Catania - Milan (03/05/09)

34th matchday - 1st round of the final sprint

1st - Inter (74 points)
2nd - Milan (67 points)
3rd - Juventus (65 points)
4th - Fiorentina (58 points)
5th - Genoa (57 points)
6th - Roma (52 points)
7th - Palermo (49 points)
8th - Cagliari (49 points)

02/05/09 - 20:30
Inter (1st) - Lazio (9th)

03/05/09 - 15:00
Palermo (7th) - Cagliari (8th)
Roma (6th) - Chievo (16th)
Juventus (3rd) - Lecce (19th)
Catania (14th) - Milan (2nd)
Fiorentina (4th) - Torino (17th)

03/05/09 - 20:30
Genoa (5th) - Sampdoria (13th)

What to expect from that week-end:
- Fiorentina and Genoa will continue their fight for the 4th place, anyway, they'll have to care about Roma again if they can't win their home game.
- Palermo - Cagliari or how to eliminate one team from the UEFA Cup qualification race ...
- Juventus plays at home against Lecce ... normally, no problem, but Juventus is in a very poor form and Lecce needs points as Torino, 17th, has just 3 more points than them.
- After having said that nothing could happen to them, Mister "Arrogant" Mourinho and his "hot head" team lost in Napoli and gives us a very small, smaller than small hope to believe we can come back. Lazio can be back in the UEFA Cup qualification race too by winning this one (which won't happen I think). So a draw would be welcome ...

Our game: we play against a team that has no clear objective as they can't qualify for UEFA Cup anymore and won't go to Serie B. But let's be careful, beating the 2nd team in the table can be a good way to end their season !!

Let's hope for Pato to be back, for Inzaghi to keep his form and for Kaka' to play like he did against Palermo.
Flamini will be suspended.

To complete the informations I gave just before, here is the schedule of the "final sprint" for the first three teams ...

1st: Inter (74 points)
Inter - Lazio
Chievo - Inter
Inter - Sienna
Cagliari - Inter
Inter - Atalanta

2nd: Milan (67 points)
Catania - Milan
Milan - Juventus
Udinese - Milan
Milan - Roma
Fiorentina - Milan

3rd: Juventus (65 points)
Juventus - Lecce
Milan - Juventus
Juventus - Atalanta
Sienna - Juventus
Juventus - Lazio

About our (very small) chances for the title, believe me or not, I think we have the best schedule ... the worst is the one of Inter. It's my feeling:
- Inter will play against 2 teams that are not sure to stay in Serie A (Chievo and Sienna, still a risk to go in Serie B for them). These teams will give all they have, a bit like Napoli yesterday. Then Cagliari and Lazio still have some hopes to qualify for the next UEFA Cup and so they won't play like tourists against Inter. And to finish, Atalanta is never an easy team to play, but I think Inter will win this one as it will be at home for them. So in their run, they can easily draw twice, and what we need is 2 draws + 1 defeat from them. Who knows ... especially with Mourinho still being arrogant by saying that the result of yesterday doesn't change anything and that the title is for them, no matter what could happen (I think he has chosen the wrong attitude because his players didn't seem so much concerned by the game yesterday for example, I mean, they played like if the win was sure, without doing anything, and it is his fault, if the title is already won, why playing well ?).
- We play only against good teams that can still qualify for an European Cup or almost (except Catania). It could appear like a very difficult schedule, and it will be, but the fact is that we will have to keep the motivation until the end and play 5 serious games or we will simply lose some of these games. So of course, 5 wins will be difficult, but ... who knows ?! And what better way to end the season ?! Indeed, we will play to keep our second place or better, and at the same time, we will be a kind of referee for the qualification to the next CL and UEFA Cup, we can have our revenge against Fiorentina in the last game (if Genoa is still there just behind Fiorentina).

About the goleadors

1st: Di Vaio (21 goals)
2nd: Ibrahimovic (20 goals)
3rd: Gilardino (18 goals)
4th: Milito (16 goals)
5th: Kaka and Pato (14 goals)
...
9th: Inzaghi (12 goals)

Kaka, Pato and Inzaghi = 40 goals for Milan ...
The battle between these 3 players is impressive, and what is impressive is their ratio:
- Kaka = 14 goals in 26 games (0.53 goal per game, very good for him)
- Inzaghi = 12 goals in 21 games, but only 11 games as a starter
- Pato = 14 goals in 31 games (0.45 goal per game, could do better but already good for his age)

2 cents on Gilardino ending best scorer of Serie A this year !!

nice analysis GeoTav, I was just about wondering what the fixtures are for the Italian top 3. Damn, if we can pull off getting a Scudetto in the last match days I will enter into the longest drinking bench of my life...

If we win the Scudetto then I'll buy the first ticket to Milano and not sleep for a week!

Even if we don't win it and if we end 2nd at -3 or -4, it will be amazing: just remember we were at -14 few weeks ago.

And people complaining about us being always at -20 from Inter for years couldn't say anything.

Many people said here that this is a transition season. And it is.
Pretty good results given the circumstances with injuries and the average age of our squad.

Imagine where would Inter be if Ibra and Cambiasso got injured for a few months...
Can't imagine? I'll tell you.
They would be fighting with Genoa now for a CL spot.

Originally Posted by El Fre

Many people said here that this is a transition season. And it is.
Pretty good results given the circumstances with injuries and the average age of our squad.

Imagine where would Inter be if Ibra and Cambiasso got injured for a few months...
Can't imagine? I'll tell you.
They would be fighting with Genoa now for a CL spot.

Indeed, watch how poor they are without Maicon.

Yeah and that's only one player. Add Ibra, Cambiasso and Zanetti and you have just an average squad. Not counting the help from the refs they received in the first half of the season.

We'll end a season with no trophy (most possibly).

However, now is the time I feel the most confident in 5 year. The 2004 Scudetto could not cover Deportivo tragedy, as our team began to miss some courage. 2007 CL made me thrill but my heart was tortured many times

Milan is back!!! Froza Milan!!!

it still depends on the mercato, but yes, we are on the right track

Milan will haveagain a friendly game in Albania 12 may!!
I'm 99% sure for this info..and few milions for Galliani and 90 mins for R80!

Originally Posted by rinogattuso

Milan will haveagain a friendly game in Albania 12 may!!
I'm 99% sure for this info..and few milions for Galliani and 90 mins for R80!

we are back on track with the scuddeto race, and we go arrange another friendly, one more in Tirana...twice in a season(that never happened before)

I`m a bit disappointed with management cuz this indirectly indicates that we have given up our hopes for the title. On the other hand I have one more opportunity to go and watch them play,so I am a bit happy too

Originally Posted by Christian

Indeed, watch how poor they are without Maicon.

If I could only pick one, I would pick Julio Cesar. He saved Merda's ass in EVERY match.

Originally Posted by Christian

Indeed, watch how poor they are without Maicon.

Its unbelievable how influential a RB has been for them this season!!!

And for us too!