Week 18: T-Minus 27 Hours

By: Martha | January 11th, 2008

Pee Wee How long has it been since the last match? A month? Six weeks? Longer? Normalcy is finally returning the weekend, and we’ll no longer have to find ways to entertain ourselves like normal people rather than watching football on TV.

Whether we like it or not, the match even people who rarely bother with Serie A will be watching is the Milan-Napoli clash at the San Siro. Not because of their desperate love for the pouting of Alberto Gilardino, nor for the delightful genius of Argentina’s own Pee Wee Herman clone Ezequiel Lavezzi. Instead, it’s because of the hype over that kid they call The Duck who will, finally, have to start proving himself on the pitch. (And, moronic two-goal guarantee aside, he’s surely as happy as anyone else that he can finally get out and play.) Pato’s obviously something special, but even if he wasn’t going to play, the match would be worth watching — because of the club’s failure/refusal to sign a TV contract, we only get to watch Napoli on the road, and they’re capable of playing thrilling football. After several weeks of rest, Lavezzi and Marek Hamsik should be raring to go, and even without the suspended Marcelo Zalayeta and Manuele Blasi, Napoli should offer a challenge to Milan, particularly in the frightfully unfriendly confines of the San Siro.

Elsewhere, Claudio Ranieri takes his third-place Juve side down to Catania, visiting a club for which he once played. Things are expected to be tense off the pitch, as Juve apparently have a substantial fan base in Catania, which could lead to a crowd that doesn’t provide the Elefanti much of a home field advantage. Up north, meanwhile, Torino host Livorno in a battle of almost-bottom clubs. Both teams have shown signs this season of being way too good for relegation, but high points have been few and far between, and both would give their proverbial rights arms for a win. (That said, Torino probably don’t remember how to digest more than a point at a time, so perhaps they should proceed with caution.)

And, finally, there could be a good one in Genoa, where Sampdoria host sixth-place Palermo, knowing a win will get them within a point of a European position. Samp played some slick football in the first half, but they stumbled at bit in December, just as Palermo seemed to finally put themselves together. When Palermo play with confidence they’re awfully impressive (and are a totally different team from the one that was mercilessly crushed by Juve on that shocking night in Turin), and with Amauri and a healthy Fabrizio Miccoli in attack, they can put fear into any defense. On the other side of the ball, of course, is Antonio Cassano. Nuff said.

Offside Previews
•Napoli-Milan
•Samp-Palermo
•Catania-Juve
•Cagliari-Udine
•Atalanta-Roma
•Torino v Livorno

Note: Barring massive transfer news, this is it from me for the day. I’ll be back adding in links to previews as they go up, but otherwise I’ll see you tomorrow for Empoli-Reggina.