Mad about the “Pazzo”
Mad about the “Pazzo”
By Mirko Corli
Sampdoria’s striker Giampaolo Pazzini (il Pazzo, the Mad, as they call him) did what seemed to be impossible: stopping Roma after 24 positive results in a row. Pazzini scored twice last night at the Olimpico stadium in a fantastic comeback by Sampdoria that puts the team in 4th place, four points above direct rivals Palermo.
But, above all, Pazzini’s double puts Inter back on top of the league. Inter is now first in the table with 73 points, two points above Roma. Three matches to go now: next week Roma will play away against Parma (who lost 2-1 in Bologna this week) and Inter will travel to Rome to face Lazio (2-1 win against Genoa yesterday).
Nothing is done yet in the Scudetto race: Roma will play on Saturday afternoon and if they win, they’ll be back on top of the league, forcing Inter to win against Lazio on Sunday night. Remember that Inter leads by two points, but they have to finish the championship above Roma to win the title. That means they only have one result to pursue until the end, victory. Of course, if Roma lose other points in Parma, everything will most likely be decided.
Inter took the lead in Serie A back with a fantastic comeback against Atalanta in San Siro on Saturday (Milito, Mariga and Chivu responsible for the magic by responding to Tiribocchi’s opening goal for Atalanta) but lost Wesley Snijder. He will probably miss the huge clash in Barcelona and come back for the Serie A on Sunday.
Considering the rest of the league, we have now some final verdicts: Livorno goes down into the Serie B despite winning 3-0 at home against Catania, and Chievo secures a place in Serie A for the next season by defeating Fiorentina 2-0 in Firenze. The Viola went down 2-0 after missing a penalty in the second half, and the crowd is now against the team. Consider also that the penalty was supposed to be Jovetic’s, but Vargas took the ball and missed it. The club director said later Vargas will be hugely fined for this.
Siena lost 4-1 at Udine and says goodbye to all the dreams of avoiding relegation.
Napoli threw away all the chances of Champions League football by drawing nil-nil at home against Cagliari and AC Milan, by losing 3-1 in Palermo, is now not safe in their 3rd place. Sampdoria is only 4 points away, and Milan has to face Fiorentina, Genoa and Juventus in the next three weeks.
Good result for Juventus (3-0 at home against Bari): Iaquinta is back with a double and the Europa League spot is now secured.
Best goals of the week? Definitely Fabrizio Miccoli’s right-footed precise kick, Cristian Chivu’s left-footed missile, and Maxi-Lopez’s overhead kick against Livorno.
