Having already “lose” several matches in the past few weeks due to bad weather, Lega Serie A commissioner decided to make a change for some matches for this upcoming week in order to avoid another forced postponing.

The rescheduled games are, As Roma v Inter Milan, Cesena v Catania and Ac Milan v Napoli, who will now be played in the afternoon instead of their previous evening schedule, hoping that the cold weather won’t be troubling yet at an early hour.

Two matches, Roma v Inter and Cesena v Catania will still be played on Saturday, while Milan v Napoli also isn’t changing any dates despite previous request from the Rossoneri vice president, Adriano Galliani, asking to change the game into different dates. This decision seems to be welcomed well by the clubs as no objections been filed following the fixtures changes, although it remains to be seen whether changing hours would be an effective decisions for those teams.

The weather have been a problematic situation in Serie A for the last few seasons, mainly because the quality of many stadiums in the league that hasn’t been updated, giving difficulties for both players and also supporters. Moreover, there have also been some ideas of changing the schedule especially in winter time by expanding the holiday, so when the fixtures starts, the cold weather won’t be much of an issue anymore.

However, improving stadiums or expanding the holiday would also bring problems, as for the first idea, it would take sometime before teams managed to get their home base updated with the latest technology. Meanwhile, giving extra time off for players, eventually will make the competition gets longer, something that probably isn’t something profitable for television, which is the main financial support for Serie A teams.

photo credit: mitsurinho

Napoli ended Inter Milan’s wonderful winning run in the Italian Cup thanks to two goals from Edinson Cavani, the result automatically puts the Partenopei advancing into the semi final where they’ll meet Siena.

The match also marked the return of the Southern Italian club’s Argentinian forward, Ezequiel Lavezzi, who has been out for quite sometime due to thigh injury, however he still hasn’t found his touches as just yet on the night.

Napoli’s match up against Inter in the Cup is something that Mazzarri and his boys waited as they’re looking to take revenge on last season’s failure in the same competition against the Nerazzurri. The home team took the initiative immediately from the kick off and created several openings, notably from Cavani and also Marek Hamsik.

Some controversies already arrived in the first period when Wesley Sneijder escaped a straight red card after committing a horribly dangerous tackle on Walter Gargano, which could really sent the Uruguayan into medical room. However, the match continues without anyone getting red carded as both teams created goal scoring chances with the Partenopei being a little bit ahead maximizing their home turf advatage.

Despite being more dominant in the attack, It took around 50 minutes for Napoli to take the lead and it was Cavani who crafted the opening from the spot kick after Thiago Motta tripping the Uruguayan striker in the penalty area. The Nerazzurri tried their best to get back into the game but the Partenopei hold on well until the final minutes and even managed to seal the victory deep in extra time from Cavani’s double in the match.

Meanwhile, in the other match, 10 men Siena stunned Chievo with a goal from substitute player, Mattia Destro, who scored from point blank after receiving a flick from midfielder Alessandro Gazzi. The result puts Giuseppe Sannino’s side into the semifinal, which is a rare occasion for them and it would be interesting in seeing whether they will go for broke considering they will be facing Napoli in the next round.

Match Reports:

Napoli v Inter 2-0
Goals: Cavani pen 50, 93 (Napoli)
Napoli:De Sanctis; Campagnaro, Cannavaro, Aronica; Maggio, Gargano, Inler (Dzemaili 81), Zuniga; Hamsik (Dossena 87), Lavezzi (Pandev 65); Cavani
Inter:Castellazzi; Maicon, Ranocchia, Samuel, Chivu; Zanetti, Thiago Motta (Zarate 76), Cambiasso, Obi (Alvarez 46); Sneijder, Milito

Chievo v Siena 0-1
Goal: Destro 54 (Siena)
Chievo: Puggioni; Frey, Morero (Paloschi 64), Mandelli (Bradley 80), Acerbi, Drame; Vacek, Cruzado, Hetemaj (Kirilov 87); Moscardelli, Uribe
Siena: Farelli; Belmonte (Bolzoni 66), Rossettini, Rossi, Angelo; Mannini (Terzi 51), Parravicini, Gazzi, Grossi; Gonzalez (Destro 51), Reginaldo

photo credit: Tanzen80

Still sitting in seventh place with 12 points behind the league pace, Napoli’s season obviously looked much more difficult compared to last season and minor voices about their ability to achieve the same result as previous season starts coming.

