Inter Milan’s quest to win the treble this season got off on the right foot after defeating AS Roma 1-0 in the Coppa Italia final at the Olympic Stadium in the Eternal City. Diego Milito’s 40th minute tally was enough for the Nerazzurri to capture their sixth Coppa Italia championship.

Roma had their chances to pull level, but never found a way to break Inter’s solid back line. Substitute Francesco Totti was shown a red card for a hard foul on striker Mario Balotelli, leaving Roma down to 10 men with 3 minutes left in regulation.

Jose Mourinho’s side was able to hold on and avenge a 2-1 loss to the capital side in league play a few weeks back. Since then Inter was able to regain the lead in Serie A and will now try to shrug Roma off as they sit two points behind Inter in Il Calcio.

This was the fifth Coppa Italia final in the last six seasons that had Roma and Inter as the finalists. Roma won the previous two final meetings against Inter in 2007 and 2008.


*The Coppa Italia winner qualifies to next season’s Europa League, but Inter and Roma are assured to finish in the top two spots in the Serie A standings qualifying them directly to next season’s UEFA Champions League. Therefore, the seventh placed *The Coppa Italia winner qualifies to next season’s Europa League, but Inter and Roma are assured to finish in the top two spots in the Serie A standings qualifying them directly to next season’s UEFA Champions League. Therefore, the seventh placed team in Serie A (Juventus) will qualify to the 2010-11 UEFA Europa League third qualifying round.

INTER COPPA ITALIA CHAMPION!

It seems like Inter will win their fifth straight Scudetto after they defeated Atalanta and Roma fell at home to Sampdoria. Although the reality of the moment makes one see that Inter have a slightly tougher schedule than Roma, but there is one match that could be under the watchful eye of many in Italy.  Inter will visit relegation- compromised Lazio.  Will Lazio fight Inter tooth and nail?  Will they allow Inter to beat them in order to prevent their eternal city rivals to not win the Scudetto?

Simone Tiribocch's 11th goal of the season gave hopes to the giallorossi faithful with his goal in the fifth minute.  But Inter came back with a vengeance and scored three goals courtesy of Diego Milito, Cristian Chivu, and Sulley Muntari that helped propel them to the top of the standings.

Meanwhile Francesco Totti put Roma ahead the 14th minute with a venomous strike.  For Totti that was his 19th goal of the season and his team was ready to make it big.  But defensively the wheels came off as Antonio Cassano and Giampaolo Pazzini shredded the romanista backline and came away with an impressive 2-1 result for La Samp's European dreams.  Pazzini scored a brace with an incredible header and then capped it off with the game-winner which propelled them into Champions League positions.

Siena and Livorno were officially relegated today.  Siena lost in convincing fashion to Udinese 4-1 and Livorno would beat Catania 3-1.  All of this  was for naught as Bologna would beat Parma 2-1 at the Renato Dell'Ara courtesy of a brace by Marco Di Vaio and assured the bottom two teams of having to play next season in Serie B.

Juventus handled Bari easily 3-0 while Palermo defeated AC Milan in Sicily 3-1.

Serie A week 35 wrap

The race for the Scudetto has taken a turn that all fans would appreciate. AS Roma are a point ahead of four-time defending champs Inter and one of its fans put down the gauntlet.

The Italian bombshell made a promise that further motivated Inter and its fans to win the Scudetto. Melita Toniolo said that she would promise to strip in Milan in the event that the neroazzurri win their fifth consecutive title.



This "decree" comes after Argentine singer and model Lola Ponce did the same for the romanistas. 

Toniolo is one of the most popular personalities in Italian television. She has appeared in several television show ever since her big break in 2006.

Well, the 2006 Miss Maxim Italy surely peaked the interest of friend and foe alike. She is further proof that one hot chick is better to look at than 22 dudes.



In my humble opinion, we should stop listening to athletes making guarantees and start hoping that these ladies have the possibility of making theirs come true. 

Beyond the Pitch: Melita Toniolo

Chum was thrown to the sharks on Friday night when Catania gave four-time Scudetto winners Inter Milan a Sicilian Surprise when they beat them 3-1. The big issue was that most of the teams chasing the neroazzurri did not take full advantage

When Clarence Seedorf scored what was going to be the game-winner for AC Milan, that was probably the biggest news coming out of Serie A of San Siro was David Beckham's injury.

His Achilles' heel rupture was the bitter taste left in the mouths of milanistas and England fans everywhere when he hobbled to the nearest exit. His face told the entire story. His anger, despair, and obviously pain.

Players like Ignazio Abate expressed their sorrow to missing a teammate who was fundamental in the dressing room as did England national team coach Fabio Cappello.


Scores
Friday
Catania 3-1 Inter

Saturday
Napoli 1-3 Fiorentina

Sunday
Bologna 1-1 Sampdoria
Livorno 3-3 AS Roma
Genoa 5-3 Cagliari
Parma 1-0 Atalanta
Juventus 3-3 Siena
Udinese 3-2 Palermo
Lazio 0-2 Bari
AC Milan 1-0 Chievo Verona


Standings

Serie A weekend wrap

Our boy "Almond Joy" showed Roma some love and talked about the hottest team in all of Serie A right now.

