News, stats and some facts from Serie A
The scores:
Atalanta 1 Modena 3
Chievo 3 Perugia 0
Empoli 3 Inter 4
Milan 1 Udinese 0
Parma 4 Brescia 3
Piacenza 0 Juventus 1
Reggina 0 Lazio 3
Roma 2 Como 1
Torino 2 Bologna 1
Before looking at a historic night in Serie A we must mention that shares in Cirio, who own 51% of Lazio, are no longer being traded on the Milan stock exchange. This followed news that the company are in dire financial trouble.
As for Lazio, they still owe millions for Stam and Mendieta, and it looks likely that Manchester United will resort to legal action over the unpaid monies. Cragnotti sold Nesta and Crespo for £45m in the summer, it looks likely that Fiore and Stankovic will be sacrificed in January. Bad news for Mancini who has done wonders with the team, it must be reminiscent of his time at Fiorentina. This also comes at a time when the league is looking at introducing penalties for teams who don't pay transfer fees or salaries. The penalty is likely to be in the form of points being deducted.
Back to the football, last Wednesday saw 32 goals being scored. Inter on a record number of points for this stage - 22 and Milan scoring a record number of goals for this stage - also 22. Add to that Juventus haven't been beaten for 14 games. Not even close to a record but still impressive.
Lazio, who as we know are in financial trouble, continue to confound the critics on the pitch with their form, they recorded their fourth consecutive away victory with a resounding 3-0 victory against Reggina. City rivals Roma are scoring plenty of goals, 18 so far, but they have also conceded 13, the latter a worrying statistic for Capello.
Ancelotti's Milan are scoring at will in the Champions' League and Serie A but even more impressive is their defensive record at home. They have gone 616 minutes without conceding a league goal in the San Siro.
Finally, Inter's Gigi Di Biagio and Udinese's Nestor Sensini played their 300th Serie A games on Wednesday. A happy occassion for Di Biagio as Inter overcame Empoli 4-3, not quite so good for Sensini as he conceded a penalty against Milan as Udinese lost 1-0.
Undoubtedly the game of this weekend is Juventus-Milan. Both teams are hot on the heels of Inter . Seedorf, niow with Milan, scored two belters against Juve for Inter last term, he'll be hoping to repeat the feat. This game is too close to call, most Inter fans would probably like a draw but I think home advantage may in the end prove decisive.
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