However, the Partenopei’s patron, Aurelio De Laurentis remains optimistic about his team’s chances in doing great things also this season despite their current inconsistent results in the Serie A.

De Laurentis also stated his support towards his players’ quality, saying that their quality isn’t declining and the current situation is merely a minor thing that can still be improved. The President encouraged his team to continue fighting and simply keep their head held high in preparing themselves for the upcoming second part of the season, where anything can pretty much happens.

“During the course of the season, there are times when things are good and times when they is less good. I remain convinced that we have a great team and I continue to have confidence in our talents. For this reason I support our group and our Coach, both of which are great,” De Laurentis stated. “We must move forward with confidence in our resources because this is a minor drop that can improve.”

Apparently despite the current break of European football still can’t really helped Napoli in acquiring the consistency which they have last season in the league, taking them into grabbing lots of praise after taking the third place spot. However, there are still plenty of matches left this season for Walter Mazzarri’s team to improve their position in the table but they must also try to be more consistent in picking up results as things looked very difficult in the league this season.

photo credit: Finizio

Napoli failed to maintain their winning streak in week 18 after they stumble into a 1-1 draw against Bologna at San Paolo, there’s was even controversy around the home team’s goal which comes from Edinson Cavani’s spot kick.

The Partenopei obviously disappointed with the result as getting only a point at home is not something encouraging to continue their Scudetto attempt this season considering they have already wasted several points this season, mainly against weaker team.

Still playing without their Argentinian star, Ezequiel Lavezzi, Napoli once again setting up their front pairing with the likes of Marek Hamsik, Goran Pandev and also Edinson Cavani. The home team had a great chance to take the lead early in the first half, but Hamsik was left devastated after finding out that his shot got save brilliantly by Bologna’s keeper, Jean Francois Gillet.

Hamsik should be ruing his luck especially after moments later, Bologna managed to steal a goal from Robert Acquafresca, who skipped through the Napoli defense and beat Napoli’s keeper, Morgan De Sanctis. The home team tried to make an immediate reaction by pouring forward but a combination of fine performance by Gillet and Bologna’s back-line simply prevented the Partenopei into bagging the equalizer.

However, luck seems to turn back again for Napoli after midway in the second half, they earned a rather bizarre penalty kick after Diego Perez was judged of handling offense. The thing that made the decision controversial was the fact that the referee was actually going to award a free kick instead before changing his mind after receiving info from his linesman that the hand happened inside the box instead of offside.

Despite the protests from Bologna player, the referee sticked to his decision and Cavani thumped the spot kick perfectly and gives Napoli their long awaited equalizing goal. The equalizing goal made things much more interesting as in the last15-10 minutes Bologna also regain their attacking mood, creating an exciting match until the final whistle was blown.

Match Reports:
Napoli v Bologna 1-1

Goal: Cavani 71 pen (Napoli); Acquafresca 14 (Bologna)

Napoli: De Sanctis; Campagnaro (Zuniga 55), Cannavaro, Aronica; Maggio (Vargas 83), Inler (Lucarelli 89), Gargano, Dossena; Hamsik, Pandev; Cavani
Bologna: Gillet; Raggi (Crespo 72), Antonsson, Cherubin; Pulzetti (Garics 75), Perez, Mudingayi, Morleo; Taider; Acquafresca (Ramirez 72), Di Vaio

photo credit: Tanzen80

The top three teams in Serie A, Ac Milan, Juventus and Udinese continue their excellent form in the new year as those three picked up victory against their opponents, keeping things tight at the top of Serie A table.

Just below the top three, the standings didn’t change a lot as well but Lazio’s fourth spot place in under huge pressure as Inter Milan, Napoli and Roma gaining points after picking another victories this weekend.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Kevin Prince Boateng were the actors who gave Milan their two goals win in Bergamo, a very difficult place to pick up three points but the Rossoneri did their job pretty well especially their new center back duo, Philippe Mexes-Thiago Silva, who kept on showing great stuffs. However, Massimiliano Allegri’s side still can’t take their breath as Juventus also got all three points against Lecce as Alessandro Matri scored the only goal in the match, which once again saw Fabio Quagliarella, went off for another injury problem.

