Last week, we asked whether Serie A has a Juventus problem. With the title race seemingly done and dusted, a seventh scudetto securely in the bag, the question was whether this record-breaking period of success was in danger of undermining the Italian game.
This was meant to be a blockbuster weekend. There was so much going on in Serie A. The Rome derby. Inter versus Atalanta. Milan versus Napoli. All the fallout from the midweek European ties. The build up to next weekend’s potential title decider in Turin.
Instead, it all kind of fizzled out. All of the most interesting fixtures ended in goalless draws, extinguishing any chance of a title race and offering us no progress in the race for the Champions League. A damp squib of a weekend, all build up and no pay off.
Roma, Juventus
Oh, Michael Oliver.
Mikey, Mikey, Michael.
Michael Oliver, with a rubbish bin for a heart.
Michael Oliver, with his Citroen Saxo haircut.
Michael Oliver, with the face of an AirFix fanatic, all glue-eyed intricacy and camo paint fumes.
Michael Oliver, with his absolutely correct refereeing decision in the biggest moment of the footballing season so far.
Michael Oliver, with the target over his head. The bullets are in the post already, Mike.
Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past week, you've heard about Roma’s fantastic comeback against Barcelona.
The first leg of the Champions League quarter-final matchup saw Barcelona beat the Italian side 4-1 at the Camp Nou, and just about every man and their dog thought that was going to be it. No one gave Roma a chance in the second leg, but they did what many people believed to be impossible: defeated the Catalan giants 3-0 at the Stadio Olimpico to shock the world and book their place in the semi-finals of the Champions League.
Roma completed one of the biggest comebacks in Champions League history by overcoming a 4-1 deficit after the first leg in Barcelona. They advanced to the semifinals on away goals after winning the second leg 3-0. When Manolas headed in the game-winning goal everyone (except Barca fans) went crazy: the players, the coaches, the fans, but the best reaction came from Roma’s commentator. This man was screeching like a little kid who got Nintendo 64 for Christmas.
AC Milan’s Champions League quest — viewed as a necessity following their outrageous summer spending — is all but doomed following a scoreless draw with Inter Milan in the 168th Serie A edition of the Derby della Madonnina. Following today’s result, Milan still sit eight points back of Inter in fourth place with only eight matches remaining.
The scene at the San Siro before kickoff was exactly what you’d expect from one of the world’s fiercest derbies. Here’s the tifo from the Milan fans in the Curva Sud.
They call him “Braveheart.” Of course they do. What else would you call a Scotsman from Livingston, some 15 miles west of Edinburgh, who came up through the ranks at Celtic before making the somewhat unusual move to Bari in Italy’s Serie B during the January transfer window?
However, Liam Henderson’s signing with the club based in southern Italy was/is not a gimmick, and there are many around Celtic who think the Glasgow giants made a mistake in letting him leave. And, it’s important to note, that Henderson is not the first Scot to make the jump.