New Roma coach Luciano Spalletti.

Serie A will have a decidedly retro feel this weekend as Luciano Spalletti returns to the Roma dugout.

The 56-year-old enjoyed four successful seasons at the Stadio Olimpico – twice guiding the capital club to Coppa Italia glory – before resigning and heading to Zenit St Petersburg in late 2009.

He left Russia almost two years ago and, when it emerged that French coach Rudi Garcia was on the verge of the sack in the Eternal City, he was straight on a plane to Miami to meet James Pallotta.

The Giallorossi president confirmed his reappointment on Thursday and Spalletti was soon back at Trigoria to lead training ahead of a home meeting with basement boys Verona.

And with fifth-placed Roma currently seven points behind new leaders Napoli after winning just one game from their last seven, the Tuscan admits he has plenty of work to do.

“It’s hard to change things in football with the flick of a switch,” he told asroma.it.

“I think it’s mainly a mental issue at the moment. Hopefully by pushing the right buttons and speaking clearly to the players we can find the right spirit and character again.

“Our fans can give the team tremendous support, we all know that. We have a huge number of fans and having them on our side will provide a bigger push than we can achieve by ourselves.

“But they appreciate commitment and effort – blood, sweat and tears – and only by showing those things on the pitch will we be able to win them over.”

Napoli head into the second half of the season as winter champions and they can remain in first place by beating Europa League-chasing Sassuolo at the Stadio San Paolo tonight.

Inter will have already had the chance to reclaim top spot on their afternoon trip to Atalanta while Juve can capitalise on any slips from the front-runners when they visit Udinese.

Victory at the Stadio Friuli would be a 10th on the spin for resurgent Juve, who spent much of the autumn in the bottom half before storming up to third by pilfering 18 points from the last 18 available.

Fiorentina’s title challenge has wavered in recent weeks but they could cause a shock wave tomorrow – any positive result at Milan could spell the end for Rossoneri boss Sinisa Mihajlovic.

The thin ice under Garcia’s feet cracked but held firm for Mihajlovic when Roma and eighth-placed Milan drew 1-1 last time out.

Another poor result at San Siro and the Serbian could lose his job, too.

There was a managerial change at Palermo this week.

Guillermo Barros Schelotto has replaced Davide Ballardini following an unsavoury player revolt and the Argentinian makes his debut at Genoa.

Verona – winless in 19 attempts – appear to be a lost cause at the bottom of the table but Frosinone and Carpi remain hopeful they can escape the drop zone.

Frosinone could close to within a point of 17th-placed Genoa with a win over struggling Torino while Carpi host a Sampdoria side who are not yet fully up to speed under Vincenzo Montella.

Fixtures

Serie A

Playing today
Atalanta vs Inter - 15.00
Torino vs Frosinone - 18.00
Napoli vs Sassuolo - 20.45

Tomorrow – 15.00
Bologna vs Lazio
Carpi vs Sampdoria
Chievo vs Empoli
Genoa vs Palermo - 12.30
Milan vs Fiorentina - 20.45
Roma vs Verona
Udinese vs Juventus

Standings: Napoli 41; Juventus, Inter 39; Fiorentina 38; Roma 34; Sassuolo 31; Empoli 30; Milan 29; Lazio 27; Chievo 26; Atalanta, Udinese 24; Sampdoria 23; Torino, Bologna 22; Palermo 21; Genoa 19; Frosinone 15; Carpi 14; Verona 8.

Serie B

Played yesterday
Spezia vs Bari - 0-0

Today – 15.00
Avellino vs Salernitana
Como vs Perugia
Latina vs Novara
Pescara vs Livorno
Ternana vs Trapani
Vicenza vs Modena
Lanciano vs Pro Vercelli

Tomorrow
Brescia vs Cesena - 17.30

Monday
Crotone vs Cagliari - 20.30
Entella vs Ascoli - 20.30

Standings: Cagliari 46; Crotone 45; Novara 38; Pescara 37; Bari 36; Brescia 35; Cesena, Avellino 31; Perugia 30; Trapani 29; Entella 28; Spezia 27; Modena, Ternana, Pro Vercelli 24; Livorno, Ascoli 23; Latina 22; Vicenza 21; Salernitana 20; Virtus Lanciano 18; Como 14.