Italian Soccer - Serie A 2004/05... eight games to go

For months on end, the title race has been a two-horse tussle between Milan and Juventus.

Behind them, Inter, Udinese, Sampdoria and Palermo are involved in an intriguing scrap for the remaining two Champions League berths. This means that the scudetto and two of Italy's four representatives in next season's Champions League - Juve and Milan are all but assured of automatic qualification - have still to be decided.

The situation is also very complex at the wrong end of the table where no fewer than seven teams are entangled in the relegation mire.

Up to a couple of months ago, bottom-of-the-class Atalanta were already considered down and out and therefore, the main question was which two teams would join them in Serie B. But, things have changed drastically as an impressive three-match winning run has put Atalanta back in business.

They may still be roaming in the bottom places of the table but they are now just four points away from safety.

Delio Rossi's side have the same number of points as Brescia, a team that like Chievo and Reggina, had started the season on a high only to fade away as the competition moved on.

At this stage of the campaign, Atalanta, thriving on the great team spirit new coach Rossi has fostered among his players, look firm favourites to leapfrog their direct rivals and move out of troubled waters. Moreover, Atalanta are playing really well, collecting 13 points from their last six matches.

By stark contrast, Atalanta's direct rivals have performed rather poorly over a comparable period. At a time when Atalanta were going from strength to strength, Chievo were gliding down the standings with the speed of a hurricane.

Mario Beretta's side have lost all their last five away outings. And their upcoming two away fixtures, vs Milan and Palermo, will not likely help Chievo restore lost pride on their travels either.

They are currently four points ahead of Atalanta but they have to improve considerably if they are to hold on to their lead. Chievo take on Parma next weekend in a game that the visitors seem to have the momentum to win.

Brescia-Atalanta represents a vital end-to-end clash which neither team can afford to lose. Despite the away factor, Atalanta start favourites to win the basement clash.

In their last six outings, Brescia have gained one win, one draw and four defeats.

As already stated, in-form Atalanta grabbed nine points more from the last six games. Lombardians Brescia also have the worst home record - nine defeats.

Brescia and Chievo seem the most likely candidates for relegation.

Pietro Carmignani's Parma, who have a UEFA Cup semi-final within their reach, have more quality in their squad than their direct rivals.

Their form has been erratic for most of the season but lately, they have become a bit more consistent.

Parma have a series of difficult fixtures ahead of them. They still have to play away against the two title contenders besides other matches against Sampdoria and Roma.

Though Parma's way to salvation may look complicated, the team looks to have all it takes to avoid relegation.

Fiorentina, like Parma, have several top-notch players but their campaign has been hampered by a suspect defence.

The fact that the Viola have gone 14 successive games without keeping a clean sheet amply testifies to their problems at the back.

Although Fiorentina have difficult games coming up, they have three direct clashes (vs Chievo, Atalanta and Brescia) in which they can make their superior quality and experience count.

Even Luigi De Canio's Siena have a number of difficult fixtures awaiting them. Since De Canio has taken the reigns from Gigi Simoni, Siena have become a tough side to beat.

The next four fixtures against Milan, Roma, Udinese and Inter seem prohibitive for third-from-bottom Siena. But everything is possible, particularly in the direct encounters against Chievo, Parma and Atalanta in their last three games.

Complacent Reggina

Reggina should have made sure of survival a long time ago. A very bright start to the season seems to have made the Reggina players complacent rather than hungry for success.

The southerners' bleak run of late - six defeats in their last seven outings (they have lost their last four matches) - have pushed Reggina back in deep relegation trouble.

Their next three games, against Roma, Atalanta and Brescia, will surely shed more light on Reggina's future. When it comes to such tight situations, anything can happen.

Only three years ago, Alberto Malesani's Verona were eighth in the standings at the end of the first round but a series of setbacks in the second round condemned them to relegation.

The battle against relegation continues next weekend.

