By Anna Italia

Hello my friends, 
 
This is a sad weed for Italian football after the elimination of the 3 Italian Serie A teams from the UEFA Champions League First Knockout Round. Inter, Juventus, and AS Roma eliminated and I had no clue at all on how to concentrate to write my preview this week.  Imagine the players!!!!!!

The biggest challenge will be for coaches of Roma, Juventus, and Inter  to have a "psychological training" with these champions and  regain energy for this week. 

Roma Captain Francesco Totti cried so much after being eliminated in penalty shot outs by Arsenal that literally left me without strength.  I admire Totti so much and besides it was the heart of all Roma crying, all Italy!!!    A major turning point might happen this week if all three top teams lose their matches!!!  Ok.. I am getting my strength back with Udinese's victory....... so let me try to finish this PREVIEW and get an energizer drink!!!  

Here is my  partial PREVIEW  of the Italian Serie A Week 28- Twenty Eighth Round on Saturday, March 14 and Sunday, March 15, 2009.

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                        FC Inter 1st Position with 63 points

                                                   
FC Juventus 2nd position 56 points     AC Milan 3rd position, 51 points


 


Week 28 Italian Serie A Tim 2008 - 2009 / Twenty-Eighth  Round Matchday 28
Saturday, March 14, 2009

Cagliari - Genoa
10:00 a.m. USA Pacific Time

FC Juventus - Bologna
12:45 p.m. USA Pacific Time



Sunday, March 15, 2009
Matches start at 7:00 a.m. USA Pacific Time

Atalanta - Torino
Lazio - Chievo Verona
Palermo - Lecce
Reggina - Napoli
Sampdoria - AS Roma
AC Siena - AC Milan
Udinese - Catania
FC Inter - Fiorentina

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The Current Serie A Standing After Week 27

1. FC Inter	63
2. FC Juventus	56
3. AC Milan	51
4. Fiorentina	46
5. Genoa	45
6. AS Roma	45
7. Lazio	41
8. Cagliari	39
9. Palermo	39
10. Atalanta	36

11. Napoli	35
12. Udinese	35
13. Catania	33
14. Sampdoria	32
15. AC Siena	31
16. Bologna	26
17. Torino	24
18. Chievo Verona	24
19. Lecce	23
20. Reggina	19

CAGLIARI - GENOA
Sant'Elia Stadium
2008 - 2009 Serie A Standing - Cagliari 8th position, 39 points
                                                        - Genoa 5th position, 45 points 

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Hey, guys, this will be an interesting match to follow. 

Last week results:
Chievo Verona 1 - 1 Cagliari
Genoa 0 -  2 FC Inter

Incredible guys, but Cagliari can be heading for a spot in the UEFA Cup next season if winning this match!!!!  Cagliari will need for Lazio and Roma to lose their respective matches to catch up and boy what a major turning point in the history of Cagliari!!!!!

Cagliari has 33 goals in favor, conceded 28 goals, having a positive goal difference of +5. 
Genoa has 36 goals in favor, conceded 27, havign a positive goal difference of +9.

Top scorer this season for Cagliari is Forward Robert Acquafresca with 9 goals and top scorer of Genoa is forward Diego Milito with 15 goals.

Cagliari needs to start winning again because they have won only 1 from their last 5 matches.  Wow, this match against Genoa with their leading symbol Il Principe Diego Milito is a perfect preamble for the Cagliari Opera at the Sant' Elia!!!

Statistics show favorite Cagliari because Genoa has not win at the Sant'Elia Stadium since March 31, 1974!!!!  Wow!!!! Genoa also has not scored since February 22 in the match against Napoli when Bosko Jankovic scored the only goal in the 69th minute. It means Genoa has not scored since 201 minutes!!!!!!!  Wow, guys, it will be perfect for Milito to break the curse...

Out of the 21 matches between Cagliari - Genoa, check the stats guys and make your predictions: 13 victories Cagliari, 2 victories Genoa and 13 draws.  Genoa scoring 13 goals and Cagliari 29. 

