Posts Tagged ‘Gian Piero Gasperini’
Monday, April 13th, 2009
In Italy we have a saying that goes “the sadness of one makes the happiness of the other”. One being Juventus and the other being Genoa in this case.
For all extents and purposes, the Bianconeri’s Scudetto dream is over. I know I already said that last week but that was my own personal prediction. This week’s loss, which effectively pushes Inter’s lead to +10, pretty much makes the demise of Ranieri’s team official, limiting the usefulness of next week’s Juve vs. Inter clash only to bragging rights.
From a neutral point of view, Saturday’s evening match was an action-packed, entertaining affair, features which have started to become common with Gian Piero Gasperini’s side. It’s still fairly early to be talking about “Champions League football” for Genoa, but surely the Rossoblu and their president Enrico Preziosi must be fancying their chances by now: if the team continues to play like they are currently doing, they are sure to feature prominently in next season’s European scene.
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Tags: Alessandro Del Piero, Claudio Ranieri, Genoa, Gian Piero Gasperini, Juventus, Raffaele Palladino, Serie A, Thiago Motta, Vincenzo Iaquinta
Posted in Genoa, Juventus, Serie A | Comments Off
Saturday, March 7th, 2009
After the mid-week disaster against the first of the Genoan teams, Mourinho’s Inter Milan picked things up against the second Saturday, defeating Genoa 2-0 and consolidating their lead atop Serie A standings.
It was a welcome win too for the Nerazzurri, who after their 3-3 draw to Roma and 3-0 loss to Sampdoria can now prepare their visit to Old Trafford with more tranquillity (injuries of Materazzi & Burdisso excepted). Of course, no Inter win this year would be complete without the traditional controversy, and Saturday’s encounter didn’t fail to provide one. Indeed, serious doubts remain on the validity of Balotelli’s 2-0 tally: fully over the line or not?
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Tags: Genoa, Gian Piero Gasperini, Inter, Inter Milan, José Mourinho, Mario Balotelli, Serie A, Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Posted in Genoa, Inter, Serie A | Comments Off
Friday, February 20th, 2009
In a league with its fair share of last-day title deciders, Serie A has still plenty to say with 14 league matches left on the calendar. Even though Inter Milan‘s victory over cousins AC Milan last week may have strongly nudged this season’s Scudetto towards the Nerazzurri, Juventus could still catch Internazionale and at a push the Rossoneri still have an outside shot and a glimmer of hope. With both sides having relatively old squads however, I just can’t see them picking up enough points to topple Mourinho’s men.
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Tags: Betfair, Fiorentina, Genoa, Gian Piero Gasperini, Inter, Juventus, Milan, Napoli, Roma, Serie A
Posted in Fiorentina, Genoa, Inter, Juventus, Milan, Napoli, Roma, Serie A | Comments Off
Sunday, February 15th, 2009
Everyone expected the Inter vs. Milan derby to be an epic showdown, but ironically Serie A’s biggest entertainment this week-end came from Genoa vs. Fiorentina. Although to be fair to both teams, this match had already been anticipated as a “Champions League” battle: a showdown between 4th and 5th-placed usually always gives rise to interesting results.
But who on Earth could have predicted six goals and one of the most dramatic come-backs of the year, an equalizer deep into stoppage time and everything. Not only that, but the added bonus of a “hero” (these matches usually have at least one): the one and only Super Adrian Mutu who marked a top-notch performance with the first hat-trick of his Italian career.
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Tags: Adrian Mutu, Cesare Prandelli, Diego Milito, Fiorentina, Genoa, Gian Piero Gasperini, Raffaele Palladino, Serie A, Thiago Motta
Posted in Fiorentina, Genoa, Serie A | Comments Off
Thursday, January 29th, 2009
As a Bianconero, big disappointment lingers in my mind after Wednesday’s Serie A action. Not only did an unrecognizable (and Del Piero-less) Juve lose away to Udinese, but Inter Milan‘s concurrent win over Catania (and AC Milan‘s draw to Genoa) restores the Nerazzurri’s +6/+8 lead, leaving us to wonder if the current order of the top three Serie A teams will ever change again.
Maybe I’m being overly pessimistic, but I’ve been following the soccer scene for quite some time now and I’ve got this hunch: usually during a title race, when the top team loses some ground only to regain it the following week, they are keeping their lead till the end. I’ve got no scientific or tactical evidence to support this theory, it is what it is: a hunch. But based on my previous years of Serie-A watching experience, it is somewhat reminiscent of the Juve vs. Parma and Juve vs. Inter title races of the late 90′s.
Secretly of course, I want to believe otherwise…
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Tags: AC Milan, Antonio Di Natale, Carlo Ancelotti, Catania, Claudio Ranieri, David Beckham, Dejan Stankovic, Diego Milito, Fabio Quagliarella, Genoa, Gian Piero Gasperini, Inter, José Mourinho, Juventus, Pasquale Marino, Serie A, Udinese, Vincenzo Iaquinta, Walter Zenga, Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Posted in Catania, Genoa, Inter, Juventus, Milan, Serie A, Udinese | 1 Comment »
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