At Friuli, Udinese continue their excellent home record this season by thumping 10 men Cesena 4-1, with the double from Antonio Di Natale and goals from Kwando Asamoah and Dusan Basta. Inter also achieved a pretty similar outcome on their home match against Parma as Diego Milito bagged a brace, while Giampaolo Pazzini, Thiago Motta and Davide Faraoni all donated a goal which gave the Nerazzurri a 5-0 victory.

Inter’s triumph obviously set the upcoming Milan Derby alive as they’re set to play the Scudetto holder in their best form of the season, raising the possibility for a wonderful spectacle next weekend. Meanwhile, Lazio must start to have a bit concern about their performances as Edy Reja team were demolished 4-0 in the weekend by Siena, who got their three points with Mattia Destro’s double and Calaio’s penalty brace.

Napoli once again proved that their recent dip of form in the league is mainly cause by their Champions League commitment as this weekend Walter Mazzarri’s side, who doesn’t have any European schedule, successfully thumped Palermo 3-1. Goals from Goran Pandev, Edinson Cavani and Marek Hamsik, only got one reply from Fabrizio Miccolli, allowing the Partenopei to pick up their first win at Renzo Barbera in after three seasons.

As Roma also continue their recent good form after getting another victory in the weekend by beating Chievo 2-0 with goals from their talismanic captain, Francesco Totti. The former Italian international superstar scored both goals from the spot kick, as the veteran seems eager to repay his failure in scoring from penalty in Roma’s match against Juventus, not long ago.

Complete Serie A Week 17 Result:

Siena v Lazio 4-0; Inter v Parma 5-0; Atalanta v Ac Milan 0-2; Lecce v Juventus 0-1; Bologna v Catania 2-0; Cagliari v Genoa 3-0; Novara v Fiorentina 0-3; As Roma v Chievo 2-0; Udinese v Cesena 4-1; Palermo v Napoli 1-3

photo credit: Yme Bosma

Experiencing a wonderful year bring plenty of joy for Napoli coach, Walter Mazzarri, who really wants to continue this current path and keep leading his team growing even more in the next year.

Almost leaving the club in the summer, Mazzarri now seems really content at the club and even thinking about becoming a long servant at the Partenopei just like Sir Alex Ferguson did at Manchester United.

2011 was a very important year for us, a year of growth and satisfaction. We are proud of what we have done and we want to continue on this road. My future? I have a contract with Napoli until 2013 and I intend to respect it. If there are clear ideas then I could become the Ferguson of Napoli.” Mazzari revealed.

Obviously it won’t be an easy task for Mazzarri, as just like he said, if there’s a clear idea about what the future is for him and Napoli, the tactician won’t mind to continue there as long as possible but in Serie A things can really change in an instant. Few bad results can easily forced changes on the bench, that’s why the former Sampdoria coach, can’t really confirm anything about his future yet aside from the hope of finishing his current deal and leading the Naples into consistent success.

Moreover, revealing about his team’s main focus in 2012, Mazzarri stated that doing well in the league is something they must neglect despite having a dream to keep going in the Champions League. The tactician warned his players that in order to keep competing in the highest European competition they must improved their position in the league, since starting from next summer there will only be three representatives for Serie A in Champions.

Their inconsistent form in the league is pretty much connected with their European commitment, with the competition getting into a much more difficult phase, the Partenopei obviously must improve their consistency to do well in both competitions. Napoli players must obviously aware that it won’t be easy to grab a Champions League sport for next summer with many teams are looking very strong this season.

“Scudetto or Champions League? To continue the adventure in Europe would be great, but we cannot forget the League. To reach the Champions League we have to reach a clear position in the League. It will not be easy but we will believe in it until the end,” Mazzarri stated.

 

photo credit: Blog Gallery

Napoli’s right wing back, Christian Maggio, finally has some certainties as his agent, Massimo Briaschi , revealed that his client is set for an extension with the Partenopei.

Although no details have been shared as just yet, Briaschi, is very confident that a new deal will be signed as soon as possible since both parties wanted the same thing.

“We are very near to concluding a deal. The desire to renew is there from both sides and we are just a few details away from reaching an agreement. I met with club officials from Napoli last week and I’m convinced that a deal will be signed very soon,” Briaschi said.

