Week 29, Or: Three Cheers For Claudio Ranieri!

By: Martha | March 19th, 2007

Woo hoo, Parma! Parma won, Parma won! So what if it was down to a questionable offside call? Ranieri finally got his first three points back in Italy. Woo hoo! (Yes, we’re starting at the bottom of the table this week. Change is good.) And who knew Siena were going to turn into the punching bag of the have-nots? With consecutive losses to the Ascoli and now Parma, teams are going to be lining up to beat on those suckers. (Who wants to bet their manager will be sacked during the international break?) They’re not that far off the bottom themselves and face fellow strugglers Reggina in the next round — if they were to lose that one, the drop suddenly becomes a real danger.

At the moment, Ascoli — after a brief seven-day sojourn in the heady air of 19th place — are last on 19 points, three behind Parma. In the third drop slot are Messina on 24, just a point behind Reggina, who have struggled out from under the 11-point penalty with which they started the season. Ahead of them stand a nervous trio of clubs, all on 27 points: Siena, Cagliari and Chievo. No one at any of those clubs will be breathing easy for several months.

Meanwhile, up top, Inter won again. Yawn. And Roma drew, so the already insurmountable lead is now officially laughable at an obscene 18 points. Tired of pretending the Scudetto is still up for grabs, Inter are now aiming at a mythical 100-point season, a goal that is, frighteningly, within their reach — there are still 30 points up for grabs, and they need to take “only” 24 of those to reach the century mark. (Seeing as how they’ve taken 76 from 84 thus far, it’s not exactly out of the realm of possibility.)

No longer even within shouting distance of the top, Roma are still firmly in second with 58 points, nine clear of the surging Lazio. Clinging valiantly to fourth are Palermo — who will be glad for the break and the accompanying chance to allow some injuries to heal — on 47 points, two behind Lazio and just three ahead of Milan, who are showing no signs of disappearing in the rear view mirror. Empoli, who were thrashed by Lazio yesterday, are in the final European spot, five points clear of Fiorentina. The next two games for Empoli are Ascoli at home and Milan away, while Fiorentina go to Atalanta and then host Ascoli — all I’m saying is don’t sleep on the Viola, people. They’re going to be in Europe next year. (Barring, you know, another horrible scandal and associated punishments. Which, come to think of it, we probably shouldn’t assume won’t happen.)

Full results are after the jump.

Ascoli - Inter 1-2
Cagliari - Chievo 0-2
Catania - Reggina 1-4: Armando Pantanelli was nutted from over 30 yards for the second goal. Can Catania just punt the rest of the season and go home now?
Fiorentina - Roma 0-0
Lazio - Empoli 3-1
Messina - Torino 0-3
Milan - Atalanta 1-0
Parma - Siena 1-0: Hip-hip, hooray! Hip-hip, hooray! Hip-hip, hooray! Yeah, I love Claudio Ranieri and his tiny, crazy head. Sue me.
Samp - Palermo 1-1
Udinese - Livorno 4-0: Di Natale scored two more goals, making Donadoni look ever-so-smart for naming him in his Azzurri side practically as the game was going on.