Serie A Discussion

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Liverpool's on loan midfielder Alberto Aquilani claims that he feels at home playing for Juventus back in his native Italy.

Aquilani was a £20 million purchase from Roma last summer, but failed to settle at Anfield amid injury and form concerns. The 26-year-old was farmed out on loan to Juventus by new boss Roy Hodgson and he now says that he is very happy to playing for the club.

"I like the team. I like Turin. I have found a home. I am happy," he told La Stampa.

Asked about his new role at Juventus, he added: "I am more of a central midfielder. Before, I was further forward in the offensive phase. Now I have to have more balance and be careful also in defence."

Juventus have an option to make the move permanent next summer and, with new ownership in place at Anfield, Aquilani is expected to leave to rebuild his career in Turin.


Alberto Aquilani struggled to make an impression at Liverpool.

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Antonio Cassano's future at Sampdoria looks bleak after the player had a blazing row with president Riccardo Garrone.

Cassano has been frozen out of the squad and is ''distraught'' over the situation, according to his agent Giuseppe Bozzo, who claimed that the row had started because Cassano refused to attend an awards ceremony.

The Italian striker was asked to apologise by the president, but refused, and now looks set to quit the club after the pair exchanged heated words.

"He is very down, depressed and horrified. At this moment, Antonio is distraught and has been torn apart," Bozzo told the Secolo XIX newspaper. ''Antonio has given so much to Sampdoria and is very tied to the team, but now he feels betrayed.

"I have done everything in my power to put things right. I came to Genoa and personally listened to the phone conversation between Antonio and President Garrone. When I left, everything seemed to be fine.

"Quite frankly, the logic of this whole affair eludes me. The only explanation I can think of is that Sampdoria want to get rid of Antonio. If this is a way to get rid of him, just say so."

President Garrone demanded a written formal apology from Cassano, but when it was not forthcoming the club released the following statement: "Referring to the episode on Tuesday 26th (November) at the Gloriano Mugnaini training centre during which the footballer Antonio Cassano behaved in a seriously offensive and disrespectful way in his meeting with the president Riccardo Garrone, Sampdoria has asked the relevant organisations to begin disciplinary proceedings.''

However, Bozzo has moved to clear up his client's side of the story.

"He wanted to stay home with his wife. Money was not an issue," he insisted. "I was at Antonio's house on Wednesday evening and I was present when he called the President. Everything was clarified, they ended the conversation on good terms. Evidently something happened between that night and the next morning, as the cards on the table changed."

Bozzo also hit out at the club's handling of the situation, maintaining that they would not back down over their desire to see Cassano formally apologise.

"It's a document that is completely illogical,'' he added. ''They dug their heels in over this document, which would've gone to the Sampdoria Board of Directors, confirming President Garrone had received the formal and official apology from the player. I did not oppose the document per se, but I did oppose to the approach. They told Cassano 'you have to sign or we'll leak the story.'"


Antonio Cassano: No stranger to controversy.

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Roma moved into the top half of Serie A on the back of a convincing victory over Lecce which was overshadowed by a red card for Francesco Totti.

Nicolas Burdisso put the Giallorossi in front after little over an hour of dominance and man-of-the-match Mirko Vucinic made it two in the 76th minute.

However, Totti reacted badly to a foul off the ball by Ruben Olivera and both players were shown the red card, taking the gloss of an otherwise perfect evening at the Stadio Olimpico.

Roma survived an early scare when Daniele Corvia volleyed the ball against the crossbar from 20 yards out when there seemed to be no danger at all to Julio Sergio's goal.

The rattling of the woodwork woke the home side up and Vucinic took centre stage. The Montenegrin stuck to the left-hand touchline, waiting for the ball before making a beeline for the penalty area, and the Lecce defence could not find any way of stopping him.

He first set up a chance for Marco Borriello, who headed just inches wide of the post, and then he set up an even better chance in the 28th minute, again from one of his many dangerous incursions from the left.

He passed the ball back from the goal line to Totti, whose shot was parried to Borriello. He instinctively volleyed it back towards the goal and it cannoned off the crossbar to the Italy international, who this time buried the loose ball, but the linesman's flag was inexplicably raised when he touched the ball for the second time.

Five minutes later, Vucinic beat the offside trap to chest the ball down and volley it against the top of the crossbar.

He then cut in once again from the left only to see his shot saved by the legs of Lecce goalkeeper Antonio Rosati.

Despite their dominance, Roma could have gone behind before the interval when Julio Sergio left his goal and ventured out of his penalty area to the left where he was caught out by David Di Michele.

The Lecce forward pulled the ball back to Corvia, whose shot was blocked by Burdisso, who was the last man guarding the Roma goal.

The Giallorossi kept up the pressure in the second half with Borriello's shot tipped over the crossbar by Rosati after an hour.

Lecce failed to clear the resulting corner and John Arne Riise's cross was met by Burdisso, who headed the ball into the top right-hand corner from eight yards. Borriello's header skimmed the top of the crossbar as Roma looked for a second, which they got in the 76th minute.

Unsurprisingly, it was Vucinic who raced in from the left and, this time, he managed to find the target into the far corner.

The goal was overshadowed by red cards for Totti and Olivera, who clashed moments after the ball hit the back of the net. Totti was incensed and tried to chase after Olivera and he had to be stopped from reaching his rival by several Roma officials at the entrance to the tunnel.

