Race hots up for 4th place

The 2007/08 Serie A season is turning out to be among the best we've had in recent years.

With seven matches to go, the title issue is far from resolved and at the wrong end of the standings nine teams are still in danger of being dumped to Serie B next May.

But interest is not only reserved to the title and relegation issues only as four teams - Fiorentina, Udinese, Milan and Sampdoria - are now engaged in a league of their own to make a top-four finish.

With third-placed Juventus, who have a game in hand, enjoying an eight-point cushion over fifth-placed Udinese, the Turin giants are not likely to miss out on a Champions League berth at the end of the season as Inter and Roma are almost sure of their place in UEFA's top competition for clubs. That leaves one berth up for grabs.

After an unexpected exit from the Champions League at the second round of the KO stage, outgoing European Cup holders Milan were touted by many as the number one favourites to finish fourth.

However, successive home upsets to Sampdoria and Atalanta have dented their chances by no small measure as Fiorentina somehow retained their fourth place.

Carlo Ancelotti's Milan are joint-sixth at present, level on points with Sampdoria and one behind the revitalised Udinese. Cesare Prandelli's Fiorentina are three points better off than Udinese.

Milan have a negative home record this season. In the end, their poor showing at the San Siro could prove to be their downfall.

A side comprising various experienced and world-class players such as Milan, cannot afford to win only four times at home and lose four other games in 15 home outings.

In their remaining home fixtures - vs Cagliari, Reggina, Inter and Udinese - the Rossoneri have to lift their game and garner as many points as possible to entertain hopes of finishing ahead of Fiorentina in the final standings.

Failing to make home soil count is a psychological barrier, which Milan, who last won the scudetto in 2004, still have to shrug off this season.

Considering that Milan's last three away fixtures are at Juventus, Livorno and Napoli, one is led to conclude that the straight for home is anything but plain-sailing for them.

If Milan tend to perform better away from home, Fiorentina are exactly the opposite. They have been meticulously building the rudiments of their assault on the fourth spot precisely on home form.

Like Milan, Fiorentina have to play four times at home... against Reggina, Palermo, Sampdoria and Parma.

The head-to-head encounter with Sampdoria could be decisive but even the other three are anything but easy against opponents who are all desperate for points to ensure Serie A survival.

Fiorentina's away fixtures are not easy either as they still have to travel to Inter, Cagliari and Torino.

Udinese and Sampdoria, along with Cagliari, are perhaps the most in-form sides at the moment. Udinese and Sampdoria, who are coming from identical six-match positive streaks (four wins and two draws), look to have a taller task ahead of them.

Udinese still have to play Roma, Catania and Cagliari at home and travel to Siena, Sampdoria, Empoli and Milan. Sampdoria have Livorno, Udinese, Roma and Juventus at home and visits to Reggina, Fiorentina and Palermo.

It is anyone's guess who will finish fourth this season. All contenders have a tough task lying ahead of them and this will make the run-in even more interesting.

Milan have most at stake. Failing to finish among the top four will be a catastrophe for them from different aspects of the game, particularly the financial point-of-view.

Fiorentina, Udinese and Sampdoria are less quoted than Milan but they are equally up to the job.

Serie A statistics

1 player - Milan's Alessandro Nesta - received marching orders last weekend. In Milan-Atalanta, the home team were awarded a penalty deep into stoppage time but Andrea Pirlo saw his spot-kick saved by Atalanta keeper Ferdinando Coppola. It was Milan's second penalty miss of the season. Inter have benefited most from penalties so far as they scored all nine they had in favour. Fiorentina only had one penalty against. Roma, four points adrift of leaders Inter, have the same number of points they had last season at this same stage. Udinese improved their tally by a remarkable 11 points and lowly Empoli collected a staggering 22 points less.

2nd win - the first since February 28, 1999 (1-0) - for Sampdoria in eight visits to Empoli's Carlo Castellani stadium. It was a must-win game for both sides but the visitors made sure of all three points thanks to two goals inside the opening 16 minutes. All Empoli have to show from their last seven outings is a goalless draw at home against Juventus. By contrast, Walter Mazzarri's Sampdoria are unbeaten in their last six games.

3 points ahead of Udinese and four better off than Milan and Sampdoria represent Fiorentina's lead in the run-in for the fourth place in the Serie A standings. On Sunday, Fiorentina were soundly beaten by in-form Udinese 3-1 in the northeast. In so doing, Udinese extended their positive run to six games. This was Fiorentina's third straight away defeat. Over six years have now passed since their most recent of 10 wins in 32 visits to Udine. Milan suffered their fourth home defeat of the term as they went down to Atalanta 1-2. The victory was Atalanta's first win in Milan since March 17, 1991 (1-0).

4 points continue to separate long-time leaders and champions Inter from second-placed Roma after the results of the past weekend. Roma's dire record in Sardinia met no end as they could not go beyond a 1-1 draw. This result left Roma with no wins at the Sant'Elia stadium since October 29, 1995 (2-0). Inter figured in a similar 1-1 draw away at Lazio. This was the third drawn result between these two sides in their last four meetings in Rome. Lazio and Inter will meet again later on this month in the Coppa Italia semi-final.

6 winless games in a row (two draws and four straight defeats) have seen crisis-hit Palermo taking a nose-dive in the standings and now they lie just seven points above the relegation zone. On Sunday, the misfiring Sicilians were floored by a late Marek Hamsik goal to concede their first defeat in Naples since December 16, 1962 (3-1). Palermo's only win in 15 visits to the San Paolo 'hot cauldron' dates back to December 2, 1951 (2-1). Genoa practically made sure of their place in Serie A thanks to a comfortable 2-0 home win over Reggina. This was the first ever meeting between these two sides in the top flight.

19 goals were scored on the 31st day: 10 coming from the hosts and the remaining nine from the visitors. Total number of goals scored so far amount to 773. Two players - David Di Michele (Torino) and Christian Vieri (Fiorentina) - came on as substitutes and scored. Meanwhile, two own goals were committed last week - Matteo Ferrari (Roma), in favour of Cagliari, and Lino Marzoratti (Empoli), in favour of Sampdoria. Marco Borriello, of Genoa, leads the scorers' list with 18 goals (five from penalties).

42 years had to pass for Torino to return to winning ways away at Catania. In a vital end-to-end clash, the Maroons had to come from behind to record a precious win that lifted them to five points above the drop zone. This was Torino's first win after three straight defeats. For the record, Catania's most recent of four wins in 11 home meetings with Torino dates back to January 17, 1971 (1-0). In another basement clash, Livorno and Siena shared the spoils in the only goalless draw of the day. This was the third successive draw between these two Tuscany sides. In the only other Serie A meeting between them, Siena emerged 6-3 winners on May 8, 2005.