Five Things To Note From Serie A This Weekend; September 2010

The second matchday of Serie A was exciting, that’s pretty much the only way to describe it. It was full of upsets, goals, and action. At the top of the table you have Chievo in first place with six points, at the bottom you have Udinese last with zero points, and Roma second last with just one point. There have been so many unexpected results, and among all of them, the biggest shock has to be AC Milan and Roma losing. Now we’ll have to see if the two title contenders can pick themselves up, or if Inter Milan will run away with the title yet again.

1. Bari played some fantastic football

This weekend we saw Bari play against Napoli, while the match ended 2-2, I saw some of the most amazing football I’ve seen in a long time. Bari are known to play very quick and attacking football, but when they went ahead against Napoli, they decided to play things a little differently. Bari decided to try an extreme possession game, they basically stretched their team across the entire field with the forwards pushing up, and had the defenders pass the ball around near the keeper. This forced Napoli into pressing high up the field into Bari’s penalty area, stretching the field and opening up a wealth of space. From here, Bari had no trouble sending the ball up to their quick forwards and wingers which were extremely dangerous. Napoli couldn’t touch the ball as Bari played this risky style, fighting their way to a fantastic 2-2 draw away at Naples. I’m really looking forward to seeing more of this from Bari.

2. All newly-promoted teams nab wins

In the second matchday of the Serie A, you find something relatively strange which rarely occurs, all newly-promoted teams winning. Probably the hardest win among the three is Cesena’s, as they were able to defeat AC Milan 2-0. Brescia defeated Palermo 3-2, and Lecce were able to win against Fiorentina 1-0. Defeating Palermo, Fiorentina, or AC Milan is difficult for any team, not just if you’re newly-promoted. While Cesena truly shocked AC Milan with quick counter-attacks, Brescia were winning 3-1 against Palermo at halftime with little trouble. Lecce on the other hand took advantage of a fairly disorganized Fiorentina led by Mihajlovic, who is leading the sack race. This feat won’t be repeated next week since Lecce and Cesena will be playing each other, but Brescia will be looking to continue their good form when they play away against Chievo.

3. Plenty of goals were scored

While last matchday only 15 goals were scored, this matchday we saw 35 goals! The statistics speak wonders, and it’s not like there were many one-way spankings, it was truly attacking football which provided six goal thrillers like the 3-3 between Juventus and Samporia. While some say that the Serie A is boring and full of scoreless draws, it seems like this weekend says otherwise.

4. Krasic makes a difference for Juventus

Juventus have spent quite a bit this transfer market, they’ve bought players like Quagliarella, Aquilani, Bonucci, and Motta, but the player which made the difference against Sampdoria was a small Serbian winger. It was Krasic who truly terrorized the Sampdoria defenders, providing assists and scoring chances. Krasic headed the ball down towards Marchisio to volley it for Juve’s first goal, after that Krasic provided a deadly cross which Pepe finished off for Juve’s second goal. Juventus fans are hoping that Milos will become the next Nedved, and considering the way he played against Sampdoria, he could very well become a very important player for Juventus.

5. What happened to Genoa?

Genoa were the transfer market kings this summer, they brought in players like Miguel Veloso, Luca Toni, and Rafinha, but they crumbled against Chievo this weekend. The match started well for the rossoblu, youngster Mattia Destro, who was playing instead of Luca Toni, scored in the 7th minute, putting Genoa ahead at the Stadio Ferraris. It was in the second half, when Gasperini decided to take off Ranocchia that things began to go wrong. Chievo scored three goals which overturned Genoa’s lead, winning an important match which puts them first in the table with six points. But what happened to Genoa? The team crumbled, they were distracted and fearful, something which shouldn’t happen in your home stadium. We’ll have to see how Genoa do next week away against Parma, whether they can shape up, or if they’ll crumble again.

What do you think about this weekend of Serie A? Notice anything I didn’t? Share your thoughts below!