With seven games to go, the race for the scudetto looks to be heading Inter's way after Jose Mourinho's team increased their lead at the top to 10 points despite throwing away a two-goal advantage against Palermo last weekend.

Inter had to settle for a two-all draw at the San Siro but later in the day, second-placed Juve went down 3-2 to high-flying Genoa.

Juve are now looking anxiously over their shoulders as Milan have closed the gap to two points after beating Chievo away 1-0.

With Inter, Juventus and Milan set to book three of the four Champions League berths, the focus shifts to the tussle for the remaining place.

Genoa, Fiorentina and Roma are the three sides fighting for qualification to the Champions League.

Many consider Genoa to be the weakest and least experienced of the trio but they are in great form and in pole position to play in Europe's elite competition for clubs next season.

The nine-time Italian champions are fourth with 57 points, two ahead of Fiorentina and eight clear of misfiring Roma.

Genoa's task appears to be more straightforward than that of their rivals as they play four of their remaining seven matches at their Luigi Ferraris Stadium.

Fiorentina and Roma still have to face each other in Tuscany on the 33rd day of the league.

Besides, Roma will travel to Milan on the penultimate day. Their last four home fixtures are against Lecce, Chievo, Catania and Torino whereas they face a tricky away fixture at Cagliari in between their two away matches in Florence and Milan.

Fiorentina have three winnable away fixtures coming up - against Udinese, Catania and Lecce.

Besides Roma, the Viola will also play hosts to Torino, Sampdoria and Milan.

In recent weeks, Genoa have had to do without their chief goal-getter, Argentine Diego Milito (16 goals in 24 matches), but were still good enough to beat Reggina (1-0) and Juventus (3-2) to hang on to fourth place.

Genoa have been playing consistently well. Their positive campaign is also the result of smart spending by club president Enrico Preziosi.

Matteo Ferrari was a free agent last summer after leaving Roma and Brazilian Thiago Motta was considered past his best when Atletico Madrid released him last year.

Raffaele Palladino and Domenico Criscito also joined Genoa after being offloaded by Juventus.

Up to a year ago, another Genoa signing, Salvatore Bocchetti, who recently earned a call-up to Italy's national squad, was playing for Frosinone in the Serie B.

Milito was a bargain buy by Preziosi after Milan prised Marco Borriello away from Genoa last summer.

The towering striker had already played for Genoa in the Serie B between 2003 and 2005, scoring 33 goals in 59 appearances for the club.

Genoa's success story, irrespective of whether they claim a top-four finish, shows that money alone does not buy success in football.

Serie A statistics

1st win for relegation-threatened Torino after four straight defeats. The Maroons left it late to beat Catania 2-1 for the fifth time in their last six home matches. With seven games to play, Torino are now fourth from bottom, one point clear of Bologna. Sinisa Mihajlovic lost his job yesterday as Bologna continued to slide down the table following a heavy 1-4 home defeat to Siena.

2 wins in a row (vs Lecce 2-0 and Chievo 1-0) have enabled Milan to bridge the gap with runners-up Juventus to two points. On Saturday, the Rossoneri halted Chievo's five-match positive run thanks to a Clarence Seedorf goal. For the record, Chievo's most recent of two wins in seven home meetings with Milan dates back to December 2005 (2-1). Bottom side Reggina edged closer to relegation after suffering their seventh home upset of the term, this time at the hands of Udinese.

4 draws in as many matches for Napoli since Roberto Donadoni took charge of the team. On Saturday, the southerners were held to a goalless home draw by Atalanta. Napoli are winless since beating Catania 1-0 on January 11. Coppa Italia semi-finalists Sampdoria continued to show signs of improvement as they cruised to a comfortable 3-1 win away to struggling Lecce.

6 goals scored by six different players, three players sent off and a coach (Luciano Spalletti) and another club official (Igli Tare) were ordered off their benches. This is a synopsis of a pulsating capital derby in which Lazio beat Roma 4-2. This was Lazio's third successive win over Roma in a derby where they were the home team.

7 penalties were awarded by referees last weekend. Zlatan Ibrahimovic doubled Inter's lead, against Palermo, by scoring from the penalty spot on the stroke of half-time. Alessandro Del Piero was also on target from the 11-metre mark in Juve's 3-2 defeat to Genoa. Antonio Cassano converted two penalties in Sampdoria's easy win at Lecce whose goal, scored by Fabio Caserta, also came from a penalty.

10 points now separate long-time leaders Inter from Juventus ahead of Saturday's direct clash in Turin. Against Palermo, Inter were leading 2-0 until the 73rd minute but two quick goals in three minutes salvaged a point for the Sicilian team who have improved their chances of qualifying for the Europa League.

33 goals were scored on the 31st day: 15 by the hosts and the remaining 18 by the visiting teams, who managed four victories. Total number of goals scored so far amount to 767. Foreigners contributed 14 goals. Neither own goals nor hat-tricks were recorded last weekend. Antonio Floro Flores (Udinese), Thiago Motta (Genoa) and Antonio Cassano (Sampdoria) grabbed a brace each. Four players - Juan Manuel Vargas (Fiorentina), Abdel Ghezzal (Siena), Davide Succi (Palermo) and Daniele Ragatzu (Cagliari) - came on as substitutes and scored. Inter's Zlatan Ibrahimovic is the Serie A's new leading scorer with 20 goals.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.