Serie A preview: Domestic affairs take centre stage after European heartbreaks

This is the week when Italian football faced a rude awakening: a reminder of the country’s falling standards amongst Europe’s elite that saw both the Milan teams lose their home legs in the Champions League, Napoli being knocked out of the Europa League at Villareal and consequently Italy losing its fourth Champions League spot to Germany from the 2012/13 season. With European dreams smashed, teams will turn their attention to domestic affairs. As opposed to the popular belief about the league’s poor quality, Serie A is one of the best leagues in the world in terms of talent, tactics and history. With an array of cracking fixtures lined up this week, let’s dive into the preview.

AC MILAN VS NAPOLI

A top of the table clash between the two teams who are separated by just three points, this is an encounter that is reminiscent of the Maradona days of the late 1980s when the title tussles between Silvio Berlusconi’s European marvels and Diego Maradona’s Napoli were at their dramatic peak. After Maradona’s exit, Napoli faded, faced bankruptcy and were ultimately relegated and spent a year in the third tier of Italian football. Fortunes changed with the arrival of businessman Aurelio De Laurentii and the sleeping giants went storming back into the Serie A. 3 years after their promotion, this is the season when history is repeated and the Milan-Napoli title rivalry is back. Now buoyed by the red hot form of the unstoppable Edinson Cavani, the creativity of Europe’s most wanted Marek Hamsik and the blistering pace of Ezequiel Lavezzi, Napoli look to get back to their glory days and knock Milan off its perch.

Now three points off Milan, Napoli are poised to return to Italy's summit after the glory days of Diego Maradona

Both teams have endured heartbreaks in Europe recently with Milan losing 1-0 at home to Tottenham and Napoli being knocked out of the Europa League by Villareal. With European ambitions taking a backseat in Italy, focus returns to the title race and a Napoli win on Monday will pile pressure on Massimiliano Allegri’s men with a quarter of the season to go.

SAMPDORIA VS INTER MILAN

The Nerazzuri’s incredible run of resurgence under Leonardo took a back step after the 1-0 home defeat against Bayern Munich. Inter could still progress in the Champions League but it will be a daunting task to do it in Munich. European plans will be on the backburner anyway on Sunday when Inter travel to 14^th placed Sampdoria, a side who have been having plenty of problems in front of the goal after the loss of creative wizard Antonio Cassano and Giampaolo Pazzini and have consequently won just one of their last eight matches. With Pazzini now donning the Nerazzuri colours, Inter will look to regain lost momentum and pile more misery on Sampdoria’s stuttering campaign. The match will also see former Inter hit-man Jonathan Biabiany feature against his former club after making the move to the city of Genoa as part of the Pazzini transfer.

Giampaolo Pazzini will return to the Luigi Ferraris stadium on Sunday to inflict damage on his former club

JUVENTUS VS BOLOGNA

After the surprise 2-0 defeat to Lecce last week, Juventus president Andrea Agnelli, a usually reluctant President who doesn’t make headlines with his comments, was so incensed that he remarked that the Juve players didn’t have to take a shower after the match since none of them hardly broke a sweat. Gigi Buffon, now looking a pale shadow of his former self, was sent off for a moment of utter stupidity and will be deputized by Marco Storari. The Lecce defeat was a major blow on the Old Lady’s plans of Champions League qualification and they now have to contend with Roma who moved ahead of them into 6^th place after the mid week win over Bologna, the very mid-table team Juve will have to win against to get their campaign back on track.

ROMA VS PARMA

With all eyes trained on him, manager Vincenzo Montella’s campaign got off to a winning start with a 1-0 victory over Bologna in mid-week. Much has been made about the former Roma striker’s lack of experience in a managerial capacity and how he will be able to change few things in terms of organisation and tactics considering his close association with the current crop of players who he played with until the 2009 season. Montella has himself stated that he would focus on getting rid of the ‘mental block’ that is holding the team back from performing. Against Parma who are four points off the drop zone, grabbing three points will do a world of good in helping the players get rid of their mental baggage and continue L’Aeroplanino’s good start.

Other fixtures on Sunday see Palermo host Udinese, Champions League hopefuls Lazio travel to Cagliari, relegation threatened Catania host Genoa, Brescia play Lecce, Fiorentina travel to bottom most Bari, and Cesena host Chievo.