Serie A statistics

0 draws were recorded in 16 league encounters between Lazio and Livorno. Last weekend, the team from the capital rose to the occasion by overcoming Livorno for the first time in almost 33 years. The visitors, whose last win in the capital dates back to March 11, 1968 (2-0 in Serie B), were a far cry from the side that had remained unbeaten in their previous four outings (one win and three draws). And the final 3-1 score underlines Lazio's dominance. They are unbeaten at home since going down to Sampdoria (1-2) on January 23. For the third time in five league clashes, Lecce and Siena shared the spoils, 2-2. This result left Lecce still searching for their first home win against Siena since October 22, 1995 (3-1 in Serie C1) whereas Siena are still winless in their league visits to the Via del Mare Stadium. Palermo edged closer to the fourth place by beating Messina 2-1 in a pulsating Sicilian derby. Messina have not beaten Palermo at their Renzo Barbera Stadium since December 10, 2000 (2-1 in Serie C1).

1st positive result for Roma after a barren run of four successive defeats. Despite missing several key players, including captain Francesco Totti, Roma held on to a boosting 3-3 away draw against Udinese for the first time in over three years. This was Udinese's first draw after two wins in a row. Like Udinese, fifth-placed Sampdoria dropped two precious points against a Cagliari side that had to do without Gianfranco Zola. For the interest of statistics, it is worth mentioning that this was the first drawn result between these two sides since March 2001 (1-1 in Serie B). Also, Cagliari's only home defeat this season came on October 17, against high-flying Milan 0-1. Relegation-threatened Brescia halted Milan's bold march of eight straight wins by hitting a late equaliser at the San Siro. This was Brescia's first positive result after two defeats on the trot.

3rd straight win for buoyant Atalanta who scored two goals inside the opening 15 minutes and one after the break to condemn struggling Chievo to their fifth consecutive away defeat. Like Milan, joint-leaders Juventus, had their run of four successive wins interrupted by relegation-threatened Fiorentina at the Artemio Franchi Stadium. The Viola have now gone three games without recording a win (two draws and a defeat).

6th defeat - the fourth in a row - for crisis-hit Reggina in their last seven league outings. On Sunday, the southerners were floored by UEFA Cup hopefuls Parma and are now back in deep relegation trouble. Parma were simply the better team on the day and chalked up their second away win of the term - their first since beating Siena on January 9. Also, this was Parma's first win in Reggio Calabria since December 11, 1988 (1-0 in Serie B). Inter prolonged their positive league run to four games (three wins and one draw) by beating in-form Bologna by a solitary Julio Cruz goal in the fourth minute. This result condemned Carlo Mazzone's Bologna to their first home defeat since going down to Juventus on December 12 and was also their first upset after a positive series of one win and three draws.

33 goals were scored on the 30th day: 18 coming from the hosts and the remaining 15 from the visitors. Foreigners contributed with 13 goals while there were 17 first-half goals. Total number of goals scored so for amount to 753. Vincenzo Montella consolidated his leadership in the goalscorers' list by scoring one of Roma's three goals against Udinese. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Juventus) and Domenico Morfeo (Parma) grabbed a brace each. Neither hat-tricks nor own goals were recorded. Rodrigo Taddei (Siena) and Alex Konan (Lecce) were the only substitutes to find the net. Three players - Eugenio Corini (Palermo), Salvatore Aronica (Messina) and Mark Bresciano (Parma) - received marching orders. Five penalties were awarded by referees, of which one went off target. Michele Marcolini gave Atalanta a headstart by converting a sixth-minute penalty. Later on in the same match, Chievo had the possibility to pull one back but captain Lorenzo D'Anna shot wide from the spot. Brazilian midfielder Cesar doubled Lazio's lead from a penalty against Livorno on the stroke of half-time. After the break, skipper Igor Protti, an ex-Lazio striker, made Livorno's defeat more respectable. Mozart also made Reggina's defeat against Parma less sour by scoring from the 11 metres.