Serie A Weekend Round-up: Giornata 25

By: Francesco | February 23rd, 2009

Some of you may be looking at this picture and thinking: “What is this? Who are these players? And why does Sampdoria have a Scudetto patch on their jersey?” Well, those are the Primavera (the top youth side in Italy, similar to reserves in England) sides of Juventus and Sampdoria doing battle in the Torneo Viareggio final. The Torneo di Viareggio is one of the oldest and most prestigious youth tournaments in the world, and every February teams from all around the globe flock to the Tuscan city to prove their worth against top youth sides from all over the world. This year the two teams with arguably the best youth systems in Italy at the moment met in the final. Juventus has always produced young talent for years, and if you do research many players from Serie A to Serie B to even Serie C are graduates of the Juventus youth system. Sampdoria doesn’t have a history of producing young talent but recently they have invested in their youth system and it has worked, as the Blucerchiati won the Primavera Scudetto and Coppa Italia last season. Juventus triumphed today, defeating Sampdoria 4-1. Juventus’ Somalian winger/support striker Ayub Daud was the player of the tournament, scoring 8 goals. And if case you were wondering, the kid with the shaved head in the background of the picture (with number 23 on his shorts) is Sebastian Giovinco’s brother Giuseppe. Serie A + B results after the jump.

Bologna-Inter 1-2
Scorers: 57´ Cambiasso (Int); 80´ Britos (Bol); 82´ Balotelli (Int)
Report. Player Ratings. Highlights.

Catania-Reggina 2-0
Scorers: 35´ Capuano (Cat); 74´ Potenza (Cat)
Report. Player Ratings. Highlights.

Fiorentina-Chievo 2-1
Scorers: 13´ Morero (Chi); 73´ Gilardino (Fio); 90´ Mutu (Fio)
Report. Player Ratings. Highlights.

Lecce-Lazio 0-2
Scorers: 11´ Foggia (Laz); 51´ Kolarov (Laz)
Report. Player Ratings. Highlights.

Milan-Cagliari 1-0
Scorers: 65´ Seedorf (Mil)
Report. Player Ratings. Highlights.

Napoli-Genoa 0-1
Scorers: 69´ Jankovic (Gen)
Report.Player Ratings. Highlights.

Palermo-Juventus 0-2
Scorers: 27´ Sissoko (Juv); 79´ Trezeguet (Juv)
Report. Player Ratings. Highlights.

Roma-Siena 1-0
Scorers: 63´ Taddei (Rom)
Report. Player Ratings. Highlights.

Sampdoria-Atalanta 1-0
Scorers: 61´ Pazzini (Sam)
Report. Player Ratings. Highlights.

Torino-Udinese 1-0
Scorers: 80´ Dellafiore (Tor)
Report. Player Ratings. Highlights.

SERIE A STANDINGS

Inter 59; Juventus 50; Milan 48; Fiorentina 45; Genoa 44; Roma 43; Cagliari 37; Atalanta 36; Palermo 36; Napoli 35; Lazio 35; Udinese 31; Catania 30; Sampdoria 29; Siena 27; Bologna 23; Torino 23; Lecce 22; Chievo 20; Reggina 17

NEXT MATCHES

Atalanta-Chievo; Cagliari-Torino; Inter-Roma; Juventus-Napoli; Lazio-Bologna; Palermo-Catania; Reggina-Fiorentina; Sampdoria-Milan; Siena-Genoa; Udinese-Lecce

CURIOUS FACT

For the first time since a game vs. Piacenza in May 2003, Milan did not field any Brazilian player at any point during the game vs. Cagliari.

FRANCESCO’S SERIE A GOALS OF THE WEEK

Rodrigo Taddei vs. Siena – Taddei gets Roma the 3 points this beauty of a goal vs. Siena. The Brazilian midfielder curls the ball perfectly into the upper corner.

Momo Sissoko vs. Palermo – Sissoko scores a great goal to put the Bianconeri ahead. An imperious run through midfield and a great finish.

Aleksander Kolarov vs. Lecce – The Serbian left-back is known as the Serbian Roberto Carlos for his rocket of a left foot. He shows it here with a great goal vs. Lecce.

Mario Balotelli vs. Bologna – Sure you can say this free kick should’ve been dealt with, but it’s still a great curling effort from some way out.

SERIE B

Ancona-Frosinone 1-4
Marcatori: 10′ Cariello (Fro); 32′ Eder (Fro); 33′ Scarlato autorete (Anc); 51′ Scarlato (Fro); 78′ Cariello (Fro)

Avellino-Vicenza 1-0
Marcatori: 51´ Pepe (Ave)

Bari-Ascoli 2-2
Marcatori: 28´ Pesce (Asc); 48´ Giorgi (Asc); 60´ Guberti (Bar);
92´ rig. Parisi (Bar)

Empoli-Cittadella 0-1
Marcatori: 45´ Meggiorini (Cit)

Grosseto-Livorno 2-3
Marcatori: 20´ aut. Perticone (Liv); 25´ Abruzzese (Gro); 42´ Diamanti (Liv);
52´ Tavano (Liv); 69´ Bergvold (Liv)

Mantova-Triestina 0-1
Marcatori: 66´ Princivalli (Tri)

Parma-Brescia 1-0
Marcatori: 37´ Paloschi (Par)

Piacenza-AlbinoLeffe 1-2
Marcatori: 1´ Madonna (Alb); 6´ Ferraro (Pia); 50´ Madonna (Alb)

Pisa-Salernitana 0-0

Sassuolo-Rimini 1-0
Marcatori: 65´ Zampagna (Sas)

Treviso-Modena 0-1
Marcatori: 10´ rig. Pinardi (Mod)

SERIE B STANDINGS

Livorno 49; Parma 47; Bari 47; Sassuolo 45; Brescia 43; Triestina 42; Grosseto 41; Empoli 40; AlbinoLeffe 38; Vicenza 37; Pisa 33; Cittadella 32; Ancona 32; Ascoli 32; Frosinone 32; Mantova 32; Rimini 32; Piacenza 31; Salernitana 30; Modena 24; Avellino 24; Treviso 23

NEXT MATCHES

AlbinoLeffe-Grosseto; Ascoli-Avellino; Frosinone-Brescia; Livorno-Empoli; Mantova-Bari; Modena-Parma; Rimini-Ancona; Salernitana-Piacenza; Treviso-Sassuolo; Triestina-Pisa; Vicenza-Cittadella

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

As everyone should know by now, the Champions League resumes this week. Inter take on Manchester United at the San Siro tomorrow and Roma travel to the Emirates to take on Arsenal. On Wednesday, Juventus also will be London, taking on Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Even though I normally don’t like to root for other teams besides Milan, especially Juventus and Inter, I would love for all the Serie A teams to defeat the EPL teams and qualify for the next round. I hate hearing how the EPL is such a supreme league and how Serie A has become weak. So let’s hope all the Italian teams do a good job!