Genoa will be hoping for Inter to beat Fiorentina and Sampdoria to beat Roma to grasp the 4th position if they beat Cagliari!!!!!  You see how important this match is?   So much pressure for both coaches to prepare the winning strategy and for players to execute the plan on the field.

Besides guys, let's put it this way, Genoa cannot risk a defeat because if Roma beat Sampdoria chances for Genoa to grab a spot for the Champions League will be cracking.  Lazio who has 41 points will play against Chievo Verona and on paper Lazio might win this match. It means that Lazio will reach to 44 points, so if Cagliari beat Genoa, there will be only 1 point difference between Genoa and Lazio both fighting for a Champions League spot.

Bottom line guys, even if Inter coach Jose Mourinho says that almost all Italy muyst be happy for the elimiantion of Inter by Manchester United.  This week, you bet Roma, Lazio, Cagliari, Milan and Genoa would rather see Inter beating Fiorentina!!!!!!

Disadvantage for Genoa are 3 players banned !!!!! Ouch!  Mamma mia!  Thiago Motta, Matteo Ferrari, and Giuseppe Biava.  This is a major problem for Genoa plus having injured players Anthony Vanden Borre and Matteo Paro.

Cagliari has no problem with suspension and you bet President Cellino will be rooting from the tribune!!! 

Anna Italia Prediction:  CAGLIARI

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FC JUVENTUS - BOLOGNA
Olimpico di Torino Stadium
2008 - 2009 Serie A Standing - FC Juventus 2nd position, 56 points
                                              - Bologna 16th position, 26 points 

Juventus cannot let go right now when the only objective remaining is to win the Scudetto apart from the Coppa Italia.  Juventus are 7 points away from Inter who were also eliminated from the Champions League by Manchester United.

This is the moment where Juventus need to shake up and win in front of their fans hoping for Fiorentina to beat Inter and shorte the distance to 4 points.

Top scorer for Juventus is Amauri with 12 goals versus the top scorer of Bologna and the Serie A table forward Marco Di Vaio with 19 goals.

Last week results:

Torino 0 - 1 FC Juventus
Bologna 3 - 0 Sampdoria

Ammazzaaaa!!! Guys, talking about having a bad defense.. Ironically, Bologna has the top scorer of the Serie A, but also one of the worst defense!  Imagine, Bologna has scored 30 goals, concded 42 goals and having a negative goal difference of -12!!!!!!! 

Juventus has scored 43 goals, conceded 21 and having a positive goal difference of +22.

So, something is not clicking here!!!!  Geee almost double difference in favor of Juventus.  One thing favoring Bologna is the psychological factor at this point from Juventus and whether they will overcome  their elimination from the UEFA Champions League. Another disadvantage for Juventus is the continuous injured players piling in every match! 

I will say the main forward for Juventus right now considering his physical condition will be Vincenzo Iaquinta.

I will give resting time to recover energy to Alessandro Del Piero and use more Iaquinta along Amauri or Trezeguet.

	GAMES	VICTORIES JUVENTUS	DRAWS	VICTORIES BOLOGNA
Championship in TORINO	63	36	23	5
Championship in  BOLOGNA	64	26	20	18
Coppa Italia	13	5	6	2
TOTAL	140	67	49	25

Last Victory of Juventus
12.05.2007  Serie B 2006/07 – 17 week second leg
JUVENTUS-BOLOGNA 3-1
Scorers: 27' pt Bellucci (B., 37' pt e 41' st (rig) Del Piero, 47' st Trezeguet

Last Draw
23.11.2002  Serie A 2002/03 – Week 11
JUVENTUS-BOLOGNA 1-1
Scorers: 21' st (rig) Signori (B., 41' st Iuliano

Last Victory of Bologna
05.10.1988  Serie A 1980/81 – Week 4
JUVENTUS-BOLOGNA 0-1
Scorer:  37' st (rig) Paris (B.


