As we gradually approach this year’s big Summer event (a certain Euro cup), leagues all across Europe are sequentially coming to a close. There are two matches left to play in the Serie A, and there’s still plenty to be decided in the remaining 180 minutes. The Scudetto race is still on (somewhat), the battle for 4^th spot hasn’t said its last word, and the UEFA Cup and relegation zones haven’t found permanent residents just yet. Truly, it’s been a while since we saw such an open-ended contest in the Italian league.

Let’s take a look.
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Scudetto

Less than a week ago, Inter seemed to have this thing all wrapped up. However, the loss vs. AC Milan in the Derby della Madonnina and the simultaneous victory of Roma away to Sampdoria has kept the suspense alive, but for how much longer? Only one thing separates the Nerazzurri (81 pts.) from the tricolore, and that is obtaining just one more win. Indeed, a victory against Siena on Sunday would mathematically assure Inter their championship title, regardless of Roma ’s (78 pts.) result vs. Atalanta. Just to remind you: in case of a draw in the final league standings, head-to-head records will be used as tie breakers, and Inter are slightly favored over the Giallorossi in that respect.

If (by some miracle) Roma were to win Sunday and Inter were not, the Scudetto will be played out on the last matchday of the season, where the Giallorossi will be playing Catania (away) and the Nerazzurri will be travelling to Parma. Call me crazy, but somehow I don’t see that happening…
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Fourth Spot

After a season-long pursuit which had left many Rossoneri fans cringing their teeth and biting their nails, AC Milan (61 pts.) managed to overtake Fiorentina (60) in the 4^th position and obtain full control of their Champions League destiny next year. The calendar it must be said, isn’t exactly favoring the Rossoneri though: Napoli (away) and Udinese (home) are the remaining matches of Carlo Ancelotti & Co., a bit more difficult than what La Viola will be faced with (Parma at home, and Torino away).

Still in mathematical contention is Udinese (57 pts.), who will be facing Cagliari (at home) on Sunday but more importantly, will play out their final card vs. AC Milan on matchday 38, i.e. the last day of the season.
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“Zona” UEFA

Inter and Roma have qualified for the Coppa Italia final, thereby freeing up another spot for UEFA Cup qualification. If the league were to finish right now, the teams qualifying for Europe’s “consolation cup” (that’s how I call it) would be Fiorentina (60 pts.), Udinese (57), and Sampdoria (56), respectively 5^th, 6^th, and 7^th. With Genoa in 8^th position and 48 points, the previous three teams are at least guaranteed to be playing in Europe next season.
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“Zona Salvezza”: Relegation Battle

Down at the bottom, nothing’s decided just yet either. Siena (42 pts.) managed to pull themselves to safety last week, and are now mathematically assured of avoiding the drop. The same cannot be said for the 7 teams right below them, and with several direct encounters in the last two matchdays, the battle against relegation promises to be even more exciting than the Scudetto.

Livorno (30 pts.) is currently dead-last in the standings, and will be left facing Torino (home) then Empoli (away). Speaking of Empoli (33), the club lead by Alberto Malesani isn’t exactly comfortable either: second-to-last in the Serie, they will be travelling to Calabria to face Reggina (and then as mentioned, will host Livorno on the last day).

Those with the toughest calendar however are Parma (34) and Catania (35): the Gialloblu will have to battle Fiorentina (away) and Inter (home), while the Elefanti will travel to Juventus before hosting Roma at Stadio Angelo Massimino. Brutal.

As for Reggina (36), the Calabrians have their destiny into their own hands (Empoli at home and Cagliari away), much like Torino (37), who will only need a victory vs. Livorno to be mathematically safe before matchday 38 (Fiorentina at home).

Finally, after a very long and tough season spent at last spot, Cagliari (38) are this close to their “salvezza” miracle. They will only find Udinese (away) and Reggina (home) to stand in their way.

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Brace yourself blogging world!! After Soccerlens, the great Marco Pantanella has conquered yet another mountainous peak and landed at… The Offside . Ok using ”great” and “mountainous peak” might be exaggerating a tad, but it looked cool when I wrote it.

For those of you have been living under a rock since the 2006 World Cup, The Offside is a blogging network which… Ah, why bother? I’ll just copy-paste their “About” page here below (yeah, the great Marco Pantanella is also a big lazy bum):

The Offside is part of the BootsnAll Travel Network. The site will take a humorous (we think), irreverent (we think) and occasionally insightful (possibly) look at club football from leagues around the world. If there is a sex scandal in England, we’ll be stuck in the middle of it. If a player is traded for a thousand pounds of beef in Romania, we’ll cook the steak. If something interesting happens in MLS, we’ll be just as surprised as you.

Launched after the success of the World Cup Blog , which featured a blogger for each of the 32 teams in the 2006 tournament, as well as one about the referees and another for general tournament news, The Offside will follow the major football leagues from around the world, with an ever-growing community of individual team blogs and a general football blog on the front page. 

Now you’ll say: “Ok great Marco thanks for the background info, but where does Alessandro Del Piero fit in all this?”

Well just recently, The Offside opened their Players section and launched (among others) the Cristiano Ronaldo, David Beckham, and Lionel Messi blogs. Guess who pitched the idea for a Del Piero blog?

So without further ado, allow me to introduce you to the blog for all things ADP:

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( From Gazzetta ): For the 4^th consecutive season Roma will once again face Inter in the Coppa Italia final. The only difference this time around will be that the umpteenth encounter between Spalletti’s men and those of Mancini will be decided by a single match (no more double legs in finals) to be played at the Stadio Olimpico of Rome on May 24. But before they got there Roma had to first dispose of Catania , something that the Giallorossi achieved without too much heartache, as they scored first at Stadio Angelo Massimino and kept their cool after the Elefanti drew level.

CHOICES AND AIMS - When a team reaches the Coppa semi-final after never having been so far in the competition, one would expect the team in question to field their best possible line-up, especially if the prize (besides pride, glory and all that crap) is a place in next season’s UEFA Cup. Catania however were in no way tempted by European dreams and rested numerous first team players, their Serie A match away to Juventus firmly in mind: The main aim of the Sicilian club is in fact to avoid relegation and retain their Serie A status for next season, but it was certainly a real pity not to be able to assist to a game played by the best possible Catania side, especially when Roma’s 1-0 first leg win (thanks to a goal by Francesco Totti) had left their chances of reaching the final very much intact. Every manager however, obviously has the right to make the choices he retains wisest…

THE LINE UPS - Speaking of that manager, for tonight’s match Walter Zenga put his faith in Inácio Piá in attack, supported by the two Giuseppe’s (Mascara and Colucci). In defence Lorenzo Stovini was given a round of rest, while in midfield there were places for Mariano Julio Izco and Marco Biagianti. Not that Roma fielded their strongest team either: forced to play Christian Panucci and Marco Cassetti as his central defensive pairing (due to the injury of Juan and Philippe Mexes’s suspension), Luciano Spalletti chose to field Cicinho and Vitorino Antunes at right and left back. In midfield, Matteo Brighi partnered Daniele De Rossi , while Alberto Aquilani playing second striker behind Mirko Vucinic . Completing the line up were Simone Perrotta and Ludovic Giuly on the left and right wings respectively, while Pizarro and Mancini were left on the bench.

A GOAL A PIECE - The initial exchanges were played at a rather slow tempo, with Roma looking to retain possession and create changes and Catania cautious and not too willing to attack. The game continued in this manner until the 26^th minute, when Izco showed more than just a little inexperience by (unnecessarily) tripping Vucinic inside the penalty box. Alberto Aquilani then made no mistake from the penalty spot, and put the Giallorossi in the lead. 1-0 Roma (and 2-0 aggregate).

Catania fans did not have to wait long for their team’s reply however, as Cristian Silvestri was at hand just a couple of minutes later to score with a perfect header and level the score. 1-1 . At this point Catania really had nothing to lose (they needed two more goals to go through), and the team began to push forward with much more conviction. Without troubling Roma too much before the break however, as the first 45 minutes ended in a draw.

D ULL SECOND HALF- After the break however it was all Roma as the Giallorossi came very close to scoring on a number of occasions, first through Aquilani assisted by Giuly, then through Perrotta smartly getting behind Vucinic’s pass. On both occasions Catania’s nº1 Albano Bizzarri managed to keep his side in the game. The woodwork then came to the Argentine goalkeeper’s aid in minute 57, when Perrotta’s header connected with a cross and sent the ball on the upper right corner.

The remainder of the half did not offer much excitement: there were a number of changes but very little in terms of scoring chances (a few for Roma and zero for Catania). In addition, neither team seemed willing to put more energy into changing the course of the game, and eventually the referee called full time. In the end, it will be the same old story all over again: Roma in the cup final against Inter. Let’s just hope that on May 24 at the Olimpico, the Coppa Italia will be able to provide just a little bit more entertainment than this. No doubt that Roma will have added motivation after Inter’s (almost certain now) Scudetto celebrations.

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	CATANIA-ROMA 1-1 [Match Highlights]
GOALSCORERS: 27’ pen. Aquilani (R), 29’ Silvestri (C)
CATANIA (4-3-1-2): Bizzarri – Silvestre, Silvestri, Sottil, Alvarez – Izco, Edusei, Biagianti (56’ Baiocco) – Colucci (60’ Gazzola) – Pià (84’ Iannelli), Mascara. (bench: Rossi, Sardo, Sabato, Terlizzi). Coach: Zenga.
ROMA (4-2-3-1): Curci – Cicinho, Cassetti, Panucci, Antunes – Brighi, De Rossi (80’ Mancini) – Giuly (64’ M.Esposito), Aquilani, Perrotta (76’ Tonetto) – Vucinic. (bench: Julio Sergio, Brosco, Pizarro, Unal). Coach: Spalletti.

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In Italian, there’s an expression that perfectly defines the nature of Inter’s Coppa Italia performance of Wednesday night: “massimo risultato con il minimo sforzo“, which translates to “maximum results with the minimum amount of effort”. Any additional comment would be superfluous.

Ok fine, I’ll tell you just a little bit more. To use the words of Gazzetta (who defined the team as “an expert vulture, awaiting its prey to punish it“), the Nerazzurri played the ‘waiting game’ on Wednesday night. It’s really a fun little game, and it goes something like this: “let your opponents run around the pitch, allow them to keep ball possession & create most of the scoring chances, then rely on them missing those chances and hit them on the counter-attack”. Sounds like a lot of fun, right? Delio Rossi wasn’t too amused though, especially since he drew the card “Your 44 year-old goalkeeper has butterfingers, and gifts the opponent a goal. Go directly to jail, do not pass go, do not collect $200“…

Such a shame too, because the Coppa Italia was originally supposed to Lazio’s “tournament of redemption” (you know, after a kinda crappy season and all). There was little doubt manager Delio Rossi was going for victory tonight, especially because of the highly offensive 4-3-3 starting line-up, featuring the Pandev-Bianchi-Rocchi trio up front. On Inter’s end, Roberto Mancini had to deal with post-Derby della Madonnina repercussions (losing to AC Milan is never an happy event) but decided to rotate his team nonetheless, fielding Francesco Toldo in goal and relying on the youth and energy of Primavera Francesco Bolzoni. The Nerazzurri’s 4-4-1-1 formation included Luis Jimenez operating behind lone striker David Suazo .

During the first half, and serving as a representative of pretty much their entire season, we saw two faces of Inter. In the first 20 minutes, the Nerazzurri appeared lazy, uninspired, and out of gas, which is a face we’ve been seeing more and more often in Serie A after the Winter break. Not even the two woodworks hit by Lazio in the initial minutes (the 2^nd minute free-kick post by Cristian Ledesma and the 15^th minute strike by Tommaso Rocchi ) gave Inter the necessary “wake-up” signal to stick their heads out of the hole. The Biancocelesti were pressuring high up, exerting complete domination on central midfield, and there was little that the inexperienced Bolzoni and Pelé were doing to counteract the situation. The absence of a player like Esteban Cambiasso (on the bench) was all-too-evident…

Eventually, Mancini decided to reposition Javier Zanetti in the center, and things finally started to work out for the Nerazzurri. Their wing distribution became more efficient, Luis Jiménez could operate a little more freely in his offensive playmaker role, and began getting closer to Marco Ballotta’s net. His 39^th minute sliding finish, one-on-one with the Lazio keeper (after a great heel set-up by Suazo), was narrowly wide of the post however.

In the second half Lazio continued their offensive efforts, and immediately brought danger close to Toldo’s goal. The Inter defense however kept close guard, and soon the Biancocelesti would be biting their nails for their missed chances. On virtually the first shot on goal of the second period, Inter grabbed the lead: like a speeding bullet, Suazo got through on the right wing and made a low cross for Pelé. The Portuguese U21 international waited for the ball to arrive, and then popped a one-time instepper that finished its course straight into Ballotta’s top-right corner! A great goal and 1-0 Inter .

The goal was a tough slap in the face for Lazio, who up until then had essentially dominated the encounter. On the contrary, galvanized by his team’s lead Mancini switched his formation back to two strikers, inserting Julio Cruz for Bolzoni and re-positioning Jiménez on the right wing. Grabbing back the reins of play wasn’t sufficient for the Inter manager however, who somehow managed to get sent off for dissent just a few minutes later. On the other end, Delio Rossi seemed to maintain faith in his current formation, only replacing Zauri with Aleksandar Kolarov.

As time passed by, Lazio became more and more active in the Inter box (especially through Pandev, Dabo, and Kolarov) but were always a few feet away from hitting the target, and the fact the Nerazzurri coach (Mancini’s second-in-command) had inserted Marco Materazzi and Maicon for Burdisso and Chivu certainly wasn’t helping in making the Inter defense more penetrable. It seems ironic then that during this period, much like what had happened to Mancini a few minutes earlier, the team that seemed to be “in control” of their situation got one player sent off and came dangerously close to finishing the game with 9 men (first a punch by Cruz on Kolarov was punished only with a yellow, then Materazzi received a direct red for an overly mean tackle from behind).

Even more ironic was that despite playing with 10 men, Inter increased their lead to 2-0, putting their qualification on ice. A right-wing cross by Pelé was “intercepted” by Ballotta, but the Lazio keeper ended up colliding with a defender, released the ball, and Julio Cruz simply had to apply the finish into the empty net. 2-0 Inter and game over. This will be the Nerazzurri’s 4^th consecutive Coppa Italia final, and considering how close their 16^th Scudetto title is, this will also be Mancini’s opportunity to make a double this year. Perhaps over Roma and perhaps as the last trophy as Inter manager, who knows?

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	LAZIO-INTER 0-2 [Match Highlights]
GOALSCORERS: 52’ Pelé (I), 85’ Cruz (I)
LAZIO (4-3-3): Ballotta – De Silvestri (87’ Tare), Siviglia, Cribari, Zauri (66’ Kolarov) – Dabo (80’ Mutarelli), Ledesma, Behrami – Pandev, Bianchi, Rocchi (bench: Muslera, Rozehnal, Mauri, Mudingayi). Coach: D.Rossi
INTER (4-4-1-1): Toldo – Burdisso (68’ Materazzi), Rivas, Chivu (77’ Maicon), Maxwell – J.Zanetti, Pelé, Bolzoni (59’ Cruz), Cesar – Jiménez – Suazo (bench: Julio Cesar, Siligardi, Cambiasso, Crespo). Coach: R.Mancini

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There could be tough times ahead for Luca Toni. The Bayern Munich striker, just recently crowned Bundesliga champion and currently leading the scoring charts with 21 goals, may soon be confronted with an unsurpassable obstacle… of the robotic kind. Its name is Goalias (or GoalIAS if you prefer), and it’s the first robot-goalkepeer capable of defending a regular-sized football goal.

IAS stands for Institut für Automatisierungs und Softwaretechnik (”Automation and Software technology Institute”, or something along those lines) and is the University of Stuttgart department responsible for the creation of the mechanical goalkeeper. If you’re thinking about a cyborg with a humanoid shape though, you’re way off. The robot in question is simply a cardboard on wheels, shaped in the form of a goalkeeper and moving alongside a track placed on the goal line. The real engineering marvel of GoalIAS comes from its three videocameras and computer processor, calculating with lightning-fast velocity (under 400 ms in fact) the best position to make a save every time a shot is taken.

It works like this: the player takes a shot, the cameras (placed on top of the crossbar) analyze the trajectory the ball is taking, and relay the information to the central processor. The computer then calculates the best position to make the save and moves the “goalkeeper” accordingly. All this is done in under 400 milliseconds.

GoalIAS was recently tested by somewhat of a VIP of German football, namely currently 2^nd-ranked Bundesliga topscorer Mario Gómez (I guess Toni was unavailable). The German International took a series of shots on net, and it turned out robo-keeper saved 50% of Mario’s efforts. I bet he wasn’t bragging too much at practice the following week…

Anyways, after Mario Gomez the next test of ‘robo-keeper’ is set for May 22. This time GoalIAS will be facing the German Women’s National football team. Who knows? Perhaps by that time the robot (already in its second version) will have been perfected even more.

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Based on Gazzetta’s info, there are currently 22 Italians playing in first divisions abroad, and 9 of them stepped on the field this week-end.

The table below includes the team the player belongs to, their opponents for the week, the number of minutes they played, their contribution (goal, assist), and the final score of the game.
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ENGLAND
Player	Team	Opp.	mins.	Contrib.	Score
Carlo Cudicini	Chelsea	@Newcastle	(bench)	/	2-0
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SCOTLAND
Massimo Donati	Celtic	@Motherwell	(bench)	/	2-1
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GERMANY
Luca Toni	Bayern M.	@Wolfsburg	90	/	0-0
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SPAIN
Fabio Cannavaro	Real Madrid	@Osasuna	red card	/	2-1
Giuseppe Rossi	Villareal	Getafe	80	/	2-0
Christian Abbiati	Atl. Madrid	Recreativo	(bench)	/	3-0
Gianluca Zambrotta	Barcelona	Valencia	90	/	6-0
Enzo Maresca	Sevilla	Valladolid	60	1 assist	2-0
Morgan De Sanctis	Sevilla	Valladolid	(bench)	/	2-0
Emiliano Moretti	Valencia	@Barcelona	(injd.)	/	0-6
Stefano Sorrentino	Recreativo	@Atl. Madrid	90	/	0-3
Damiano Tommasi	Levante	Espanyol	(injd.)	/	1-1
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FRANCE
Fabio Grosso	Lyon	@Nice	(susp.)	/	0-0
Flavio Roma	Monaco	@Lens	(injd.)	/	0-0
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HOLLAND
Graziano Pellè	AZ Alkmaar	/	SEASON	OVER	/
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BELGIUM
Roberto Mirri	Mons	@St. Truiden	90	/	1-1
Alessandro Pistone	Mons	@St. Truiden	90	/	1-1
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SWITZERLAND
Stefano Razzetti	St. Gallen	Sion	(bench)	/	1-2
Andrea Guatelli	FC Zürich	@Basel	(bench)	/	0-4
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POLAND
Stefano Napoleoni	Widzew Łódź	Sosnowiec	90	/	0-1
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RUSSIA
Ivan Pelizzoli	Lok. Moscow	Luch Energiya	(bench)	/	2-2

Heroes of the week

No goals for them (actually even an -undeserved- red card for Fabio), but plenty to celebrate for Mr. Cannavaro and Mr. Toni: Real Madrid and Bayern Munich were crowned respectively La Liga and Bundesliga champions this week. Joining the fun, Mr. Maresca who provided good passes an an assist in Sevilla’s 2-0 match vs. Valladolid.

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Week-End Reviews

Here are the results and summaries for matchday 36. Full Video Highlights here.

Italy.TheOffside.com week 36 review

Italian Calcio Blog week 36 review

Gazzetta in English week 36 review

MILAN, 4 May 2008 - Roma’s gap with Inter was reduced today, thanks in part to Inter’s defeat to AC Milan (2-1) and Roma’s win against Sampdoria (3-0, from Panucci, Pizarro and Cicinho). By the same token, the Blucerchiati’s dream of a place in the Champions League went down the drain as well.

AC Milan moves to 4^th place ahead of Fiorentina: La Viola players were obviously distraught by their elimination in the UEFA Cup, because they were defeated by relegation-strugglers Cagliari (2-1, goals from Jeda and Daniele Conti). Fiorentina striker Adrian Mutu was sent off during the match.

Meanwhile, Udinese aren’t giving up hope of a place in European competitions next season, beating Empoli 1-0 thanks to a goal from Fabio Quagliarella. The Bianconeri move ahead of Samp in the standings (6^th place with 57 points). The race to remain in Serie A is still very close.

Down at the bottom, Livorno are just one step away from moving down to Serie B, and this despite the recent return of their old coach Fernando Orsi. The Amaranto returned empty-handed from Bergamo, despite overcoming an early double disavantage (Cristiano Doni and Ferreira Pinto) with comeback goals by Fausto Rossini and Simone Pavan. Simone Padoin sealed the fate of the game for the Nerazzurri, seeing Atalanta victorious 3-2.

Livorno’s loss keeps them at the bottom of the standings, 5 points away from Catania who lost today against Reggina. The Calabrian team got 3 very valuable points today thanks to two goals by Nicola Amoruso, which allows them to move ahead of Catania. Catania’s goal came in the stoppage time from Jorge Andrés Martínez, but it was too little too late.

A breath of fresh air for Parma and Torino. Parma beat Genoa with a goal from Cristiano Lucarelli and Torino beat Napoli thanks to a penalty kick by Alessandro Rosina and a goal by David Di Michele, who put his team ahead despite the temporary draw by Matteo Contini. This was Gianni De Biasi’s first win after his return to Toro’s bench.

Finally, Siena’s goal by Houssine Kharja (during the first minutes of play) put an end to Juve’s dream of a second place in the standings, while Lazio suffered yet another defeat, this time against Palermo. Despite being ahead after Goran Pandev’s penalty kick, the Biancocelesti couldn’t stop Palermo’s comeback with 2 goals by Amauri.

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GOALS of the WEEK

Wow… we had 7 great goals last week, but this time not even enough to make a ‘Top 5′, can you believe it? Here’s our Top 3 then:

• Cruz’s inswinging free-kick on the second post (Milan-Inter)
• Pizarro’s 25-yard blast inside the right post (Sampdoria-Roma)

This week, the goal-of-the-week award goes to Simone Padoin . Great stuff by the Atalanta midfielder, who gave the Nerazzurri an 89^th-minute 3-2 win over Livorno with a delightful chipped shot over Marco Amelia. Scroll to minute 02:10:

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Results Summary

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Three weeks ago, at the end of the 3-2 match lost to Juventus (Matchday 33) Milan manager Carlo Ancelotti had declared: “Our objective for the rest of the season, in order to qualify for Champions League, will be to win all of our next 5 matches“. With the important fixture vs. Inter in the Rossoneri’s calendar, this was much easier said than done… but what do you know? AC Milan might just have achieved their objective.

To quote Gazzetta, some people had already nicknamed this title ‘The Scudetto of Hardships’ (more or less a translation of Lo Scudetto della fatica), and that may be why Inter continue to make things harder for them. 2 years and 18 days since their last derby victory, AC Milan have reclaimed the “Derby della Madonnina” and made a key step towards Champions League qualification. Indeed with the concurrent loss of Fiorentina at Cagliari, the Rossoneri now find themselves in 4^th spot with a 1-point advantage over La Viola. In other words: their destiny is entirely in their own hands.

As for Inter well… it will take nothing short of a Roman miracle for the Nerazzurri to lose their grip on the Scudetto (on account of their head-to-head record with AS Roma, a win to Siena next week will effectively seal the deal for Roberto Mancini’s team), but today’s loss is certainly very sour. Is it a coincidence that when Filippo Inzaghi scores on Inter (today was the 4^th time it happened), Il Diavolo always ends up victorious?

(From Gazzetta): MILAN, 4 May 2008 - The first exchange of opinions came from the fans. On one side, Interisti mocking the unavoidability of the AC Milan situation: seeing Inter triumph in Serie A again and perhaps miss out on the Champions League (”Oggi puoi dire quello che ti pare ma il tuo incubo si sta per realizzare” or translated: “Today say whatever you want, your worst nightmare is about to come true”). On the other, a real spoilsport motto exposed by AC Milan’s ’Curva Sud’: a big banner with the message “Even in the year of the centennial celebration… always the same scenario” (”Anche nell’anno del centenario… sempre il solito scenario“) and the Champions League final date (May 21), alongside an obviously drunk Homer Simpson character, watching TV. Hanging on the wall: a badly shaped and damaged Scudetto. Any reference to Inter’s Champions League elimination this year is entirely and purely… intentional.

Oh and by the way, I know: it sounds a lot better in Italian, and whoever translated the banners on the Gazzetta in English site needs to be flogged. Repeatedly. But I digress.

These fan banners, on top of outlining the creativity and rhyming ability of ultrà fans, were a good representative of the great tension running at San Siro before today’s match. In a derby, show & technique comes second to winning at all costs, and this kind of approach was probably the reason why Roberto Mancini opted to leave out Mario Balotelli, in favor of pure strikers Julio Cruz and Hernan Crespo . Interestingly enough, on such an important day the Nerazzurri manager gave a chance to the “bench warmers” (the aformentioned Crespo, plus Maniche for the injured Stankovic), an approach quite different from that of Carlo Ancelotti. Indeed, the AC Milan manager didn’t make a single change in regards to the expected line-up, relying instead on experience and technique of his (aging) veterans.

DOUBLE PIPPO CHANCES - It was a sea of red and black on the San Siro stands today, with Rossoneri fans clearly dominating their Nerazzurri counterpartts and celebrating every good play created by their team, be it a corner-kick or a goal. It was also a game of fair play, as evidenced by Crespo’s admission to referee Roberto Rosetti that he didn’t deserve a corner-kick. Nice to see stuff like this, especially in a derby. 

Now, there weren’t many scoring opportunities in the first 45 minutes, but if there was any team that was dominating the play it was AC Milan. Determined to win the game, the Rossoneri were attacking convicingly out of their own half, and even Daniele Bonera (usually occupying more of a defensive role) was openly challenging Cristian Chivu and creating good chances through the opponent’s defence. Fortunately for Inter, Julio Cesar kept a close guard, especially when the Brazilian goalkeeper made a great save by stopping a short-range Inzaghi finish, three meters away from goal. Super Pippo obtained yet another chance before the half ended, hitting the post on a Seedorf-inspired and Kaká-assisted play from the right wing. 

DOUBLE STRIKE - 4 minutes from the end of the half, Giuseppe Favalli picked up a knockand was forced off in favor of Marek Jankulovski. On his part, Roberto Mancini decided not to make any substitutions, confident that  Maicon would quickly recover from his limping injury and that his defence would keep a tight lock on the fort. Oh, silly Mancini…

In the 47^th minute, Patrick Vieira almost scored on his own goal to deflect Gattuso’s shot, while 2 minutes later  Massimo Ambrosini ’s header barely missed the target. A prelude for things to come, because in minute 51 came the goal putting a damper on Inter’s hopes: Kaká broke through along the goal line, finding enough space to avoid Materazzi and center towards Filippo Inzaghi’s head. The noggin of Super Pippo connected with the ball from short range, and put the Rossoneri in the lead. 1-0 AC Milan .

Inter went haywire, and not even 5 minutes later two consecutive passing errors cost them the second goal: Patrick Vieira lost the ball to Kaká on the right wing, enabling Kaká to get within shooting range and place an accurate instep past fellow Auriverde Julio Cesar. 2-0 AC Milan , and big joy in the San Siro stands.

Two goals down, Inter decided it was time to stick the head out of the hole. It went something like this: Maniche kicks the ball, his shot is deflected by Kalac; Crespo is in the right place, his shot deflected by Kalac; Maicon picks up rebound, his shot is deflected by Kalac. No doubt about it: Milan and their Australian goalkeeper seemed to be in control, and it took all of 20 minutes in the second half before Mancini finally realized it was time for Turbo Mario. Indeed, with Balotelli on the field Inter seemed somewhat to regain their fighting spirit, and they were also aided by good fortune (and Kalac’s poor placement) on Julio Cruz’s 25-yard free-kick delivery. 2-1 .

After a few plays worth of inclusion into the highlights reel (a Bonera-Suazo clash where Rosetti gave the advantage to Milan; followed by a Marco Materazzi fall in the penalty area, not called by the referee), Andrea Pirlo came very close to tasting the 3-1 goal. Alas his kick from a great position was stopped by Julio Cesar, as the Brazilian goalkeeper kept Inter alive yet again. Tensions increased almost to breaking point, and Adriano Galliani’s hair (the few he has left on the head) must have turned white when  Alexandre Pato (on for Inzaghi) lost possession with 20 seconds to go, and enabled Inter to get a free-kick right on the edge of the Milan box. Cristian Chivu’s set-piece delivery went sky high however, much like Inter’s dreams of celebrating a Scudetto against their cousin arch-rivals.

The lead over Roma is now reduced by 50% with two more rounds to go: nothing is lost really, but a Serie A epilogue as close as this one was unthinkable just a few weeks ago. Inter will have some more sweating to do for this Scudetto…

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	MILAN-INTER 2-1 [Match Highlights]
GOALSCORERS: 51’ F.Inzaghi (M), 56’ Kaká (M), 75’ Cruz (I)
MILAN (4-3-2-1): Kalac – Bonera, Nesta, Favalli (41’ Jankulovski) – Gattuso (66’ Brocchi), Pirlo, Ambrosini – Kaká, Seedorf – F.Inzaghi (76’ Pato). (bench: Fiori, Oddo, Serginho, Gilardino). Coach: Ancelotti.
INTER (4-3-1-2): Julio Cesar – Maicon, Rivas (80’ Maxwell), Materazzi, Chivu – Vieira, Cambiasso, J.Zanetti – Maniche (65’ Balotelli) – Cruz, Crespo (72’ Suazo). (bench: Toldo, Burdisso, Pelé, Jiménez). Coach: R.Mancini

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Boy, could a “Derby della Madonnina” could get any better than this? Picture the situation: with 3 matches to go in the Serie A, Inter Milan are leading the standings with a +6 lead on Roma, all the while their cousin arch-rivals  AC Milan stand in 5^th spot, 2 points ahead of Sampdoria (in 6^th) and 2 behind Fiorentina (in 4^th, i.e. the last Champions League qualifying spot).

In other words, for both Nerazzurri and Rossoneri a win on Sunday would have a two-fold effect. For Inter, it would effectively seal the deal for the Scudetto run and crush AC Milan’s CL hopes for good, which if you ask any Interista fan, would be awfully awfully sweet.  On the other hand, a win for AC Milan would keep their CL hopes alive (especially if Fiorentina stumble against Cagliari) and re-launch the hopes of AS Roma for the final Scudetto rush (provided the Giallorossi don’t fu** it up against Sampdoria, of course). Now how awesome would that be for all the Milanisti, given their very average 2007-08 season (Club World Cup excluded).
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A little bit of History

To present you all the little interesting facts about the Derby della Madonnina, allow me to borrow, once again, the skilled words of Subhankar Mondal, the man behind the first Inter Milan vs. AC Milan Preview back in December:

On Sunday, a seismic force that owes its origin to the history shall rock the city of Milan and tradition shoved deep down in the ground; for on Sunday a chasm shall be constructed distinctly in Milan and volcanic eruptions are guaranteed.

If you think that this is a meteorological forecast ridiculously being rippled across on a football blog site, then you are utterly, utterly wrong. Instead, this is a lookahead to the Derby della Madonnina, the AC Milan vs. Inter Milan derby, that is set to storm to the center-stage in the Italian Serie A on Sunday.

This is a derby that is almost a hundred years old, a derby that would’ve never opened its eyes upon the light of the world if there had been no wrangling over the signing of foreign players; a derby that over the rapidly flowing years has come to be relegated to second (maybe even third) place in Italian football (the Derby d’Italia i.e. Juventus vs. Inter, is now firmly established as the most important match in Italian football calendar). But when Internazionale (or more affectionately, Inter Milan) and AC Milan lock horns at San Siro on Sunday there will no dearth of passion, spark, fire and rivalry at all.

The history of the two clubs is paradoxically intertwined into one. Milan were established way back in 1899 and were absorbed in nationalistic ideals so much so that they wouldn’t allow any foreign player to don on their colors. This kindled a rift inside the club and those in favor of the induction of foreign players into the side broke away and formed Internzionale in 1908 and the city of Milan has been torn apart into two fragments since.

Milan traditionally are the people’s club, a club that has supported by the working class people in southern Italy. On the other hand, Inter are the bourgeois club, an aristocracy that has been blessed by the rich hands. But over the successive decades, such a distinction in terms of economic class has broken down. Indeed, Italian President Massimo Moratti is a oil tycoon while Milan is owned by the billionaire and former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.

Yet a cluster of Milan supporters still come from the working class background while Inter fans still do perceive their Milan counterparts as basically inferior to them in almost all sectors. The ultras (or, “ultrà” as they are called in Italy) are there from both clubs but their actions and recognition are much allayed by the reputation of the clubs. Even so, violence and trouble at the Milan derby have been frequent.

The ugliest incident of violence cropped up in the 2nd leg of the 2004-2005 UEFA Champions League Semi-Final match at San Siro. Milan were leading the match 1-0 (and 3-0 aggregate) when Inter supporters decided to get themselves thick into the action. Bottles and coins started being rocketed onto the pitch, flares started flying onto the field and Milan custodian Dida was hit with a flare on the back of his shoulder, and the often crippled and almost always paralyzed UEFA at last convened to investigate into the violence in Italy.

Thus security has been tightened at the San Siro for the clash and these are one or two signs that trouble might be hatched during the course of 90 minutes. Th