AS Roma and AC Milan both won their fixtures today to keep the pressure on league leaders Inter Milan. Milan overcame Cagliari in Sardinia thanks to goals from Huntelaar, Borriello and an own goal from Davide Astori. Roma on the other hand were 1-0 winners over Bari.

With 33 games played so far the title race could not be any tighter. Milan were lucky not to draw their third straight game as Dida produced an amazing last minute save that ensured the Rossoneri emerged with all the 3 points.

With a host of injuries facing Milan, Leonardo opted for a three-pronged attack with Ronaldinho, Huntelaar and Borriello leading the charge. Ronaldinho back into the squad after he missed last weekend draw with Lazio due to suspension took over from where he left providing decent goal scoring opportunities for his team mates.

I do not know if it is only me, but i am more than happy with Milan’s 3-2 victory. My reason for that is pretty simple, Milan always seems to lose to the minnows. Just look at when the league begun, Milan were in 16th position after losing or drawing with many of the unfancied clubs. Leonardo however turned their fortunes around and instilled the winning spirit in them. Winning the title would definitely be the fairy tale ending to their story.

Roma were also winners today after they beat Bari 1-0. In spite of these wins, the table still remains unchanged as Inter thrashed Bologna 3-0 to stay in hunt for their 5th successive title. The title race is therefore still a very wide open affair as any of these clubs can be crowned champions.

Inter however still have to play Juventus on the 17th of this month and that game could prove to be the title decider. Yes Juventus might be struggling in the league but that is what gives them impetus to win the match and improve their hopes of securing that final Champions League spot. We are definitely in for a thrilling end to the season.

Photo credit: Greenery

Udinese have sacked their coach Pasquale Marino after a streak of bad showings.This is no surprise concedering that just barely 2 months ago they were among the top teams in the Serie A.

The club have now replaced him with Gianni Biasi. Udinese are currently in 14 place and with a round of tough fixtures coming up when the league resumes after the winter break, the club will be hoping that their new tactician will be able to reverse their fortunes and help them get back into a European qualifying spot.

Udinese are now 5 points off the relegation  zone after suffering 7 defeats in their last 10 games. Next to follow suite will be Juventus. The Turin outfit are struggling to maintain their hold on 3rd position after suffering back to back defeats to league minnows Bari and Catania.

This winter break is bound to be a time of self evaluation for a number of clubs and we can only expect that they will emrge stronger in the next half of the season.

Nickname(s): The Little Zebras

All-Time Ranking: 13th

2007/2008 Finish: 7th

2008/2009 Position (as of 04/07): 14th

Coach: Pasquale Marino

Key Players: Antonio Di Natale, Fabio Quagliarella, Gaetano D’Agostino

History:

Udinese was founded in 1896, making it one of the oldest teams in Serie A, but the squad would have no success until 1950 when they were finally promoted to Serie A. Just five years later, the team almost shocked the nation when they finished second to Milan for the scudetto. Soon after though they disappeared from the top flight for decades again.

In 1983, a Brazilian, Zico, helped Udinese return to Serie A, but a 1986 match-fixing scandal would cost them their spot in the top division. They were promoted again though in 1995 and have been a fixture in Serie A ever since, but they have never really competed for any major trophies. In fact, they have absolutely no significant hardware.

American Sports Doppleganger:

Udinese has been a consistent team who has finished in the top half of the table multiple times, but it has never been good enough to beat the best. So, I will compare them to the NFL’s San Diego Chargers. Like Udinese, the Chargers have a long history of being a decent team, but they have never been able to best all their opponents and win a title.

Udinese gave themselves a timely boost of confidence ahead of Thursday’s UEFA Cup quarter-final second-leg decider against Werder Bremen as two late goals from Antonio Floro Flores earned them a 2-0 victory at bottom club Reggina.

Neither side were able to make much headway in the first half, with the hosts having won just three games all season and Udinese looking for their first away success since October. The parameters changed ten minutes after the interval, however, when Maurizio Lanzaro was sent off after bringing down Floro Flores in the area. Maurizio Domizzi blazed the resultant spot-kick over the bar, but Reggina were further hit when Antonino Barillà picked up a second yellow card on 64 minutes.

Despite being reduced to nine men, the Calabresi twice came close to scoring through Franco Brienza, either side of Floro Flores hitting the woodwork, and they won a penalty when substitute Luca Vigiani was felled by Aleksandar Luković. Samir Handanovič saved from Brienza and Reggina were soon ruing that miss as Floro Flores turned in Giovanni Pasquale’s cross with six minutes remaining and struck again in added time to lift the visitors up to 12th.

Udinese are convinced they can turn around their 3-1 first-leg defeat by Werder Bremen and book themselves a UEFA Cup semi-final place.

