Lazio finding the going tough

Sunday evening's showdown in Rome brought Lazio and Milan face-to-face. These two sides had started the season in a rather erratic way. So, it was a perfect occasion for both teams, particularly hosts Lazio, to recover some lost pride and ground in the league standings.

Eventually, this match turned out to be the most one-sided affair of the weekend programme, with Milan cruising to a comprehensive 5-1 victory to add to Lazio's woes.

Lazio were not that bad in the first half on Sunday but the minute the European champions clicked into gear to re-establish their lead just before the half-time whistle, it was all over for Delio Rossi's men.

Milan's first victory in the league, after four draws and a defeat, coincided with Lazio's second upset of the term.

So far, the Rome outfit collected only seven points (one win and four draws)... already three fewer than a year ago.

But why did Lazio go silent this season after such a fantastic 2006/07 campaign which saw them finishing third despite not spending big?

Strangely, their participation in the Champions League does not seem to be helping matters because, to Rossi's own admittance, the Biancocelesti do not possess enough talent and strength-in-depth to compete in the Serie A and Europe.

Even though teams coached by Rossi are usually slow-starters in every season, the way Lazio are playing now suggests that their woes are more deep-rooted than that.

It is true that some key players are still far from their best form. However, it is equally true that Rossi cannot rely on reserves of quality and this will continue to hinder Lazio's progress in the Serie A presumably up to December (when the Champions League group stage is over).

If Lazio want to reach the knock-out stages of the Champions League, they have no other alternative but to dedicate most of their energies on the European front but at the expense of their Serie A campaign.

Rossi was clear in his comments after Sunday's debacle and stated that his players are not used to such demanding fixtures over a short span of time.

In midweek, Lazio played the game of their life as they gave Real Madrid a good run for their money and shared the spoils in a pulsating 2-2 draw at the Olimpico.

However, on Sunday, the same team and players were no match to a classy Milan side that eased their way to a resounding success. Lazio owe part of that heavy setback to their failure to play consistently well throughout.

Group C looks balanced in the eyes of the neutral fans. Apart from Real, who are the clear favourites to top the group, the other sides - Lazio, Werder Bremen and Olym-piakos - are more or less on the same level playing field.

Many think that Lazio are pinning their hopes on making it to next February's knock-out stages. That would guarantee more revenue to the club .

It will be very risky if this strategy is adopted as the potential financial benefits are only bound to be short-term.

Lazio are not strong enough to go all the way in Europe and when they are eventually ousted from the Champions League it might be too late for them to get back in the reckoning in the Serie A.

In other words, Lazio could reach their objective in Europe but come May 2008 they might find themselves out of contention at home... even for a modest place in the UEFA Cup.

Rossi, a man renowned for his ability to bring the best out of his players, has to motivate his players better if his team is to avoid similar embarrassing situations like that of last Sunday. He has to look back and see that the side recaptures the same high levels of 2006/07.

Serie A statistics

1st win for Roma after successive draws with Juventus and Fiorentina and a heavy defeat to Inter at home. On Sunday, Roma bounced back from their poor results of late by beating Parma for the third year running. An early Francesco Totti goal paved the way for a resounding Roma success as Parma succumbed to their second consecutive defeat, following the 1-2 reverse against Udinese. For the record, the most recent of three draws in 18 meetings between Parma and Roma dates back to December 13, 1998 (1-1). As happened last season, Torino left it late to beat Sampdoria at home. This was Torino's first success of the term after four straight draws and two defeats. Samp, who were ousted from the UEFA Cup last week, have last conquered Turin on October 24, 1993 (3-2). Milan returned to winning ways after a barren run of four draws and a defeat by crushing inconsistent Lazio 5-1 at the Olympic Stadium. Lazio have not beaten Milan at home since February 8, 1998 (2-1).

3rd win in a row for Genoa as the Serie A newcomers moved up to fifth place after a deserved 2-0 home victory over Cagliari. Genoa beat the Sardinians for only the second time - the first since October 17, 1982 (3-0) - in 10 home encounters. Genoa are undefeated in their last six outings but Cagliari have suffered three setbacks in their last four games. Luigi Del Neri's Atalanta failed to take any of the numerous scoring chances, including a late penalty, that came their way as they were held to a goalless draw by Udinese. This was the 11th draw - the first without goals since February 16, 2003 - between these two sides in 25 meetings in Bergamo. Atalanta have not beaten Udinese at home since November 17, 1996 (1-0).

4th win for Siena in as many home meetings with Empoli as the hosts put an end to their winless start to the season by cruising to a convincing 3-0 success over Empoli. Empoli, coming from a premature exit from the UEFA Cup, resisted until the 67th minute. From then onwards, Siena never looked back and made the result even more emphatic to enable coach Andrea Mandorlini to record his first ever win on a Serie A bench. Catania continued to show signs of improvement as they edged past Livorno thanks to a solitary Gennaro Sardo goal in the first half. This was Catania's second win in two home clashes with Livorno.

5 players - Balleri (Livorno), Biava (Palermo), Corradi (Parma), Adani (Empoli) and Volpi (Sampdoria) - received their marching orders. Four penalties were taken last weekend. Mutu hit a last-gasp equaliser for Fiorentina. Kaka scored one of his two goals against Lazio from the spot as Maccarone kept his cool and opened the score for Siena. However, Atalanta's Zampagna saw his penalty hit the post.

5th straight home win for leaders Inter against Napoli as they chalked up their third successive league success. Inter-Napoli have last shared the spoils at the San Siro on February 20, 1994 (0-0). Moreover, Napoli's most recent of seven wins in 62 visits to Milan dates back to December 11, 1994 (2-0). Reggina were minutes away from an unprecedented win in Palermo after taking the lead through Nicola Amoruso in stoppage time. However, when the game restarted, Palermo hit back immediately to deny relegation-threatened Reggina from what would have been their first win of the term.

9 years have passed since Fiorentina's latest of 25 wins in 69 home meetings with Juventus. On Sunday, Juve played perhaps their best game so far this season. A Vincenzo Iaquinta first-half goal was the head start Juve were aspiring for. But there was always the risk for them to forfeit the lead as Fiorentina hit back in attack. Eventually, Adrian Mutu struck from the penalty spot late in the game to salvage a draw for Cesare Prandelli's Fiorentina. Juventus and Inter possess the most prolific attack with 16 goals each. Fourth-placed Fiorentina have one point more than they had after seven matches last season.

23 goals were scored on the seventh day: 12 coming from the hosts and the remaining 11 from the visitors, who managed only two victories. Foreigners contributed with eight goals while there were nine first-half goals. Total number of goals scored so far is 178. Neither own goals nor hat-tricks were recorded. Four players - Totti (Roma), Gilardino, Kaka (both Milan) and Cruz (Inter) - scored a brace each. There were three players, Sosa (Napoli), Di Vaio (Genoa) and Locatelli (Siena), who came on as substitutes and scored. Despite not being on the scoresheet, Trezeguet (Juventus) and Ibrahimovic (Inter) still lead the scorers' list with seven goals each. The two are closely followed by Kaka and Totti - both on the six-goal mark.