Week 33, Or: Champs at Last (And Ranieri Works His Magic)

By: Martha | April 23rd, 2007

Happy Fatty Thanks to a lackluster win over Siena and Roma’s anticlimactic loss to Atalanta, Inter ended the weekend with their first on-field Scudetto since the 1988-1989 season (though the Inter website keeps calling it their “second consecutive title”). Though they were never going to be caught, Inter’s lead is now 16 points, an insurmountable total with only five games remaining. Woo hoo!

Despite Sunday’s loss, Roma remain firmly in second place, a full 11 points clear of city rivals Lazio, who were beaten this weekend for the first time in ages. For their part, Lazio have no such security: They’re clinging to the third position, just one point ahead of the charging Milan. With the Rome derby next weekend and Milan traveling to Turin, there’s a legitimate chance the two teams will have switched places by this time next week. Six point behind Milan are the once-unstoppable Empoli, who have their own one-point cushion over the hapless (yes, I said it) Palermo. With the weekend’s good win over Lazio, Fiorentina now sit just only two points behind Palermo, and are looking more and more like a top six spot.

At the other end of the table, ~~the King of the World~~ Claudio Ranieri has hauled Parma into a tie for fifth-bottom with Chievo, and they’re only three points from the heady air of 12th place. And, in the next two weeks, Parma host Cagliari and travel to Cheivo — hell, they could be in the top half by the first week of May! At the point, I wouldn’t put anything past Ranieri. The teams his squad are leaving in their wake are Ascoli, who are rooted to the bottom despite not losing (alright, so they didn’t play) this week, Messina, who are four points clear of Ascoli, and Reggina who sit “comfortably” in a playoff spot with a six point cushion over Messina. They’re only a point from Chievo and Parma, though, so there’s still a lot of room for change in the relegation zone.

Full results are after the jump.

Atalanta - Roma 2-1: Vieri got another 30 minutes and immediately put a shot on goal again. How long before he’ll be starting, do you think? One more week?
Catania - Ascoli P-P
Chievo - Livorno 2-1: Lucarelli scored what seems like his 40th goal for Livorno. But yes, he’s still leaving.
Empoli - Torino 0-0
Lazio - Fiorentina 0-1
Milan - Cagliari 3-1: Two more for Ronaldo. He may be fat, but at least he’s scoring goals — I’d imagine Ascoli would give anything for an El Gordo of their own at this point.
Palermo - Parma 3-4
Reggina - Udinese 1-1
Samp - Messina 3-1
Siena - Inter 1-2