Milan dilemma

New season... same syndrome.

Although the 2007/08 campaign is still in its infancy, it appears that Milan still have to strike a balance between excelling in Europe and maintaining consistency in the Serie A not to risk having to bow out from the scudetto race prematurely.

Milan are still unbeaten after four matches in the league but they have already slipped four points adrift of early pace-setters Roma.

On the continent, Carlo Ancelotti's side continued where they had left off last May and in Montecarlo in August they overcame La Liga's Sevilla to lift their fifth European Super Cup.

On that occasion, Milan were not particularly inspiring in the first half as the Spaniards took an early lead. However, the Rossoneri upped their game after the break and cruised to a convincing 3-1 victory.

Against Sevilla, Milan showed signs of improvement in the second half but the same cannot be said of their performances in their opening league fixtures in Serie A.

On the opening day, Milan found little, if any, resistance from newcomers Genoa to collect all points at stake at the Luigi Ferraris Stadium.

That result was misleading though as Carlo Ancelotti's men then failed to win any of their next three fixtures, including seemingly easy encounters against struggling Siena and Parma.

One could turn a blind eye to the lacklustre showing against Fiorentina on the second day as this fixture was held barely three days after Milan's triumph against Sevilla.

Against Siena, on the third day, Ancelotti preferred to rest some key players who were on international duty the week before. In this game, Milan, shorn of Andrea Pirlo and Kaka, never got going as they laboured to salvage a point with a last-gasp goal against a modest side that was coming from two successive defeats.

The Benfica game followed at the San Siro. And, unsurprisingly, Milan were completely transformed with respect to their previous showings in the Serie A as they shifted to 'Euro Mode' again on their way to beat the Portuguese giants 2-1.

But against Parma - a side comprising several young players and led by a relatively inexperienced coach in Mimmo Di Carlo - Milan plunged to their usual dismal league form once again.

They did not play badly but Milan were still far from their best. Their hunger and desire to win this game was somehow less than the passion they had shown against Sevilla and Benfica.

Di Carlo's tactical ploy, to blot Pirlo and Kaka out of the game, paid rich dividends as Milan were found wanting in attack.

In his aftermatch comments, Ancelotti was quick to dismiss suggestions that Milan reserve their best only for Europe. However, there is ample proof from the opening phase of the campaign that suggests Milan's Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde syndrome has hit again.

Surely, it is not a bad thing for any team to focus on the Champions League... far from it. But it would be a serious mistake for a side like Milan to dedicate most of their energies on the European competition at such an early stage of the season.

The title race is yet to start and the front-runners are still within Milan's reach, at least up to now.

It is not the first time that Ancelotti was quoted as saying that for him, it is somewhat harder to prepare and motivate his players to take on struggling sides like Siena and Parma rather than to face the big guns.

It is a known fact that Milan, as a club policy, have always tended to put a preference on doing well, and possibly win, the Champions League rather than the Serie A championship. The European Cup, they argue, has more significance internationally than winning a domestic league title.

The Champions League is more lucrative. But what happens if Milan fail to make the latter stages of the competition and by that time they are also out of the running in the Serie A?

The European champions are in a dilemma... they have to make priorities now before it is too late.

Serie A statistics

1st defeat of the term for Lazio as the Biancocelesti were undone by a Riccardo Zampagna last-gasp goal to go down at Atalanta for the first time in many a moon. Luigi Del Neri's side confirmed they are one of the most refreshing sides. They collected eight points from their first four outings after playing some entertaining football alongside Roma and Fiorentina. These three teams, together with Inter, Milan and Torino, are still unbeaten.

2 points less for Inter this season with respect to 12 months ago. On Sunday, they had to come from behind twice to salvage a draw against lowly Livorno. Once again, Inter showed that they are still far from their best. The players' physical condition is still precarious and coach Roberto Mancini has to do without a number of key players. Cesare Prandelli's Fiorentina did well to score an early goal, through Adrian Mutu, and beat Catania 1-0. It was Fiorentina's fourth win in their last five visits to Catania.

3rd 1-1 draw in a row for Milan. After Fiorentina and Siena, it was Parma's turn to dent Milan's title aspirations. Parma's most recent of two victories at the San Siro dates back to December 22, 1996 (1-0). At the time, current Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti was in charge at Parma. Roma-Juventus shared the spoils in an exciting match full of goalmouth action. Although the hosts dominated for long stretches, Juve never threw in the towel and eventually hit a late equaliser to interrupt Roma's 100 per cent winning record this season. Incidentally, the two Juve goals on Sunday were the first conceded by Roma this season. Roma have not beaten Juve at home for over three years.

4th draw in as many outings for Torino this season as the Maroons forfeited an early lead to share the spoils with Siena for the first time in two home encounters. Walter Novellino's men played their worst game so far as they did not make home advantage count. These two teams, together with Livorno, Empoli, Reggina, Catania, Genoa, Parma and Lazio, are still searching for their first win of the term. Udinese consolidated their position in the standings courtesy of a comprehensive 2-0 home win over Reggina. This was Udinese's fifth success - the first since December 7, 2003 (1-0) - in eight home meetings with the southerners.

5 penalties were awarded by referees last weekend. In Livorno-Inter, Massimo Loviso and Zlatan Ibrahimovic converted one each in the second half in a nail-biting 2-2 draw in Tuscany. Alessandro Del Piero could have grabbed an early second-half equaliser for a makeshift Juventus side against leaders Roma... only for the experienced Juve schemer to shoot over the bar. Elsewhere, Massimo Maccarone missed twice from the spot as Torino's Matteo Sereni was in unbeatable mood in goal. Sereni's second save was partial as from the rebound ex-Middlesbrough forward Maccarone made no mistake to grab a deserved equaliser for his side. Meanwhile, three players - Douglas Maicon (Inter), Paul Codrea (Siena) and David Baiocco (Catania) - were sent off.

12 years had to pass for the Genoa derby to be contested again in the top flight. In a slow-burning encounter at the Luigi Ferraris Stadium, Samp-Genoa opted for a cautious approach as they both looked to avoid defeat than venture forward in search of goals. For the record, a draw between these two sides had been missing since April 10, 1994 (1-1). To find Genoa's latest success in a derby hosted by their city neighbours, one has to go back to November 25, 1990 (2-1). Empoli-Napoli shared the points in the other goalless draw of the day. Unlike Samp and Genoa, both teams did their utmost to win. Empoli and Napoli had their moments in what turned out to be a balanced encounter. This was the third goalless draw between these two sides in four meetings in Tuscany. The other encounter was an Empoli triumph in February 1998 (5-0).

19 goals were scored on the fourth day: 10 coming from the hosts and the remaining nine from the visitors. Foreigners contributed five goals while there were 11 first-half goals. Total number of goals scored so far amount to 99. Three players, namely, Antonio Di Natale (Udinese), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Inter) and Francesco Totti (Roma), grabbed a brace each. Lazio's utility player Massimo Mutarelli was the only one who came on as a substitute and scored. Juve's French striker David Trezeguet still leads the goalscorers' list with five goals (none from penalties). Ibrahimovic and last season's top-scorer Totti are both on the four-goal mark.