same accolade.
Udinese’s rise to the success has been one of the most amazing phenomenon’s in Serie A in the past two years. They currently acquire the fourth spot, and are just three points behind Lazio at third. There is a popular saying that
it is the man behind the gun that matters. Bianconeri manager, Francesco Guidolin, was named the best manager of Serie A for the previous season. The rise of the team that started previous season has continued to the spot, where they are one of the serious
contenders to play the greatest tournament of the year in football.
The Zebrette have their defence to thank for the spectacular run that has conceded just 28 goals this season, a feat only exceeded by the top two teams in Serie A. However, their recent form has taken a nosedive, and is a point
of grave worry for the coach. They have taken just three points from their last five games, a distressing sign, as the team is placed at a stage where each single point is of gold to them.
Moreover, the team’s next league fixture is against http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Inter-c39567 Milan, a team that has shown a special form against the Zebrette, and won all three of the last head-to-head games between the two sides. However, the team may be looking
like a ship that is soon to sink from the battle field, Guidolin surprised everyone before and he can do it again, amidst teams that have not shown a very consistent performance in the season.
AS Roma have done considerably well in the league considering the fact that all through the season, the team has been undergoing a major overhauling of their style of play, under the new coach Luis Enrique. The former http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Barcelona-c38604
B coach is a strong believer of the Catalonian philosophy of attacking football; however, stats suggest that the change may have been a two-edged sword for the team.
The Giallorossi have drawn the least amount of games in the league (5). This means that on most occasions they either won the game or suffered defeat. Luckily for them the wins (14) stand above the losses (11) for the team in the
league. A closer look at their results in the league shows that while the team has generally struggled against teams above them in the standings, they have dropped few points against the more modest teams below them. Their fixtures before the end of the league
include matches against Napoli, Udinese and Juventus. If the team carries on its current path than there is ample opportunity for them to sail ahead of the pack as most of the upcoming matches are against relatively humble teams.
Moreover, the decisive factor will be how the stand against Napoli and Udinese, teams that are placed almost at the same level as them in a lot of ways. AS http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Roma-c31603 are strong and unpredictable, and to make predictions even tougher
is the fact that the coach has announced that the team will quit their fixation with the style in order to collect more points, a move that can go both ways for the club. Yet, watching the way they have played in the season, they are according to me, the second
to favourites behind Napoli in the run for attaining the coveted qualification to Europe.
In the next part we will have a look at the teams in and around the relegation zone fighting for survival.
To be continued.......
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are the writer's own and in no way represent Bettor.com's official editorial policy.
Tags: