Can Samp do it again?

Last season, Sampdoria finished a creditable fourth place in the final Serie A standings. That position represented a remarkable im-provement over the modest 13th place of 2008/09 when the side was under the charge of Walter Mazzarri.

Back to present days… Sampdoria came from behind to beat Roma 2-1 last weekend.

As things stand at present, they now lie ninth with 26 points from 18 games, six points adrift of the fourth-placed team, Roma, and with a game in hand (against city rivals Genoa).

Although the 1990/91 Italian champions might still have their say, doubts persist as to whether this season’s Sampdoria are good enough to make another top-four finish.

Sampdoria’s first Champions League participation since the 1992 final defeat to Barcelona at Wembley Stadium was short-lived as in August the Blucerchiati were knocked out by Werder Bremen in the third qualifying round.

Sampdoria were subsequently ‘relegated’ to the Europa League. They only enjoyed a brief stay in this competition as well as they finished third (with five points from six outings) in Group I, behind PSV and Metalist.

Although both eliminations were premature, the way the two upsets evolved contrasted starkly.

Whereas in the Europa League, Samp were never in the race for a top-two finish, the same cannot be said of their dramatic elimination from the Champions League.

In Germany, Mimmo Di Carlo’s team were seldom in the game and got beaten by Werder 3-1. But at home, it turned out to be a completely different story as Samp opened a 3-0 lead.

The tie dragged into extra-time, however, after a 93rd-minute goal from Swedish substitute Markus Rosenberg. Eventually, Claudio Pizarro shattered Samp’s dream to make it to the Champions League proper.

In the Serie A, Samp have been rather inconsistent so far. At home, they recorded four wins and four draws and conceded one defeat (vs Napoli 1-2 on the third day). On the road, Di Carlo’s men were less prolific as they could only manage two wins and four draws.

Samp could not have aspired for a brighter start as they beat Lazio 2-0 on the opening day before holding on to a 3-3 draw at Juve.

Roma and Juve were not the only big guns against whom Samp remained undefeated.

On the eighth day, the four-times Coppa Italia winners held Inter 1-1 away and on the 14th day leaders Milan left the Marassi with a single point after a draw.

Samp did relatively well when playing the more-quoted sides but dropped several valuable points against the minnows in the league.

They are still with an outside chance for a Champions League berth but Samp need to up their game and be more consistent.

In particular, Di Carlo has to find a remedy for his side’s blunt attack – only 20 goals so far.

The acrimonious departure of Antonio Cassano has left a huge gap to fill and the arrival of the up-and-coming Federico Macheda, on loan until the end of the season from Manchester United, is only a stop-gap solution.

Macheda, a Lazio youth product, will undoubtedly increase Samp’s options in attack. Up front, ex-Vicenza captain Di Carlo can also count on the services of the highly-rated Nicola Pozzi.

Last season, Giampaolo Pazzini (19 goals) and Cassano (nine) contributed significantly towards the side’s top-four finish.

It is now up to Macheda and Pozzi to make Cassano’s departure go unnoticed.

Serie A statistics

1st away win for Lecce this season as they surprisingly overcame Lazio 2-1 to revive their chances of staying up. This result becomes even more significant when one considers that in their previous nine visits to Lazio’s lair, Lecce had only managed two draws. For Lazio, this was their second home upset, following the 0-2 reverse against Roma in a derby hosted by the Skyblues.

2 goalless draws were registered last weekend. Cesena extended their positive run to three games (two wins and a draw) as they held a makeshift Genoa side 0-0. The latter have not scored since Marco Rossi’s last-gasp strike in a 3-1 away win over Lecce on the 15th day. Palermo extended their unbeaten run to four games (two wins and two draws) after a goalless away draw with Chievo.

3 players – Julio Sergio (Roma), Stefano Lucchini and Daniele Gastaldello (both Sampdoria) – received their marching orders while Nicola Pozzi scored the only penalty of the weekend that enabled Sampdoria to temporarily draw back on level terms with Roma. Palermo are still without a penalty in favour this season and Sampdoria and Fiorentina have yet to have a penalty against.

6 years elapsed for Sampdoria to return to winning ways at home against Roma as the Blucerchiati came from a goal down to interrupt their opponents’ four-match winless streak (three wins and one draw). Prior to Sunday, Sampdoria were coming from back-to-back away defeats to Brescia 0-1 and Palermo 0-3. Sampdoria’s only home defeat so far came against Napoli (1-2) on the third day.

7 goals suffered by Juventus in their last two outings. After going down heavily at home to Parma, Juventus were trounced 3-0 by Napoli on Sunday to stay fifth, level on points with Palermo, and nine adrift of leaders Milan. For Napoli, now the league runners-up, this was their fifth straight home win.

11 points separate Inter from city neighbours Milan. However, the champions can go up to third place if they win their two games in hand at home against Cesena (on January 19) and away to Fiorentina (on February 16). On Sunday, Inter came from a goal down to beat Catania for the first time since January 2009 (2-0). This was Inter’s second win from as many games under the charge of Leonardo. Catania’s only previous home upset had come against Juventus (1-3) on the 15th day.