Udinese were floored by two fine goals from Bremen’s Brazilian playmaker Diego and a third from Hugo Almeida before a late strike by Fabio Quagliarella kept them in the tie. With the Italians now able to qualify with a 2-0 victory in Thursday’s second leg at the Stadio Friuli, striker Simone Pepe said that the mood of the players was defiant and upbeat. “We’re very confident about the return leg,” he said. “Everything is possible in football … and we really believe we can turn this result around. The goal we scored has shown us the way to an extent, because 3-0 would have been a bit more difficult. Now we’ve just got to roll our sleeves up.”

The Zebrette’s Brazilian captain Felipe shared that belief, but made it clear they had to make a better start if they were to make up for the missed scoring chances and the shortcomings at the back. “In Udine, it will be a different game, there we know how to play well,” he said. “Here, we created enough chances but just didn’t finish them off.” Almeida’s goal in particular clearly stuck in the throat, with the forward being able to latch on to a long ball upfield before bearing down on goal to score unchallenged. “We’ve got to pay more attention and be more compact next time, especially at the back,” Felipe said. “Their third goal was down to a mistake in positioning by the defence. We need to be more careful in the second leg.”

Udinese also know they will have to work harder on Diego, who had an outstanding game at the Weserstadion. “He did well to find the right angle for his first goal and his second was even better … he’s a brilliant player,” added Felipe. “We’ve got to watch out next time. We won’t be going for man-to-man marking – it’s not something we’ve ever done and we never will – but everyone is going to have make a bigger sacrifice.”

Looking ahead, he had no doubt about the optimism in the Italian ranks, saying: “It’s there, and it has to be because we’ve scored a goal and an away goal is worth a lot.” The scorer of that goal had more reason than most to be impatient for Thursday’s re-match. Well aware of his failure to take three clear-cut chances earlier in the game, Quagliarella said: “I feel sorry for the fans and I hope to make up for it in the second leg. I’m so angry inside I’d like to play that match tonight, but I’ll have to save it all up and turn it into something positive.”

It has been a disappointing season for Werder Bremen. They stumbled out of the starting blocks, picking up only two victories in the first three months, and the slow start set the tone for the rest of the campaign.

Thomas Schaaf’s men currently sit in 10th place in the Bundesliga, a whopping 10 points behind fifth-placed Stuttgart, and are in serious danger of failing to qualify for Europe.

There are signs of encouragement, though. Two victories in their last three matches on the domestic front, coupled with a 3-2 aggregate victory over St. Etienne in the UEFA Cup, have given their supporters a glimmer of hope that a strong finish is on the horizon.

Schaaf was especially pleased with the emphatic 4-1 victory over Hannover on the weekend and hopes this is a sign of things to come from his team.

“I am happy that the team regained their strength after the 1-1 equaliser and turned around the game,” he said. “They also didn’t give up after the 2-1 lead and just kept going. And their desire to win was clearly evident.”

Werder will now turn their focus to the UEFA Cup, where they have never lost a competitive match to an Italian team on home soil. They have already beaten both Milan-based teams in Europe this season and will look to defeat another Italian outfit when Udinese pay a visit to the Weserstadion on Thursday evening.

Flying The Flag

Udinese are currently languishing in 14th place in the domestic table, courtesy of an ugly 11-match winless streak from November until late January. The Zebrette managed to pick up only three points out of a possible 33 to send them spiralling down the Serie A table.

With nothing left to play for on the domestic front, Udinese will hope to win some silverware in Europe to salvage their disappointing season.

Pasquale Marino’s men are coming off an unlucky defeat to Inter in the Serie A in which the Bianconeri outplayed the defending champions for long stretches of the match, only to see a Mauricio Isla own-goal doom them to defeat.

Despite the loss, Fabio Quagliarella was upbeat about the performance and stated that the squad would be ready for Werder Bremen on Thursday evening.

“We have been drawn against one of the best teams in the competition,” he said. “However, if we play like we did against Inter, who are dominating the Italian league, we can do well. We can certainly put them in difficulty.”

The Zebrette knocked off the defending UEFA Cup holders, Zenit St. Petersburg, in the last round but will be without star striker Antonio Di Natale as they look for a positive result against a Werder side that are a tough nut to crack on home soil.

Players To Watch

Claudio Pizarro (Werder Bremen)

The Peruvian hitman was the hat-trick hero on Sunday as Werder brushed aside Hannover at the Weserstadion. Pizarro has an astonishing 15 goals in 19 appearances this season and will be counted upon to continue that terrific form against Udinese on Thursday evening. If Pizarro heats up, this tie could be over in the first leg.

Fabio Quagliarella (Udinese)

The Italian international will have to shoulder the scoring load with Di Natale on the shelf for the rest of the season. He has managed to hit the back of the net eight times so far this season and will need to add his name to the score-sheet on Thursday if Udinese plan on picking up a positive result in Bremen.

Prediction

Udinese have failed to win their last three UEFA Cup matches away from home and that trend will continue as Pizarro powers Werder past the visitors.

Source: Goal.com