Anna Italia Prediction:  FC JUVENTUS


UDINESE - CATANIA
Friuli Stadium
2008 - 2009 Serie A Standing - Udinese 12th position, 35 points
                                              - Catania 13th position, 33 points 

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 Last week results:
AS Roma 1 - 1 Udinese
Catania 0 - 3 AC Siena

Wow, guys, the match of Udinese just finished and they won the first leg of the UEFA Cup Round of 16  UDINESE 2- 0 ZENIT

Talking about motivation? Are you kidding me?  Udinese is the only Italian team in a European competition right now!  So, they will play motivated against Catania and I can almost guarantee a victory for Udinese at the Friuli Stadium!!!

There are only 2  point difference between Udinese and Catania.

Udinese has scored 37 goals, conceded 38 having a negative goal difference of -1.
Catania has scored 28 goals, conceded 33 having a negative goal difference of -5

So, on defense there are no big difference between both teams.  The big advantage will be for Udinese with  their forwards Fabio Quagliarella, Antonio Di Natale and Simone Pepe.  

 


Catania will need to have an inspired Giuseppe Mascara to cause an upset at the Friuli.  Challenge will be for Catania Coach Walter Zenga.  A victory for Catania will be passing Udinese by 1 point .  Catania can jump from the 13th position to the 10th position if Reggina beats Napoli too!!!!
 
Anna Italia Prediction:  UDINESE

AC SIENA - AC MILAN
Friuli Stadium

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2008 - 2009 Serie A Standing - AC Milan 3rd position, 51 points
                                              - AC Siena 15th position, 35 points

Last week results:
AC Milan 3 - 0 Atalanta
Catania 0 - 3 AC Siena

Here is the moment for MILAN to continue their only objective... so far keeping the 3rd position for a spot in the UEFA Champions League next year.   The difference with Fiorentina holding the 4th position is 5 points.  Milan also is 5 points behind Juventus holding the second position while having 12 points difference with FC Inter holding the 1st position.

More than checking up the match here  between Siena-Milan, Milan fans will be paying attention to what happen in the match Inter-Fiorentina!!!  Any results will favor Milan.  Realistically speaking, 12 points between Milan and Inter are way too much to catch up... it will be easier to catch up with Juventus.  Yet, Milan would rather keep the distance with Fiorentina. 

Advantage for AC Milan is not having suspended players. Three players are within a booking of suspension: Massimiliano Ambrosini, Marek Jankulovski and Kakha Kaladze. Disadvantage for the rossoneri include the growing list of key injured players!  kaka won't make it to this match and David Beckham might recover on time for the match.  

Disadvantage for AC Siena only one suspended player,  Galloppa.  Guys, there are  five players within a booking of suspension: Amoruso, Emanuele Calaio, Giuseppe Maccaronie and Portanova.  

Siena are in desperate need to win and leave the relegation zone.  Challenge is for Milan to use the remaining "fit players" to grab the 3 points.  Losing will be a setback for the rossoneri.

Anna Italia Prediction: AC MILAN


PALERMO - LECCE
Renzo Barbera Stadium
2008 - 2009 Serie A Standing - Palermo 9th position, 39 points
                                              - Lecce 19th position, 23 points

Last week results:
Fiorentina 0 - 2 Palermo
Lecce 0 - 0 Reggina

Guys, here is the big challenge for Palermo coach Davide Ballardini.  Sure, the morale of the team right now is on cloud 9 after beating Fiorentina at the Artemio Franchi Stadium.  A big threat is coming with the motivated new Lecce coach Luigi De Canio who replaced coach Mario Beretta. 

It will be quite a debut if Lecce coach De Canio gets his first victory.  Anyway, guys, it is the first official confrontation between Coach Davide Ballardini and De Canio.

Ballardini having also the challenge to win for the first time against Lecce. There has been 2 matches with 1 lost and 1 draw.

