delucasoccerblog

Ascoli 2 – Sampdoria 1
Cagliari 0 – Milan 2
Empoli 1 – Roma 0
Inter 5 – Livorno 0
Juventus 1 – Messina 0
Lazio 1 – Fiorentina 0
Palermo 2 – Chievo 2
Parma 1 – Treviso 1
Reggina 2 – Lecce 0
Siena 2 – Udinese 3

Del Piero is in a current period of greatness (a place he’s been a handful of times before in his career only to return to mediocrity) where his confidence level is high and some of the plays he is making are truly outstanding.  Confidence is one of those talismanic properties that can charge a player – especially a forward or striker – to greatness.  The goal he scored against Messina was a classic combination of defensive hustle (stealing the ball), decisiveness (sprinting forward right away) and skill (dribbling around the defender and curving the ball around the goalie).

Roma is in danger of spiraling towards near disaster like last year if it doesn’t start to produce results.  How this team is struggling to score goals is a bit of a mystery.  I don’t like the fact the team doesn’t have a dominating physical presence up top but this is ridiculous on a team that should have Totti, Cassano and Montella all playing well. The Cassano contract dispute isn’t helping and the distraction to this team is seemingly never ending.  De Rossi, once the promised midfield savior, is having trouble finding any sort of consistently strong play.

Inter showed it can win without Adriano and scored 5 goals against a normally solid defensive team in Livorno.

Ascoli is doing wonders for a team that was picked by many to be relegated this year.  But the team producing the most shocking display to date has to be Lazio.  This is a team that has been losing its best players year after year due to financial difficulties.

Lazio has won 4 games out of 4 at home this weekend and is on the “road” to Roma this weekend for the Derby.  If Roma has a chance to turn its fortunes around and start making a run for that 4th spot in Serie A then this would be the perfect time to do it.

In Champions League action this week all three of the “Big” Italian teams look to be in good shape to qualify (still four out of six games to play however) for the next round although Milan would be in some danger with a poor result against PSV which was a tough opponent for it last year.  Udinese will be in a tough battle for that second spot in a race that is destined to be tight with Panathinaikos and Werder Bremen.