Translated material
Out of competition
Inter has established itself as a leader
The main news of the past week in Italy was the end of the investigation into corruption in calcio. As a result of the final proceedings, eight officials were charged with pressuring footballers, such as David Trezeguet, who were forced to sign contracts with the Gea World agency, owned by the son of former Juventus director Luciano Moggi. Now all interested parties could finally focus on football, so the 13th round of the Serie A championship aroused particular interest. At the end of it, it turned out that Inter had practically no rivals in the fight for the Scudetto, Roma and Palermo could calmly finish the season, which would bring them a ticket to the Champions League, and Milan could soon refuse their services mentor Carlo Ancelotti.Inter, which has never lost to anyone, visited Palermo. This match meant much more for the Sicilians than for the Milanese, because it was supposed to demonstrate the seriousness of the intentions of the islanders, who were ready to take aim at the championship. The ambitious president of Palermo, Maurizio Zamparini, did not mince his words, declaring that Inter, of course, was stronger, but it would be defeated at the Renzo Barbera Stadium with a score of 4:1. Considering that the Pinks are coached by Francesco Guidolin, respected for his skillful selection of tactics to any opponent, a victorious outcome in favor of the hosts was not considered something unusual. However, the match did not go well for Palermo from the very beginning. The hosts were frankly “burnt out”, and the course of the game was increasingly moving away from the idea that the islanders were capable of forcing Inter to invent something out of the ordinary.
Already in the seventh minute, the hosts' veteran 31-year-old goalkeeper Fontana managed to miss an unnecessary ball under his arm after Ibrahimovic's long-range strike. Palermo clearly missed the injured Di Michele in front, who confused the opponents with his maneuvers. Playing with one striker noticeably prevented the islanders from building up pressure in front, where the lone Amauri loomed. The Brazilian tried hard and scored a beautiful goal towards the end of the first half, but it was just a splash. In addition, before the break he received a slight injury, later going to the bench to rest. It was striking that for the hosts, any attack was akin to squeezing the maximum out of themselves, while the Milanese calmly acted in class, as, indeed, they behaved all season. Roberto Mancini has noticeable problems with team play, but there are masters who are better than others. If one player's game doesn't go well, the other one will fail. This is what happened when, at the end of the hour, Adriano, who had two assists, ideally brought Vieira into the striking position, who shot into the near “nine”, allowing the guests to win - 2:1.
Undoubtedly, Palermo is capable of finishing the season in the top three, but it is too early for it to start talking about the championship, as Guidolin confirms in each of his interviews, preferring to avoid questions about the Scudetto. The failure of the islanders allowed Roma to rise to second place. The Romans, led by Luciano Spalletti, demonstrate the most spectacular football in Serie A. If last year the Djalorossi set an “eternal” tournament record, winning 11 victories in a row, then in the last round they won the biggest victory in Serie A in the last 23 years, defeating Catania 7:0. The trip to Genoa, where Sampdoria was defeated with a score of 4:2, became another circus tour for Roma. Even Sampdoria fans applauded Francesco Totti's second goal. The Gialorossi captain, in turn, unexpectedly dedicated his double to his enemies, including Michel Platini, who demanded that Cesco be disqualified for ignoring the interests of the Italian national team - he refused to play for it after the World Cup. That all is well in Rome is evidenced by the club's management's desire to extend Spalletti's contract until 2011, giving him a salary of £1.4 million - the third-highest salary among European coaches.
Italian Championship. Series "A". 13th round. "Palermo" - "Inter" - 1:2, "Atalanta" - "Torino" - 1:2, "Catania" - "Parma" - 2:0, "Empoli" - "Cagliari" -- 1:0, Lazio -- Ascoli -- 3:1, Regina -- Livorno -- 2:2, Sampdoria -- Roma -- 2:4, Siena "- "Fiorentina" - 1:1, "Milan" - "Messina" - 1:0, "Chievo" - "Udinese" - 2:0. Leading: Inter - 33, Roma - 29, Palermo - 27.