Lecce with New Coach De Canio Prepares to Debut by Defeating Palermo in the Italian Serie A Week 28 match on Sunday, March 15, 2009

Palermo might find a talisman with forward Hernandez.  You bet Hernandez can become an instant hero if delivering the winning goal at the Barbera!

Palermo has one suspended player defender Carrozieri while Lecce also has one suspended player Ariatti.  Risking suspension if getting another yellow card are Bovo, Fabrizio Miccoli, Simplicio, Benussi, Giacomazzi, Giuliatto, Munari, Polenghi and Schiavi.

If Lecce win the match, they might jump to the 16th position if Torino and Chievo Verona lose their respective matches.
If Palermo win the match, they might jump to the 7th position if Cagliari and Lazio lose thier respective matches.

Anna Italia Prediction: PALERMO


FC INTER - FIORENTINA
Giuseppe Meazza Stadium
2008 - 2009 Serie A Standing - FC Inter 1st position, 63 points
                                              - Fiorentina 4th position 46 points

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Last week results:
Genoa 0 -  2 FC Inter
Fiorentina 0 - 2 Palermo

A DO OR RISK the season for Inter coach Jose Mourinho!   No secret that Inter failed to reach their main objective which was to win the Champions League, being the main reason why Inter President Massimo Moratti sacked coach Roberto Mancini. 

Big slap for Inter was being eliminated in the second leg of the UEFA Champions League First Knockout Round
MANCHESTER UNITED 2 - 0 FC INTER

So, here is the chance for Fiorentina to avenge their defeat against Palermo last week and go to Giuseppe Meazza to cause an upset.

Guys, if Inter lose this match and Juventus beat Bologna, the gap between the first position and Juventus will be of only 2 points!!!!  This is why Inter cannot risk losing the match.   Problem with Inter is having many injured players, especially in the defense.

There are no suspended players for Inter, while Fiorentina has one suspended player: Dainelli.
Inter cautioned players are Zlatan brahimovic, Walter Samuel, Javier Zanetti.

Firorentina cautioned players are Bonazzoli, Donadel, Alessandro Gamberini, Jovetic, Riccardo Montolivo, Edrian Mutu.

Guys, let's check these stats. Fiorentina coach Cesare Prandelli has won 4, drawn 2 and lost 11 of his 17 encounters with the Nerazzurri. In 8 away matches against Inter, he has won 1, drawn 1 and lost 6, conceding on each occasion for a total of 14 goals let in.

Details:
1993/94 Serie A Atalanta-Inter 2-1 2-1
1997/98 Serie A Lecce-Inter 1-5 ----
1999/00 Serie A Verona-Inter 1-2 0-3
2001/02 Serie A Venezia-Inter ---- 1-2
2002/03 Serie A Parma-Inter 1-2 1-1
2003/04 Serie A Parma-Inter 1-0 0-1
2005/06 Serie A Fiorentina-Inter 2-1 0-1
2006/07 Serie A Fiorentina-Inter 2-3 1-3
2007/08 Serie A Fiorentina-Inter 0-2 0-2
2008/09 Serie A Fiorentina-Inter 0-0 ----

Anna Italia Prediction: DRAW

What are your PREDICTIONS? Are you expecting a major upset? POST your predictions now

Your Predictions??? Make your calculations and  changes... get your dancing pencil... Cagliari - Genoa FC Juventus - Bologna Atalanta - Torino Lazio - Chievo Verona Palermo - Lecce Reggina - Napoli Sampdoria - AS Roma AC Siena - AC Milan Udinese - Catania FC Inter - Fiorentina

Anna Italia Predictions. Cagliari - Genoa = CAGLIARI FC Juventus - Bologna = FC JUVENTUS Atalanta - Torino = ATALANTA Lazio - Chievo Verona = LAZIO Palermo - Lecce = PALERMO Reggina - Napoli = DRAW Sampdoria - AS Roma = DRAW AC Siena - AC Milan = AC MILAN Udinese - Catania = UDINESE FC Inter - Fiorentina = DRAW Buy Your Italian Serie A Football / Soccer Tickets

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