Up to a few weeks back, the relegation issue in Serie A looked resolved already as bottom three Lecce, Novara and Cesena were struggling to keep their heads above water.
Indeed, at the time all three seemed too weak to survive.
Fast forward four weeks and the situation did not improve too much for Novara and Cesena as both teams changed coach to little effect.
With veteran Emiliano Mondonico in charge, Novara did up their game but not enough as the side struggled to score goals and win crucial points.
Yesterday, Mondonico was relieved off his duties as Novara opted to re-engage Attilio Tesser.
At present, Novara have 17 points from 26 games and Cesena, who have a game in hand, are bottom with 16 points. Novara are a distant 12 points adrift of fourth-bottom Siena and Parma.
Down south, Lecce are still in the red zone but the recently-hired Serse Cosmi has infused new determination in his players and the impression is that this team will not go down without a fight.
Lecce are unbeaten in their last five outings and this augurs well especially now that the battle for survival is entering a crucial stage.
But it is the way Lecce have been playing ever since they interrupted Inter’s run of seven straight wins in late January that may have given them a psychological edge over the other strugglers at the wrong end of the standings.
Lecce will be engaged in a David vs Goliath task this weekend as they travel north to take on champions Milan. Although every point counts, Cosmi knows that for his team to retain their Serie A status, it’s victories in direct encounters that matters most.
This month, Lecce have two potential ‘six-pointers’ coming up as they cross swords with Novara (away) and Cesena (home).
Failure to win both games will leave Lecce with a mountain to climb as in their remaining calendar they will play against more-quoted sides, the likes of Roma, Napoli, Lazio and Juventus.
Today, Parma play a crucial home game against Fiorentina.
Roberto Donadoni’s team have lost twice in their last three outings (vs Roma 0-1 and Napoli 1-2) and are currently level on points with Siena and four clear of Lecce.
Fiorentina are not safe either as so far they’ve experienced a rather erratic season. However, thanks to Sunday’s win over Cesena, the Viola are now six points clear of the drop zone.
It seems that ever since Cesare Prandelli left to take over the national team last year, Fiorentina switched to hibernation mode.
Several key players left and in summer it will probably be the turn of midfielder Riccardo Montolivo to go as he is refusing to pen a new deal, meaning he becomes a free agent in June.
Siena, the surprise Coppa Italia semi-finalists, are battling hard to avoid the drop and, after conceding a heavy 4-1 upset to Lecce, they went on to outclass both Palermo and Cagliari in their last two outings.
The Tuscany minnows’ main problem stems from the fact that they continue to travel badly. Along with Palermo, they are the only two Serie A sides without an away win this season.
On Sunday, Siena have a great opportunity to end their away jinx as they play at Cesena.
Three points at the Dino Manuzzi stadium, coupled with a setback for Lecce against Milan will put Siena in a strong position to save their season.
Serie A statistics
1st positive result, after four straight defeats, for crisis-hit Inter as on Sunday they came from two goals down to share the spoils with Catania. Inter have only managed two points from the last available 21. For Catania, this was their first positive result in six visits to the San Siro.
2 of the three penalties taken last week produced no instant goals. Napoli hit-man Edinson Cavani saw his first-half execution blocked by Parma custodian Antonio Mirante. It was Napoli’s fourth miss from the spot in six attempts this season. Similar fate awaited Bologna’s Marco di Vaio. His spot-kick was saved by Novara’s Samir Ujkani. Elsewhere, Hernanes found the net from a penalty in the derby against Roma. Total penalties taken so far is 87.
4 straight wins and two draws helped Napoli consolidate fifth place in the Serie A, just five points adrift of third-placed Lazio. Last weekend, Parma became Napoli’s latest victims as they suffered their third home defeat of the term. Victory was Napoli’s second in succession at the Tardini Stadium.
6 years had to pass for Milan to beat Palermo away again as the champions ran riot over Bortolo Mutti’s side to record their ninth success on the road. This was Palermo’s third home defeat of the season.
26 goals – equally shared between hosts and visitors – were scored on the 26th day. Total number of goals scored so far has now reached the figure of 648. Zlatan Ibrahimovic is currently joint top-scorer with Udinese’s Antonio Di Natale on 18 goals each. Genoa’s Giuseppe Sculli grabbed a brace and Cesena’s Greek defender Vangelis Moras committed the only own goal of the weekend.