Serie A Review: Juve Finally Lose, Roma Continues Climb

In a Clash of the Titans match up in front of a packed San Paolo stadium, Napoli handed Juventus their first loss in 22 league games this past weekend.

Napoli won 2-0 on goals from Jose Maria Callejon in the 37^th minute, and Belgian international Dries Mertens in the 81st minute.

Callejon has been a revelation for Napoli since he has come over from Real Madrid scoring his 12^th goal and doing all he could in the game to add more to that tally.

Napoli impressed a lot of people with this win, not only because they were able to achieve an elusive victory over league leaders Juve, but it was also in the manner that Napoli played.

They dominated possession and they were flowing perfectly around the entire pitch. Juventus legend Gianluigi Buffon was Juves’ best player by far.

With his spectacular saves and calmness in goal, he kept the score line form being far more out of hand then it could have been. Buffon’s season is proving once again why some people still consider him the best keeper in the world.

Although Juve has been racking up the wins this season they have not been playing particularly well of late, and this game was no exception.

This result against Napoli was made all the more predictable due to the fact that Juve has not won at the San Paolo since October 2000.

It was a fantastic win for the Napoli and this will surely leave them on high heading towards the end of their campaign. Juve on the other hand should be humbled by this loss.

It’s difficult to say what is wrong with them right now although it’s interesting to note that since Juves’ coach Antonio Conte’s tirade in the dressing room and his subsequent remarks in the media, Juve has been struggling.

We shall see if this story has legs and if there is more than meets the eye with Antonio Conte’s men.

AS Roma continued their relentless march towards catching Juventus and the Scudetto by defeating Sassuolo 2-0 in Sassuolo on goals from Mattia Destro in the 16^th minute and Italian/Brazilian Michele Bastos in the 90^th minute.

Although Juventus seem out of reach, Roma are determined to make a fight of it.

The Romans continue to accumulate wins at a torrid pace. 

Roma have a fun team to watch with their short passing and unpredictable play, and since Totti’s return they seem unbeatable. Sassuolo in contrast must be feeling the heat, sitting second to last in the table they need a miracle to stay in Serie A.

AC Milan and Kaka celebrated his 300^th appearance for the Rossoneri in spectacular fashion by defeating Chievo Verona 3-0. Kaka certainly played his best game since he came back scoring 2 goals in the 27^th and the 54^th minute.

The new prodigal son Mario Balotelli got the opener for the Milanesi in the 4^th minute. This win gave fans hope and is sure to give AC Milan and Kaka some confidence for the remainder of the campaign, nice to see good guys do well.

In other results:

Fiorentina settled for a scoreless draw 0-0 against Sampadoria in Genoa and remain in 4^th place.

Inter Milan also settled for a draw of 2-2 in Livorno. Inter has not gained much ground lately and seem stuck in the standings. Lazio beat Parma in Rome 3-2 in an exciting seesaw battle. Atalanta got their 7^th win in a row by defeating Bologna 2-0 in Bologna, and the rest of the season bodes well for the Bergamasci. Hellas Verona got back to winning ways by defeating Genoa on 2 goals from ex-Italian International Luca Toni.                                                                                                                        

Torino defeated Cagliari 2-1 at home and Udinese beat Catania 1-0 at home

The battle for relegation seems to be intensifying. In my view Chievo, Bologna, Livorno, Catania and Sassuolo will be fighting for two spots although with 8 games left things could change in a hurry.

Here you have it another exciting week in the most competitive league in the world

Stay tuned