Maggio’s current deal with Napoli supposedly will end in the summer of 2013, that’s why should the Partenopei are serious in keeping him, extending his contract before next season is necessary. Should there’s still no talk about new deal until next season, there’s a big chance that the former Fiorentina man would be considering other offers which usually arrives for a quality player at the end of their contract.

The right back has been having an excellent years with the Partenopei especially since last season when he practically promoted himself into earning a spot in the Italian national team because of his fine form at club level. Aside from Napoli’s trio of Ezequiel Lavezzi, Marek Hamsik and Edinson Cavani, Maggio is being acknowledged by many as one of the Southern Italian club’s main force that makes their counter attacking style works.

Earlier this summer, Maggio’s agent already warned Napoli’s management that they must immediately set their mind about the Italian international’s future as there have been rumors about several big clubs interest on him. Obviously with the recent positive development regarding the player’s future at San Paolo, the Partenopei’s devotees can breath a sigh of relief as it seems that one of their important players won’t be going anywhere from the club.

photo credit: Tanzen80

After facing disappointment in the hands of As Roma last weekend, Napoli run rampant in the midweek as Walter Mazzarri’s team completely demolished Genoa 6-1 at San Paolo.

Meanwhile, at Olympico an uninspiring performance from Lazio earned them only a point against Chievo, something that should be cherished by Edy Reja’s men as they were outplayed by their opponent for the most part of the match.

Six Star Napoli Demolished Genoa.

Napoli players already looking really eager to redeem their previous defeat against Roma at San Paolo and apparently lady luck was not going away from Mazzarri’s team as Edinson Cavani opened the scoring only after 12 minutes. Four minutes later, Marek Hamsik shown his class by netting the home team’s second goal in the match after a fine classic counter attacking move by the Partenopei, which is simply to quick for Genoa’s back line.

Cavani added his tally again in the 24th minute as the striker once again managed to sprung the offside trap and eventually chipped the ball pass Sebastian Frey on Genoa’s goal, to give his side a 3-0 lead. The visitor did managed to pull a goal back though, as few minutes after the Uruguayan star grabbed his double, Jorquera scored a wonderful goal for Alberto Malesani’s team. However, Goran Pandev restored Napoli’s three goals advantage with a fine drilled shot which once again came from a fine counter attack.

Leading 4-1 in the first half, Napoli didn’t simply rest their laurels in the second period as Mazzarri’s boys added two more goals from Walter Gargano’s long range shot and followed by a similar kind of effort from Juan Zuniga. The result obviously gave the Partenopei fans some delight just before the Serie A went into a short break and re-start again sometime in early January.

Disappointing Lazio Held at Olympico

Meanwhile, Lazio failed to get themselves closer with the top three teams as they picked up another draw at home and this time they can consider themselves a little bit lucky in having it since their opponent, Chievo, played much better. Eying to give a present for their fans before the short break, Lazio tried to take the game on their hands but apparently things didn’t really happened the way it was planned for the home team.

The Flying Donkey, who were playing without any sort of pressure managed to dominate the match and created tons of great goal scoring chances, notably from Alberto Paloschi and Sergio Pellisier. The Capital club should really be thanking their keeper, Albano Bizzarri, as he was practically the one who managed to keep Lazio in the match after making several wonderful saves.

Lazio tried to change things a bit in the second period and did create a bit more chances compared to their completely dull first half, but still it was the away team that looked more dangerous. Having Bizzarri continuing to be the Biancocelesti’s best performer on the pitch pretty much said everything about Edy Reja’s side performance, who eventually got booed by their fans after the match end in a 0-0 draw.

