On Saturday, Manchester City ended a 35-year wait to land their first major trophy as they edged Stoke City 1-0 in the FA Cup final.
That triumph in Wembley will stay indelible in the City fans’ minds but life was not particularly easy for their manager Roberto Mancini and his Italian compatriot Carlo Ancelotti who still has Chelsea’s reins in his hands... so far.
City, the richest club in the world, have also made it to the top four and will be playing Champions League football for the first time next season. However, considering the massive investments made by the club owners, their final league position and FA Cup represent the bare minimum Mancini could have delivered.
The ex-Lazio and Inter coach has been in charge at Eastlands since December 2009.
This time last year, City had just missed out on breaking into the top four. They were not particularly impressive in the Europa League and got eliminated early in the competition by modest side Dynamo Kiev.
This season, City were never considered among the contenders for the Barclays Premier League as the title race was basically restricted to Man. United, Chelsea and Arsenal with the latter two falling by the wayside as Alex Ferguson’s team upped the tempo in the straight for home.
Although the FA Cup could augur well for Mancini’s future, it must be said that much more will be expected of him next season as City will seek to shift the balance of power from the other side of Manchester by becoming the team to beat in England.
So far, this has not happened as United, who seem to have spent their money a lot wiser, proved to be a truly tough nut to crack for City and the rest.
At least, the Sky Blues did well in knocking United out of the FA Cup semi-finals. Otherwise, United would have been close to emulating the historic treble of 1999.
In his one-and-a-half years in charge, Mancini committed a series of blunders on the transfer market.
He has been accused of signing over-rated players at inflated prices.
One appreciates that it is not easy for him to make bargain buys as all clubs are by now aware of City’s remarkable financial means.
However, with the sort of transfer fees Sheikh Mansour has bankrolled so far, one would have expected Mancini to lure more first-rated players with a proven track record on the continent to his fold.
Chelsea, meanwhile, were firing on all cylinders when Ancelotti’s no.2 Ray Wilkins was unexpectedly sacked in November.
This left a negative effect on the team as Chelsea’s surge towards the end of the season was only too little and too late.
Ancelotti also had to deal with the big-money signing of Fernando Torres from Liverpool in the January transfer window.
Ironically, the Spanish striker’s move to London was Liverpool’s gain and Chelsea’s loss.
In fact, since his departure Liverpool blossomed under new manager Kenny Dalglish whereas Chelsea had a turbulent campaign with more lows than highs.
This season, Chelsea will finish their campaign empty-handed and the likelihood is that Ancelotti’s stint at Stamford Bridge could be over.
For next season, Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich is expected to make sweeping changes and that may include the change in coach.
Roberto Di Matteo, another Italian manager, also started the 2010/11 campaign at the helm of a Premier League outfit.
After guiding West Bromwich Albion to promotion last season, the ex-Lazio and Italy midfielder was sacked in February following the side’s poor run of form.
His successor, Roy Hodgson, steered the Baggies away from trouble and into safer waters in the league standings.
Serie A statistics...
1 penalty awarded by referees last weekend. Marco Di Vaio could have given Bologna the lead at Fiorentina had he scored from the spot. However, his effort went wide and Fiorentina-Bologna finished 1-1. With 13 in favour, Roma have benefited most from penalties so far this season.
2 successive wins (vs Lazio and Chievo) have put Udinese in pole position for a top-four finish for the first time since 2005. On Sunday, the northeasterners scored a goal in each half to beat Chievo away. Catania came from a goal down to beat Roma 2-1 and collect 10 points from the last available 12. Meanwhile, Parma’s Sebastian Giovinco scored against his former club to dump Juve out of next season’s Euro competitions. Parma are now undefeated in their last five outings (four wins and a draw).
3 teams – Bari, Brescia and Sampdoria – relegated to the Serie B. In a southern derby, Bari were agonisingly beaten at home by Lecce to con-cede their fifth straight defeat. For Lecce, this was their second successive win, following the 2-1 victory at home to Napoli. Cesena edged second-bottom Brescia 1-0 to record their second win in a row. Brescia are without a win in their last six outings (two draws and four defeats).
4th straight defeat for Cagliari who were beaten by newly-crowned champions Milan 4-1 at the San Siro late Saturday. Overall, Cagliari are winless in their last six outings (two draws and four defeats). Milan have only dropped two points from their last seven league outings.
21 years had to pass for Napoli to qualify for the Champions League again. On Sunday, they needed a point from their home fixture against Inter to make sure of a top-three finish. Eventually, they secured a draw after coming from behind a Samuel Eto’o goal. For Inter, this was their first draw after three straight wins.
27 goals were scored on the 37th day: 15 coming from the hosts and the remaining 12 from the visitors. Foreign players contributed with 17 goals and there were 12 first-half goals. Total number of goals scored so far is 918. Loria (Roma), Pinilla (Palermo) and Ramirez (Bologna) came on as substitutes and scored. Udinese striker Antonio Di Natale is still the leading marksman in Serie A with 28 goals.