Milan hit poor form at crucial stage

Fabio Capello's increasingly impressive Juventus opened a seemingly assuring lead at the top of the Serie A standings following their away victory at Atalanta and Milan's unexpected home setback against back-to-form Bologna last weekend.

An eight-point lead with 17 games to go surely puts Juve in a good position to take the mantle of champions from Milan.

The man behind Juve's march is Capello. The former Milan and Roma coach has transformed Juve into a winning side that concedes few goals and can even do without team captain Alessandro Del Piero. Perhaps, Juventus are no longer a dazzling side or, at least, their football is not as pleasing to the eye as it used to be under Marcello Lippi. Results, however, are clearly on Capello's side.

Juventus have been in commanding form from the word go this season. Apart from taking the Serie A by storm, they have reached the last 16 of the Champions League as well.

Juve have been a step ahead of nearest pursuers Milan mainly in terms of consistency. They have suffered one defeat all season, only dropping 13 points in the process.

Compared to last season, Juve have four points more at this time of the championship but Milan collected ten less.

When Juve and Milan clashed at the Delle Alpi before the Christmas recess, the visitors dominated the proceedings for most of the match. But to Milan's dismay, the game that day finished goalless.

The festive break could not have come at a more opportune time for Capello's outfit as they had ample time to recover from the fatigue of having started the season as early as August due to their Champions League third qualifying round matches.

Milan were off to a flying start when the Serie A resumed on January 6 as they demolished Lecce at home whereas Juventus could only share the spoils with modest Parma.

When Milan seemed to have come to grips with Juve's pace, the Rossoneri started dropping points.

A goalless draw against Palermo and an unimpressive victory against Udinese were the prelude to two consecutive defeats at the hands of unfancied Livorno and Bologna.

Decisive factor

In 2003, January proved to be the turning point of Milan's title success. This time around, the complete opposite is happening as they have lost sight of the leaders. Now only Juve can throw away the scudetto.

A decisive factor in the Serie A run-in should be the two sides' involvement in the Champions League. Prolonged run may prove counter-productive, particularly for Juventus because they do not seem to have the same resources on the bench as Milan.

However, if there is a coach who knows exactly what competing on more than one front really means, then that man is Capello.

While in charge at San Siro, between 1991 and 1996, Milan reached the European Cup final in three successive years (1993, 1994 and 1995). But their achievements on the continent were not attained at the expense of domestic triumphs. On the contrary, during Capello's tenure, Milan won the league in 1992, 1993, 1994 and 1996.

But those were other times. Milan hardly had any opposition in the Serie A. Besides, the championship had 18 and not 20 teams whereas the European Cup was still contested between the champions of every major European league.

Now everything is pointing towards Juve. But one should not rush to hasty conclusions.

Juve have the guile and all requisites to pursue with their bold march, but with 51 points still up for grabs everything can still happen... the Serie A race continues today.

Serie A statistics

3rd straight defeat for Lazio as they surrendered an early lead to go down to in-form Reggina for the second season running. Lazio's Cesar turned from hero to zero. First, he gave his side a head-start and then was sent off for a second bookable offence. Inevitably, Lazio found the going tough and resisted only until 18 minutes from time. After Emiliano Bonazzoli's equaliser, the two sides were heading to their first draw in five years when Gaetano De Rosa struck a crucial winner for the home side with virtually the last kick of the game. Walter Mazzarri's Reggina are now undefeated in their last five outings (three wins and two draws). On Saturday, Pietro Carmignani's Parma bounced back from their setback at Messina by beating Udinese to come out of the relegation zone. Since the turn of the year, Udinese have only collected three points from five matches. Mario Beretta's Chievo also grabbed a vital win to revive their salvation hopes as they beat newcomers Livorno at home. Chievo's first win in six games coincided with Livorno's first upset after two straight wins, which had marked the Serie A debut of newly-appointed coach Roberto Donadoni.

