UEFA Champions League Spots
At the top of the Serie A it is the two Milan clubs who are not exactly setting the pitch alight with their football. Both teams lost their first leg ties in the champions league and if I was a betting man my money would be on neither clubs going through to the next stage of the European competition. This might not be such a bad thing as both Inter and Milan are currently fighting on three fronts , the Coppa Italia, Serie A and the UEFA Champions League and expulsion from the UEFA Champions League will have both teams focusing even more on the two domestic competitions. Inter Milan are second , five points behind leaders Ac Milan and cannot afford to drop any more points at Brescia and will be favourites to get maximum points. If Inter win their tie with Brescia , Ac Milan will go on to their match with Bari with their lead cut to two points and will want to cement their spot at the top with a win. Ac Milan currently has a decent lead at the top and with 10 games to go are looking favourites to clinch the Serie A title.
Below the two Milan’s are Napoli and Lazio at third and fourth respectively. Without a doubt these two are looking forward to playing UEFA Champions League football next season but this is not a certainty because if Lazio finish at fourth they will have to go through the qualifying stage of the Champions League where they are not guaranteed of going through. Lazio will want maximum points at AS Roma. It is compact on this segment of the table and none of the teams will want to drop points at the weekend .If they do qualify for the UEFA Champions League Marek Hamšík might stay on for another season, so there is a lot of incentive for not only winning their match at Parma on Sunday but dropping as few points as they can in the run in for Napoli.
Europa League spots
AS Roma host Lazio and will want to bounce back from their controversial loss to FC Shakhtar Donetsk which ended their European hopes for this season. A win against Lazio will move them closer to a UEFA Champions League spot and cement their place in a Europa League spot. A good result will do morale in their camp a lot of good as they move closer to their Coppa Italia tie against Inter Milan. Udinese are away to Calgliari who are sitting at mid table . This will not be a walk over but it is a slightly easier fixture relative to the AS Roma and Lazio match. Neither team can afford to drop points at this stage of the season and will have to approach their matches positively by playing attacking football.
RelegationVille
Not that the mid table teams are not relevant but we will move straight to this season’s relegation contenders .Bari will be playing the most beautiful game in the world in Serie b next season unless a miracle happens and from Chievo sitting at number 13 to Brescia at 19 none of the managers will be sleeping easy till the last couple of games of the season. The gap between Chievo and Brescia is only 7 and a couple of bad results can land any of the teams in this segment in a relegation battle. Brescia host the European champions on Friday and if they can pull of an upset they still have a chance to retain their Serie A status next season. Lecce will definitely not be kind hosts to Bologna as anything shot of a win will not make Luigi De Canio happy.