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The Giallorossi dominated Saturday evening, soundly defeating Palermo during their round 24 match, courtesy of one aka Matteo Brighi.

Roma's well-organized attack early-on, met by a laid back Palermo XI content to play fetch, yielded several corners but no damaging finish. As expected Palermo took a crack at it on the counterattack, but were also taking advantage of the space given to Federico Balzaretti to move forward—as Marco Motta seemed willing to concede ground. 8 minutes in, Francesco Totti would link up with Rodrigo Taddei—who was eager to go it alone, missing John Arne Riise open on the far side. The Brazilian’s offering went in low to keeper Salvatore Sirigo, who easily made the save.

The visitors would strike back soon thereafter, as Mattia Cassani worked a clever play with Fabio Simplicio down the right. Cassani’s cross was allowed to roll through by Edison Cavani to Fabrizio Miccoli, but from 12 yards the striker lofted his shot skyward. A 30 yard shot from Giulio Migliaccio ten minutes later forced Julio Sergio to make a respectable save. The strike would be just enough of a threat to introduce some doubt in the Roma defense, spurring the squad into regaining possession.

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Sky's the Limit for Roma

The most exciting part of the UEFA Champions League is underway, The Knockout Stages. We're getting closer to crowning a European champion and if Italian teams continue to play the way they did on Tuesday in the 1st leg of the Round of 16 then the UEFA Champions League trophy will not settle in Lo Stivale.

Inter Milan vs. Manchester United
VS.

The Italian champions vs. The English champions, Mourinho vs. Fergie, it was the most talked about of all the Round of 16 matchups and the match was a disappointing 0-0 draw. The Red Devils were hurting defensively as they were missing Wes Brown, Rafael, Gary Neville, and Nemanja Vidic. Yet, their organization in the back was solid with John O'Shea & Jonny Evans filling in nicely at the San Siro to shutout Inter.

Inter's strike duo of Zlatan Ibrahimovic & Adriano could only muster 4 shots, neither of them troubling Edwin Van Der Sar. With Man U not fielding its top defenders, Inter failed to consistently pressure the Red Devils defense and blew an excellent opportunity at home to put the defending champions in a hole. The Nerazzurri's savior was Brazilian keeper Julio Cesar.

The Inter netminder was undoubtedly the Man Of The Match for the Italian champs and his performance preserved their hopes of advancing. Julio Cesar made big saves on Ryan Giggs & Cristiano Ronaldo that could have put Inter 2 road goals down. Manchester United controlled the match and Inter Milan should be embarrassed not to have gotten a goal or even seriously threatened Van Der Sar. Lucky for them, there is Julio Cesar and an away goals rule.

Arsenal vs. Roma
VS.

This matchup featured two teams fighting for a place in next year's Champions League in their respective leagues. Roma did not enter this match in a goal scoring funk like Arsenal. If Il Giallorossi had finished better they could have a solid 2 or 3 road goal advantage heading to the 2nd leg in Rome.

The entire match was marred by poor finishing with both sides missing opportunities to take command and put themselves in the best position to advance to the next round. It took a 37th minute penalty from Robin Van Persie to end Arsenal's scoring drought and magnify Roma's finishing woes.



Another Brazilian keeper kept the Italians alive, this time it was Doni. His save against Alou Diaby in the 66th minute preserved hope for the Romans. Although it was poor finishing from Arsenal that could be Roma's saving grace.

Overall, Italian sides did not produce the finishing and attacking that they are capable of. Both matches saw clean sheets against Inter & Roma, two squads able to score mulitple goals on anyone. It was a disappointing display of skill for Inter & Roma and both of them will have to be spectacular in order to advance. Serie A fans have to hope now that Juventus can light it up for Italy.

Serie A Disappoints In Tuesday's UCL Round Of 16 Matches

Week 23 of the Serie A was loaded with great drama & theater. Udinese & Juventus both got game winners in 2nd half injury time. Fiorentina got 3 points from Alberto Gilardino in the 89th minute and Chievo & Siena gave their fans heart palpitations with late goals to salvage a point. However, the Team of the Week left no doubt to their quality. The TOW made headlines and/or played matches during the calendar week of February 2 - 8. The winner is:

Associazione Sportiva Roma



I Giallorossi are the hottest team in Italy not named Inter Milan. They are the only unbeaten team in 2009 and continue to move up the table after a big 3-0 win over Genoa. The Romans controlled the game from the beginning and dominated with Cicinho scoring his 1st of the season and Mirko Vucinic scoring the killer with a glorious volley in the 47th minute before Julio Baptista demoralized Genoa with a 2nd half injury strike for the 3-0 victory. In a game they needed to win to get closer to a Champions League spot, Roma was brilliant. They sit 1 point back of 4th place Fiorentina and are the most dangerous team in Italy. Their good form comes at the right time as they have a Round of 16 encounter against a struggling Arsenal side in the Champions League. In a must win game, I Giallorossi were superb. So for Week 23, Associazione Sportiva Roma are the Serie A Team Of The Week.

08-09 Serie A T.O.W. - Giornata 23