6th win - the first since December 30, 1972 (2-0) - for Inter in 18 Serie A visits to Palermo as they scored a goal in each half to leapfrog Udinese in third place. It was always going to be difficult for unbeaten Inter to conquer Palermo. First, Roberto Mancini's side had only won two of their last 10 away league games and second, only Livorno had previously beaten Palermo in Sicily. But Inter defied the odds and grabbed a vital success that enhanced their prospects of booking a Champions League slot. It is worth mentioning that Palermo have last defeated Inter at home on March 4, 1962 (1-0). Roma climbed to fifth place after they came from two goals down against Messina. It was their first home victory over Messina since October 23, 1963 (2-0 in Serie A).

7 consecutive games without a win have seen Brescia taking a nose-dive in the standings and are now in deep relegation trouble. On Sunday, they were floored by back-to-form Lecce for the second season running and are now second from bottom, level on points with Siena. Brescia have not beaten Lecce at home since March 8, 1998 (3-2 in Serie A). The change in coach - Dino Zoff on for Sergio Buso - did not leave the desired effects on Fiorentina as they slumped to their fourth defeat in their last five league outings. On Sunday, against Cagliari, Fiorentina, who had to do without several key players among whom Fabrizio Miccoli, were non-starters as they failed to make a serious reaction following Mauro Esposito's 11th-minute opener. With this defeat, Fiorentina confirmed their truly dire record at Cagliari where they have won only once in 26 league visits - 1-0 on September 19, 1965 (in Serie A). Cagliari collected 24 of their 29 points from 11 home games.

20 goals - equally shared between home and away teams - were scored on the 21st day. There were four away wins. Foreigners contributed with only four goals. Total number of goals scored so far amount to 514. Despite not figuring among the scorers, Roma's Vincenzo Montella still tops the goal-getters' list with 17 goals (none from penalties). Inter's Christian Vieri scored the only brace of the weekend at Palermo. Lilian Thuram committed the only own goal to help bottom side Atalanta pull one back against Juventus in Bergamo. Alessandro Del Piero (Juventus) and Mancini (Roma) were the only players who came on as substitutes and scored. The Juve talisman was on target thanks to a 79th-minute penalty goal. The other penalty of the day, taken by Brescia's Andrea Caracciolo, hit the post. Meanwhile, Lazio's Cesar was the only player to receive marching orders.

41 years had to pass for Bologna to conquer Milan's San Siro again as a Thomas Loca-telli first-half goal was enough to see Carlo Mazzone's side through. Milan continued to show signs of strain as they suffered their second defeat in a row (following the 0-1 reverse to Livorno). Thanks to this precious win, back-to-form Bologna have extended their positive streak to six games. The defeat cost champions Milan dearly as they have now slipped eight points behind Juventus, who found little difficulty in beating Atalanta in Bergamo for the first time in over three years. Juve have now prolonged their unbeaten run to 11 league games.

Serie A

Playing Today (8.30 p.m.)
Fiorentina vs Palermo (0-0)
Inter vs Atalanta (3-2)
Juventus vs Sampdoria (3-0)
Lazio vs Brescia (2-0)
Lecce vs Roma (2-2)
Livorno vs Reggina (1-2)
Messina vs Milan (2-1)
Siena vs Cagliari (0-2)
Udinese vs Chievo (0-0)

Playing Tomorrow - 8.30 p.m.
Bologna vs Parma (2-1)

Serie B

Catania vs Catanzaro (3-2) today

Playing Tomorrow
AlbinoLeffe vs Pescara (3-1)
Ascoli vs Arezzo (0-0)
Bari vs Cesena (1-1)
Crotone vs Vicenza (2-3)
Genoa vs Torino (1-2)
Piacenza vs Modena (0-1)
Ternana vs Empoli (1-1)
Treviso vs Perugia (0-2)
Triestina vs Salernitana (3-3)
Verona vs Venezia (2-3)