After seven rounds of matches the Serie A table is already starting to take shape.
Napoli have now confirmed they will be Juve’s greatest antagonists for the league title with Lazio and Inter the rank outsiders for the coveted scudetto.
Fiorentina are also doing well and on Sunday Roma got back on track after the drubbing to Juventus with a 2-0 win over Atalanta despite having some of their regulars missing.
Milan have to recover fast from Sunday’s setback in the derby to vie for a place in Europe next season but all these leading contenders will be committing a serious error if they are to take things for granted and underestimate the challenges of other teams emerging from the mid-table positions.
Among this package we find Catania who continued from where they had left off last season to stay close to the early pacesetters.
On Sunday, they beat Parma 2-0 at home to move seventh in the standings with 11 points, the same as Fiorentina and Roma and four behind Lazio and Inter.
Banking on the experience of the recent past and the enthusiasm of emerging players, mostly Argentine imports who want to prove themselves at the top level, this could indeed be Catania’s year.
The departures of coach Vincenzo Montella (Fiorentina) and Maxi Lopez (Sampdoria) so far went by unnoticed.
Home record
Catania owe their promising start to a flawless home record as they managed three wins (vs Genoa 3-2, Atalanta 2-1, Parma 2-0) and a draw from their first four fixtures at their Angelo Massimino Stadium.
The Sicilians dropped their only home points in a drab goalless stalemate against Napoli, a match where they had defender Pablo Alvarez sent off inside the opening two minutes.
On the road, however, Catania have been less than impressive.
After a thrilling 2-2 draw with Roma in the season’s curtain-raiser in late August, Catania lost to Fiorentina (0-2) and Bologna (0-4).
In these games, they were a far cry from the side that played so admi-rably at their own backyard.
It is a sort of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde syndrome for Catania, who play so well at home but tend to be so poor on their travels.
In this regard, new coach Rolando Maran, formerly of Varese, needs to come up with a quick solution.
After the international break, Catania have a daunting task coming up as they travel to the San Siro to cross swords with in-form Inter.
Catania then play at Udinese in the last fixture of October.
In between, they host defending champions Juventus. This match will shed more light on the extent of Catania’s strength on home soil.
The October 28 fixture will reveal if Maran’s men are truly a strong team to reckon with or a side just passing through a bright patch.
In the meantime, the Elephants, as Catania are popularly known down south, have already made a significant step towards confirming their Serie A status for the seventh time running.
Indeed, this side have improved by leaps and bounds since making a much-awaited return to the top flight in 2006 after a 22-year absence.
The way forward for Catania should be to make sure of safety.
Then, depending on their showings away from home, Maran should try to push his team from a safe mid-table spot to an Europa League berth.
Unlike Inter, Lazio, Roma, Fiorentina and Milan, Catania do not have the extra pressure to finish in the Euro zone at all costs.
That could be a real blessing and a key factor that will help Catania continue to play their game, aim for higher placings and pursue with their policy of developing quality players to later sell at huge profits as they did with Maxi Lopez when he moved to Sampdoria this summer.
Serie A statistics
1 penalty awarded by referees last weekend. Brazilian forward Nene ably converted a 74th-minute spot-kick to help Cagliari beat Torino at the Olympic Stadium. Of the 31 penalties taken so far, 20 were scored.
2nd home defeat for Torino after their upset to Cagliari. For the Sardegna team this was their first win of the season. Torino have not beaten Cagliari at home over the past five years.
3rd success for Fiorentina in their first four home games of the season as a Stevan Jovetic goal was enough for them to hand Bologna their fourth defeat of the season. On Sunday, Roma returned to winning ways after a 2-0 win over Atalanta. This was Roma’s seventh successive home win over the Bergamo team who last left the Olympic Stadium with a victory in 2003 (2-1).
7th win in eight visits to Siena’s Artemio Franchi Stadium for Juve who left it late to record their sixth win of the season. Siena’s only success over Juve dates back to May 2008 (1-0). Genoa came from behind against Palermo to salvage their third straight draw and are still unbeaten in their last four games.
Miroslav Klose... a brace for Lazio against Pescara.21 goals were scored on the seventh day of the season – 11 coming from the hosts and the remaining 10 from the visitors. Foreign players contributed with 13 goals. Total number of goals scored so far is 172. Miroslav Klose scored a double on Sunday to help Lazio overcome Pescara. Napoli’s Edinson Cavani is still the leading marksman with six goals.