TOUR EVENT
“Roma” and “Milan” examined each other on the eve of the quarterfinals of the Champions League. The motivation of the guests before the match seemed much higher - they need to cling to the fourth place with blood from their nose. And from the sly Luciano Spalletti it was appropriate to expect staffing surprises. Powder the brains of observers from Manchester is almost an obligatory point of the pre-match champions program.
However, the very first minutes drowned out talk of Milan's motivation and bluff Spalletti. “Wolves” began to attack with the desire that it was they, and not the Rossoneri, three points needed more air. The goal of Mexes, who seems to be conducting the best season of his career, was puzzled by Carlo Ancelotti - he clearly expected a different scenario. Before the break, the guests were extremely polite and did not create any tangible problems for the Romans. The exception is the 36-year-old Kafu, who, with a smile, scurried along his native right brow.
During the interval, the head coach of Milan changed the inert Oliveira to Gilardino, and this move turned out to be decisive. It was Alberto who equalized the score, thereby convincingly responding to critics, whose number has recently grown steadily. However, the result of the match in any case can be considered unsuccessful for the Rossoneri - the backlog from Palermo remained the same.
HERO TOUR
Cristiano Lucarelli . The 31-year-old striker Livorno delivered 6 shots on goal for Catania, and half of them led to goals. The hat-trick of the charismatic striker not only took the Tuscans out of the danger zone, but also allowed Cristiano to equal 15 goals in the sniper race with Luca Toni, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Rolando Bianchi. Only Totti is above.
TOUR FAILURE
Claudio Ranieri suffered his first defeat as a mentor of Parma. The former coach of “Valencia” and “Chelsea” returned to his homeland to save “Parma” from relegation and so far has successfully completed his mission. With Ranieri at the head, the Parmesans finally stopped losing, and in the last round they even managed to defeat Siena - 1-0. However, visiting "Inter" "dzhalllobu" had little chance.
Nevertheless, almost two-thirds of the game, the Ranieri team worthily confronted the champion without five minutes. In any case, in terms of indicators such as ball possession and shots on goal, Parma was not inferior to Inter. It is even more offensive that the young Parmesan team failed to convert the game equality even into a draw. Goals from Maxwell and Crespo interrupted Ranieri's 5-match unbeaten run.
TOUR SENSATION
Palermo loses points again . This time in Turin (0: 0). The Sicilians managed to accustom us to spectacular losses, and there are fewer and fewer reasons to magnify the Palermo’s failures as sensations. Although according to the results of the first round, the position of “rosanero” in the top three seemed more stable than ever. It’s all the more surprising now to watch how the team of Francesco Gvidolin frivolously lowers the state.
Turintsy, on the contrary, began to show results that are adequate to their gaming resources. In particular, top clubs, and not only Italian ones, are becoming more and more insistent on Toro leader Alessandro Rosina. 7 points in the last three rounds made the tournament prospects of the “bulls” more rosy than a month ago.
TREND
Fiorentina parting with hopes for the Champions League . It seems that three draws in a row delete “violets” from the struggle for getting into the top quartet. Remembering the 15-point penalty imposed on the team of Claudio Prandelli, she could be regretted. In purely football terms, “Fio” is not inferior to either “Lazio” or “Palermo”.
CM. ALSO
Having scored “Catania” three goals, Cristiano Lucarelli improved the position of “Livorno” in the standings and his own in the goalscorer race.
TOUR DIGIT
12 matches in a row does not know defeats Roman “Lazio”. The last time the “Biancheroles” did not get a single point in a meeting with Inter (0: 2) on December 20. Moreover, a spectacular victory over Udinese (4: 2) has become for the "sky-blue" already 7th in a row! It is likely that Lazio will be the only club fined in the summer to represent Italy in the Champions League.