Match Reports:

Napoli v Genoa 6-1

Goals: Cavani 12, 24, Hamsik 16, Pandev 45, Gargano 49, Zuniga 80 (Napoli); Jorquera 28 (Genoa)

Napoli: De Sanctis; Campagnaro, Cannavaro (Fernandez 66), Aronica; Maggio, Inler, Gargano (Dzemaili 59), Zuniga; Hamsik, Pandev (Lucarelli 77); Cavani
Genoa: Frey; Mesto, Granqvist, Dainelli, Kaladze (Marchiori 58), Rossi, Veloso, Seymour (Merkel 50), Jorquera, Pratto, Caracciololo (Jankovic 46)

Lazio v Chievo 0-0

Lazio: Bizzarri; Konko (Kozak 84), Biava, Dias, Radu; Cana, Ledesma, Lulic; Hernanes (Gonzalez 46); Klose, Cissé (Rocchi 64)
Chievo: Sorrentino; Sardo, Andreolli, Cesar, Jokic; Luciano (Sammarco 74), Bradley, Hetemaj; Thereau (Morero 80); Pellissier, Paloschi (Moscardelli 71)

photo credit: Tanzen80

Napoli are set to acquire another talented South American forward on their squad this winter as Chilean, Eduardo Vargas, will join the likes of Ezequiel Lavezzi, Edinson Cavani and also Mario Santana as part of the clubs attacking players.

The confirmation about the young striker’s arrival was confirmed by Vargas himself, who revealed to the media that he will be joining the Partenopei starting from this January.

Vargas, who played for Universidad de Chile revealed his excitement about his future at Napoli stating that he can’t wait to play with his new team. The youngster also claimed that despite several other interest from the likes of Chelsea and Inter Milan, Napoli is his main option without a doubt as he is now simply preparing to join his teammates for the winter preparation, since there’s a short break in Serie A ahead of Christmas.

“I can’t wait. I will complete the transfer to Napoli in the first days of January. I am happy to come to Italy, as they play a spectacular style of football there. I never thought of going anywhere else. I am happy and at the same time impatient to join Napoli,” Vargas stated.

The deal that see Vargas arriving from Chile was revealed last weekend where reports from Italy suggested that Universidad agreed a 12 million Euro fee to release their prize asset this January. The youngster is being dubbed as one of the few exciting talents in South American at the moment and with many admirers, apparently the Partenopei management didn’t take much consideration in immediately making serious bid to acquire the striker’s signature.

Vargas could actually make an instant debut with Napoli in the league this January since the San Paolo outfit will be without Lavezzi for around a month after the Argentinian picked up an injury last week. Should the young Chilean managed to impress Walter Mazzarri, the tactician would definitely give the striker an immediate chance, despite still having to compete with the likes of Goran Pandev, Giuseppe Mascara or Santana.

photo credit: Tanzen80

A tough task for Italian teams on their Champions League journey, especially for Napoli and Ac Milan who are being paired with two English representatives, Chelsea along with Arsenal, while a much easier draw received by Inter Milan, who faces Marseille.

Obviously playing against two Londoners, will be a difficult task especially for the Rossoneri, who have been having poor results against premiership teams in the competition for last few seasons.

Milan’s meeting against Arsenal will have to be noted as necessary path that the Scudetto holder must take in order to regain confidence and also acknowledgment in Europe, considering their recent poor record against English opposition in the competition. The Rossoneri obviously hopes that they’d have more luck during February especially regarding injury problems that can be considered as one of their hurdle in last season’s failure against Tottenham Hotspurs.

Napoli’s date with Chelsea will also be an interesting one as the Partenopei have a pretty good vice against English team after their success in knocking out Manchester City in the group stage. Of course the knocked out round have a different atmosphere but at the very least Walter Mazzarri’s team are not feeling any inferiority ahead of their meeting against Andre Villas-Boas’ team.

Meanwhile, Inter Milan have a much easier draw on paper, but Marseille shouldn’t be underestimated despite Claudio Ranierie’s team did have a pretty good experience against another French team. Lille. in the group stage. However, Didier Deschamps’ squad have more European experience compared to Eden Hazard and co, which were beaten by Nerazzurri, so which side are more prepared could be the one advancing from this tie.

In all, it’s a pretty tricky draw for all Serie A teams, one thing for sure, seeing chances in this early stage isn’t really something that can be taken for granted as a much more appropriate comparison should be made in February, when the battle starts. Which teams that have better form, conditions ahead of the double match ups, will most likely comes out as the winner, just like what happened in previous seasons.

Complete Champions League Draw:

Lyon v Apoel Nicosia
Napoli v Chelsea
Milan v Arsenal
Basel v Bayern Munich
Bayer Leverkusen v Barcelona
CSKA Moscow v Real Madrid
Zenit v Benfica
Marseille v Inter

photo credit: wonker