A drastic change in fortunes

Palermo, Catania and, to a lesser extent, Messina were among the main protagonists of this season's Serie A, up to the end of the first round, that is.

But dark clouds began to gather over these three Sicilian clubs as soon as the second round got underway in January. Now, with only few a games left before the end of the Serie A trek, their hopes of reaching their pre-season targets are very remote.

Palermo chief Maurizio Zamparini left no stone unturned in his efforts to strengthen the squad last summer. With the demise of Juventus and the hefty penalties inflicted on Milan and Fiorentina, Palermo were regarded as favourites for a top-four finish.

Together with Inter and Roma, the Sicilians looked strong enough to make the grade.

The much-awaited return of coach Francesco Guidolin and a number of quality signings served to raise the expectations of the Palermo fans as did the team's fine start to the season.

Palermo's home match against Inter on the 13th day of the season was then considered a direct clash between two title contenders.

But, on what turned out to be a disappointing November night, Palermo came crashing down to earth. A 0-4 defeat to Roma on the 16th day confirmed Palermo's limitations as Guidolin's men came out of these two direct clashes bruised and beaten.

Notwithstanding these setbacks, a top-four finish seemed well within Palermo's grasp until the end of the first round.

Things started to go wrong for Palermo in the second round as the Sicilians suddenly found themselves dropping points against modest opposition. To make matters worse for Palermo, the likes of Lazio, Milan, Empoli and Fiorentina began to show their mettle with a series of strong performances and positive results.

As things stand at the moment, Palermo are still fourth, just one point above Milan but the latter have a seemingly easy away fixture against bottom side Ascoli in hand.

The indications are that Milan will leapfrog Palermo in fourth place between now and the end of the season.

Dressing-room rifts and the cold relationship between Guidolin and some of Palermo's best players (particularly Andrea Caracciolo and David Di Michele) is making life even more difficult for the Sicilians.

On Monday, Guidolin received a vote of confidence from Zamparini, albeit the former Atalanta and Udinese mentor's second stint in Sicily is likely to come to an end once the season is over.

Palermo are without a win in nine games (six draws and three defeats). Needless to say that Palermo need to improve by leaps and bounds if they are to hold on to fourth spot.

For some time this season, Catania were seen as having an outside chance to book a Champions League berth. Pasquale Marino's side continued where they had left off last term in the Serie B as they took the Serie A by storm.

Catania were one of the most effective teams in the first round. They played simple football but still got outstanding results that confounded the pundits.

Fast forward a few months and Catania seriously risk going back to where they came from. Suffice to say that all Catania have to show from their last 13 outings are three draws.

Coming from four consecutive defeats, Catania are only seven points above third-from-bottom Parma, with the latter having a home fixture against Fiorentina in hand. Next Sunday's direct end-to-end clash against Parma at the Tardini Stadium will surely shed more light on which of these two teams is likely to suffer the drop.

Relegation spectre

Like their Sicilian rivals, Messina have also suffered a notable dip in their performances and results over the past few months. At present, Messina are second from bottom and two points away from safety.

Messina have been rather poor lately, losing vital direct encounters vs Torino (0-3) and Cagliari (0-2). The team did not reap the desired dividends from the change of coach after Alberto Cavasin took over from Bruno Giordano.

Their failure to turn their fortunes around prompted the Messina leadership to re-appoint Giordano in the hope that he will lead the team out of troubled waters.

Last season, Messina were technically relegated to the Serie B but moved back into the top flight after the demotion of Juventus following the match-fixing scandal. This season, Messina are unlikely to get another bite at the cherry if they fail to get out of the relegation zone.

It is rather curious how three Sicilian clubs have similarly gone from one extreme to the other in just a few months.

Whatever the reasons behind their second-round downfall, Palermo, Catania and Messina must stand up and be counted now before it is too late.

Serie A statistics

1st win for Sampdoria after a barren run of one defeat and three consecutive draws as the Blucerchiati edged Torino 1-0 at their Luigi Ferraris Stadium. This was Torino's first upset after two straight wins and a draw. The Granata have a poor record in Genoa, where they have prevailed only six times in 43 Serie A visits. Torino's most recent positive result in Marassi dates back to November 1994 (1-1) and even worse, their latest win there came on March 7, 1993 (1-0). Alberto Malesani's Udinese threw away a 2-0 lead in Tuscany to share the spoils with Siena for the first time in four Serie A visits.

4th straight defeat for Catania as the Sicilians went down to a 2-0 defeat to Roma on the neutral ground of Lecce. Roma scored a goal in each half through Francesco Tavano and Mirko Vucinic. This was only Roma's second victory - the first since December 20, 1970 (2-1) - in 10 Serie A visits to Catania. Roma are undefeated in their last seven league outings (three wins and four draws). On their part, Catania have no wins to show from their last 13 outings. Leaders Inter could not go beyond a goalless draw against Reggina and thus, had their 20-point lead reduced to 18.

6 players - Lorenzo D'Anna, Luciano (both Chievo), Vincent Candela (Messina), Giuseppe Biava (Palermo), Rodriguez Cesar (Livorno) and Roberto Muzzi (Torino) - were sent off by referees last weekend. Meanwhile, half of the four penalties awarded by referees last weekend were not converted. Cristiano Doni gave Atalanta a precious lead from the spot in the 55th minute. Later on in the same game, Chievo had a golden opportunity to level terms as they were awarded a penalty two minutes from time. However, Victor Obinna saw his feeble effort well blocked by Atalanta goalkeeper Alex Calderoni. David Suazo grabbed Cagliari's equaliser against Palermo from the spot. Elsewhere, Romanian international Adrian Mutu's miss in the 21st minute did not affect the outcome of the game as Fiorentina routed Ascoli 4-0.

8 home wins in a row have kept Milan in contention for the remaining Champions League berth. In a direct clash with fellow challengers Empoli at the San Siro Stadium, the Rossoneri had the upperhand in a convincing 3-1 success that confirmed their outstanding home record against the Tuscany club. Saturday's victory was Milan's seventh in eight home encounters with Empoli. The latter have only one win to show - dating back to April 19, 2003 (1-0). Carlo Ancelotti's team are now only one point adrift of fourth-placed Palermo (but Milan have an away fixture, against Ascoli, in hand). Against Cagliari at home, Palermo continued to fall further off the pace as they were defeated 3-1.

8th straight win for the team of the moment - Lazio. On Saturday, Delio Rossi's side were far off their best but still managed to edge relegation-threatened Messina by a solitary Guglielmo Stendardo goal. With this win, Lazio have not only consolidated third place but have also remained in the hunt for the runners-up spot, currently occupied by neighbours Roma with whom they clash on April 29. Messina confirmed their truly dire record in the capital where they have never prevailed in five Serie A visits. Also, their only positive result to date is a goalless draw on March 15, 1964. Parma leapfrogged Messina in third-from-bottom place thanks to a hard-fought 1-0 win against Livorno.

22 goals were scored on the 31st day: 14 coming from the hosts and the remaining eight from the visitors, who managed only two wins. Foreigners contributed with seven goals while there were 11 first-half goals. Total number of goals scored so far amount to 751. Neither own goals nor hat-tricks were recorded. David Suazo notched the only double of the weekend as Cagliari shocked Palermo in their Renzo Barbera Stadium. Siena duo Massimo Maccarone and Paolo Negro came off the substitutes' bench and scored a goal each to help their side salvage a precious home draw against Udinese. Last season's top-marksman Luca Toni scored one of Fiorentina's four goals against Ascoli. Toni's 16th goal of the term has taken him within two goals of current top-scorer Francesco Totti who has hit 18 goals so far (four from penalties).