Serie A resumes with a bang on Sunday with a top-of-the-table clash as Juventus host Roma. Two-time defending champions Juventus hold a five-point lead over Roma, with Napoli 10 points back in third.
There are three matches scheduled on Sunday with the other seven games to be played on Monday.
Here are five things to know about the Italian league:
Best v best
Juventus have scored the most goals and Roma have conceded the fewest entering the clash at Juventus Stadium.
Juventus have won nine straight matches and with one more victory can match Roma’s 10-match winning streak to start the season. While Roma are still unbeaten, they have struggled since their excellent start, winning only two of their last seven matches.
But this match marks the first time this season that Roma coach Rudi Garcia has all of his strikers healthy, with captain Francesco Totti ready to start again after recovering from an injured right hamstring.
Before the Christmas holiday break, Mattia Destro scored three goals in as many matches after he, too, returned from several months out with injury.
As for Juventus, prized forward Carlos Tevez returned late from South America after tending to his wife in hospital but now appears ready to play.
Andrea Pirlo, Juve’s influential playmaker, is also back after a month out with a right knee injury, although defender Andrea Barzagli has complained of leg tendon pain in training this week.
Winter title
Juventus need only a draw against Roma to secure the Serie A winter title, a purely ceremonial honour but one that bodes well for the end of the season.
The last 10 clubs to take the winter title have gone on to be crowned champions of Serie A. If Juve do not secure the title this weekend, they will have another chance a week later at Cagliari, while Roma host Genoa in their next match to conclude the first half of the season.
Allegri leaving
Massimiliano Allegri, the AC Milan coach, announced over the break that he will leave the club at the end of this season, and local media are already speculating who will replace him.
Former Milan midfielder Clarence Seedorf and Italy coach Cesare Prandelli top most lists of possible replacements.
The 37-year-old Dutchman Seedorf, who enjoyed huge success at Milan as a player, winning two league titles, one Coppa Italia, two Uefa Champions League and Uefa Super Cup medals and a Fifa Club World Cup, plays for Botafogo in Brazil but has indicated he would like to coach when his playing career is over.
Prandelli’s contract with Italy expires after this year’s World Cup.
Allegri’s contract expires in the summer and with Milan struggling in 13th place he has not been offered an extension to his deal.
Milan host regional rivals Atalanta at San Siro on Monday and next month will face Atletico Madrid in the second round of the Uefa Champions League as the only Italian club to advance to the knock-out stage.
New Milan signing Keisuke Honda likely will not play this weekend but could make his debut against Sassuolo a week later.
Who’s the coach?
Lazio have a tough match against Inter Milan on Monday, and it has been unclear all week who is coaching the Roman club.
Vladimir Petkovic recently signed a deal to become coach of Switzerland’s national team after the summer’s World Cup but was hoping to continue with Lazio until the end of the season. But Lazio president Claudio Lotito announced over the break that Edy Reja was returning for a second stint with the club with immediate effect.
While Reja took charge of training sessions, Petkovic – who had not been told he was losing his job – involved his lawyers in a protest to Lotito to stay on, and he is reportedly due to be paid €600,000 (Dh2.99 million) for the second half of the season.
Lazio officially announced on Saturday that Petkovic had been sacked.
Tuscan derby
Fourth-place Fiorentina host promoted Livorno in a Tuscan derby on Sunday but are still without marquee pre-season signing Mario Gomez.
After transferring from Bayern Munich, Gomez only made a few appearances with Fiorentina at the start of the season before going down with a knee injury.
After numerous delays, Fiorentina are hoping the German striker returns on January 12 at Torino.
Fortunately for Fiorentina, fellow forward Giuseppe Rossi has thrived in Gomez’s absence and leads Serie A’s scoring charts with 14 goals in 17 matches. Tevez is next on the list with 11 goals, followed by Inter’s Rodrigo Palacio with 10.
Livorno are next to last in the table, three points above Catania, who host Bologna on Monday.
sports@thenational.ae
