The Crazy World Of Milan

From Calcio Italia

Carlo Ancelotti has got it easy. While his new team Chelsea stroll past average opposition almost every week, his successor at Milan is having kittens. You can say what you like about Leonardo’s Rossonero regime, but definitely not that it is boring.

Sunday’s rollercoaster display came against in-form Cagliari and the result was in doubt from beginning to end. Ultimately, it took four goals from four different scorers to see off the battling islanders. No wonder the new man on the bench in the San Siro looks a little older every time we see him.

How Carletto must chuckle down at Stamford Bridge if he ever switches on the Serie A highlights. He can lord it over a League where there are teams tactically inept enough to concede nine goals in a single game. Poor Leonardo seems to find himself involved in a knife-edge thriller every week.

Doubts have to remain about the sustainability of this approach. Surely the wheels must eventually fall off the Milan challenge. However, a bit like one of those plate-spinning acts, it is good fun to watch – at least until it all comes crashing down.

Meanwhile, Inter brushed off Bologna on Saturday evening after a Marcelo Zalayeta strike had threatened to spoil their build up to Barcelona on Tuesday. The Nerazzurri remain far and away the most solid team in Italy. The only negative element was a red card for Douglas Maicon which might make them suffer while he is suspended.

Juve kept up their challenge by seeing off Udinese courtesy of Fabio Grosso but it was a workmanlike display. The Bianconeri were never troubled, to be sure, but they rarely produced much attacking flair either. It will not, one suspects, have had Inter quaking in their boots.

Resurgent Roma enjoyed the fruits of a Francesco Totti hat-trick as they saw off revelation side Bari. But Fiorentina were unable to defeat another surprise package – Parma – as they succumbed 3-2 in the Artemio Franchi. The result catapulted Francesco Guidolin’s men into Champions League contention.

At the bottom end of the table the most significant results were wins for Livorno and Atalanta over Genoa and Siena respectively. It allowed them to join Bologna and Lazio on 12 points after the latter played out the only game without goals in the top Division at Napoli.

A quick scan of the standings suggests there has rarely been a more balanced season in Serie A – at least if you clip Inter off the top. You can argue about the quality of play but not the openness of all the major issues, bar the Scudetto. And, you never know, a steady Juve and this madcap Milan might yet have something to say about that.