Serie A Preview: Buona Pasqua

As you might expect, Easter is a very important holiday in Italy marked by solemn processions, religious observances, and, of course, huge celebrations. But the fans of some calcio clubs will have more to celebrate than other at the end Serie A’s 34th round.

With 5 matches remaining for each squad, there is still time for certain teams to resurrect their season to find exaltation in the heights of European football or salvation in top tier survival.

It’s also that time in the season when managers of struggling sides try desperately to avoid being crucified for their teams’ poor performance. Highly unlikely in Serie A, but hey they can try.

Milan continue to rise while Napoli and Inter will hope to be spared further spearing while they’re down. (You see what I’m doing here by yet?)

Blasphemy! But only because he's not wearing an Azzurri kit.

Possibly the only thing more important in Italy than football is religion, with many going right from mass to the stadium on Sundays. But on this holiest of holidays each match is moved to Saturday. So before you fill up on jelly beans and chocolate eggs on Sunday (not you Spurs fans) enjoy the Serie A smorgasbord, or the cornucopia of Calcio if you will. Let’s get to the matches.

AS Roma v. Chievo Verona – Roma were lucky not to lose their slight grip on the 6th spot last week after falling at home 2-3 to Palermo. Statistically the Giallorossi have the 4th worst defense in Serie A. The NY Kid can laugh all he wants but the loss of Mexes seems to have hurt this team the last few weeks. Their backs are constantly exposed by any attack with some sort of pace.

Luckily for them they come up against the *ahem* seasoned duo of Pellissier and Moscardelli. The pair are adept at finishing, but are more of the “right place at the right time” school of attacking. Chievo are in little danger of facing the drop so Roma should be the more motivated team. But with Roma, whether this motivation shows through is anyone’s guess. 2-1 to the home side, I just can’t predict a shutout for that backline.

Bari v. Sampdoria – Writing about Samp these days just makes me sad. Their fall from the Champions League places to the relegation zone has been nothing short of catastrophic. It goes without saying how the loss of Cassano and Pazzini has affected the team, but it’s hard to describe the impact on the supporters, who loved both players.

Those supporters clued us into their pain this week after attacking the team bus after the 3-0 loss to Milan and demonstrated outside club headquarters, calling for the resignation of Alberto Cavasin (who’s been in charge for just 5 games) and singling out various players.

If they can’t beat Bari, there’s no telling what will be in store for them when they return to Genoa. It might be best not to return at all, but fortunately for them I think they’ll eke this one out. 0-1, in a match that even I will probably skip.

Bologna v. Cesena – Cesena have languished in the relegation zone for the majority of this season but a key win over fellow strugglers Bari last week put them in 16th and gave Seahorse fans reason to believe that they can survive. It would be no small feat for a squad that was in the third tier of Italian football just 2 seasons ago.

They’ve lost just once in their last 8 matches and will be a stern test for a middle-of-the-road Bologna side. Fresh off recieving his itty-bitty Nettuno D’oro trophy (which is the highest civic award given by the city of Bologna) for his work with the disabled, Marco Di Vaio remains the main threat for the Rossoblu. He’s truly one of the good guys of Italian football, but I’ll be hoping little Cesena continue to put the drop in the distance. A surprise 1-2 win for the visitors.

Cagliari v. Fiorentina – 9th vs. 10th isn’t always a huge draw but two sides that are capable of playing very attractive football could produce a fine match. There is little to play for for either squad which doesn’t bode well for a barnburner, but each manager will be free from worry and could employ some of their young guns and more experimental tactics. I hope to see the exciting Alessio Cerci continue to get solid minutes for La Viola and Italy youth international striker Daniele Ragatzu get a few more reps for Cagliari.

I think this will be a fun one, satisfying viewers and participants alike. 2-2 at the death in Sardinia.

Genoa v. Lecce – Despite having the worst defense in Serie A, Lecce have pulled themselves to safety and like Cesena have a good opportunity to rise up some more against a mid-table side with little to do but ride out the season. Corvia is a real pleasure to watch for the Apulians who have proven they have some pop up front the last few weeks. They’ll need it to get past what remains a stingy Genoa defense. 0-1 to the visitors.

Internazionale v. Lazio – Ah, now we get to the real meat of this weekend’s action. Inter fell further off the pace with a shock loss to Parma last week while their visitors were putting a hurt on Catania.

It looks more likely each week that Leonardo is out as Inter manager at the end of the season. The Coppa Italia could be his only route to safety and while they won the first semi-final leg against Roma during the midweek, it will likely be too little too late, even if they lift the trophy.

Lazio continue to hang onto 4th for dear life but will face a tougher test this weekend. Eto’o remains questionable but Muslera will surely be busy between the sticks regardless. This is a tough one to call but I think with Stankovic seemingly scoring at will these days, a moment of inspiration will settle a tense affair. 1-0 at the San Siro.

Udinese v. Parma – Parma pulled off one of the biggest surprises of the season last weekend when they upended Inter. Giovinco has claimed he’s set to stay at Parma but it’s unlikely parent club Juve would agree to that after some of his recent displays, including when he hung two on the Old Lady herself.

Udinese will hope Lazio fail as I’ve predicted and they can jump back up into 4th. Their greatest weapon, Di Natale, looks set to miss out after playing through injury for what seems like weeks. The returning Sanchez will have to pick up the slack but this will be no walk in the park for the home side. A 1-1 draw does put Udinese back in the Champions League, but only on goal differential.

Brescia v. AC Milan – A makeshift attack featuring Cassano and Robinho should be enough to see league-leading Milan past strugglers Brescia. With tough games left against Roma and Udinese, the Rossoneri must claim all three in these “easy” ones.

Caracciolo can certainly cause problems for Brescia, but his height should be negated by the experienced Yepes who has filled in ably whenever Nesta or Thiago Silva are absent. I don’t expect as comprehensive a victory as the one last week against Samp, but a 0-2 win should be comfortable enough.

Palermo v. Napoli – I wasn’t exaggerating when I said Napoli had the toughest final run of the top sides a few previews back. They face a resurgent Palermo side which saw off Roma last week and gave Milan all they could handle in a 2-2 Coppa Italia semifinal. Pastore seems to have regained form for the Sicilians and with a viable strike partner emerging in Abel Hernandez, Napoli’s Cannavaro-less backline are in for a tough afternoon.

Up front they’ll also be without Lavezzi but Mascara has showed some life in his limited time with the club.

Palermo have shown a real spark as of late but the Neapolitans will be absolutely desperate to keep themselves within any type of striking distance to the top. If you want to see goals, this should be the match to watch this week. Mazzari’s pushed the right buttons all season, no reason to believe that won’t continue for at least a few more weeks. 2-3 Napoli in a free-flowing, open match.

Juventus v. Catania -  The Bianconeri wasted a golden opportunity to get into the Europa league places last week when they failed to crack La Viola in Florence. They may not get another chance, but they’ll have to keep pace if there’s any shot at all.

They field a strong line-up and Catania will find themselves the unfortunate whipping boys on Saturday. I’m actually very interested in the Juventus team of  next year. If they can get some stronger fullbacks and hang onto Aquilani, they will be real contenders. Unfortunately for Juve fans it looks likely that the only glory they’ll be able to chase will be domestic.