As a result, he will miss the Rome derby with league leaders Lazio next week.


Nicolas Burdisso celebrates his opener for Roma.

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Juventus joined the race for the Serie A title by narrowing the gap on third-placed AC Milan to two points with a win at the San Siro.

Fabio Quagliarella put the Bianconeri ahead in the 24th minute and Alessandro Del Piero's record-breaking 179th goal in Serie A doubled their lead in the 66th minute.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic pulled a goal back for Milan in the 82nd minute, but Juve held on to gain three crucial points to move up to fourth in the Serie A table.

Ibrahimovic never scored against his former club Juventus during his time at Inter, and he seemed keen on changing that in a Milan shirt as he struck the angle of post and crossbar with a 25-yard shot in the seventh minute.

Alexandre Pato was then held up by a questionable offside decision when he only had Marco Storari to beat a minute later.

The chances were coming thick and fast for the home side in the first 10 minutes and Ibrahimovic had a shot saved before Juve finally broke out of their own half with a bit of fortune when Luca Antonini's sliding tackle in midfield saw the ball arrow into the path of Del Piero, who could not beat Christian Abbiati from a tight angle.

However, Quagliarella put the visitors ahead in the 24th minute with a fine header into the top corner from Paolo De Ceglie's deep cross.

The balance of play shifted with that goal, and Juve started to pose the greater threat with some intelligent counter-attacking football which saw Del Piero and Quagliarella break together with the former forcing Abbiati into a one-handed diving save on the half-hour mark.

Ibrahimovic then missed the chance to level in first-half stoppage time when he headed straight at Storari. Felipe Melo prevented Ibrahimovic from scoring on the hour mark when he bravely headed the Swedish striker's shot away from danger.

Del Piero then put his name in the history books as the all-time top goalscorer for Juventus in Serie A with his 179th strike.

Mohamed Sissoko stumbled as he went clean through on goal, but he got back on his feet, defended the ball and laid it off to Del Piero, who fired it into the bottom corner from 10 yards.

The game was not over, though, as Ibrahmovic finally broke his duck against Juventus with a header similar to Quagliarella's from Antonini's cross in the 82nd minute.

Milan pushed men forward in search of an equaliser, but the Juve defence held firm to preserve the three points which take them back into the hunt for the Scudetto.


Alessandro Del Piero's became Juventus' all-time leading Serie A scorer with his winning goal against Milan.

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Ten-man Lazio extended their lead at the top of Serie A with a smash-and-grab win over Palermo at the Stadio Renzo Barbera.

Andre Dias scored with Lazio's first chance of the game and the Biancoceleste defended their slender lead against an insistent but unfortunate Palermo.

Giuseppe Biava was sent off in the 77th minute but, even with a one-man advantage, the Rosaneri were unable to find a way through as Lazio held on for a win which takes them four points clear of Inter Milan at the top of Serie A.

Palermo made their intentions clear straight from the kick-off with Javier Pastore missing the first chance after only 45 seconds.

Biava was caught in possession by Josip Ilicic and he played the ball into the path of Pastore, who wasted the chance by shooting straight at Nelson Muslera.

Pastore and Ilicic continued to pull the strings for the Sicilians, who appeared to be in control of the game until they fell behind to Lazio's first shot on goal after 27 minutes.

Andre Dias volleyed Ledesma's free-kick past Salvatore Sirigu from eight yards out as Lazio went ahead against the run of play.

Lazio rode their luck with Muslera's clearance rebounding off Pastore and looping over his own crossbar.

Palermo continued to probe, but Lazio almost doubled their lead on the break in the 56th minute.

Stefano Mauri delayed a little too long after being put through on goal by Mauro Zarate and Cesare Bovo was able to recover to slide in and deflect his shot wide of the goal.

No matter what Palermo did, the ball just did not want to go in.

In the 65th minute, Mauricio Pinilla's acrobatic effort was saved incredibly by Muslera and Stephan Lichtsteiner blocked Palermo's shot on the rebound.

It was backs to the wall for Lazio, who lost Biava to a second yellow card in the 77th minute, and Muslera had to be at his best again in the 86th minute to tip Bovo's header over the crossbar before pushing Mattia Cassani's shot wide of the post.


Andre Dias is mobbed by his team-mates.

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Sampdoria grabbed a last-gasp 1-0 victory over Cesena at the Stadio Dino Manuzzi to move onto the fringes of the top four in Serie A.

Giampaolo Pazzini's first goal in the league this season in the third minute of stoppage time earned the Blucerchiati a somewhat fortunate win after the home side had done most of the running. Cesena drop into the bottom three as a result of the cruel, late defeat.

Yuto Nagatomo led the home side's search for their first home win since beating AC Milan at the Manuzzi back in August. He was a constant threat down the left wing, creating the first big chance of the game for Stephen Appiah in the 17th minute.

The Japanese full-back pulled the ball back for the Ghanaian, whose volley was saved well by Giancarlo Curci, who got up to deny Emanuele Giaccherini on the rebound. Pazzini missed Sampdoria's first chance of the game in the 26th minute, but it was only a rare attack for the visitors.

The lively Nagatomo had a dangerous shot saved by Curci after half an hour before Samp almost went ahead in the 41st minute before Pazzini again failed to make contact with Angelo Palombo's cross from close range after being put off by Maximiliano Pellegrino.

Nicola Pozzi, who had taken Antonio Cassano's place in the Samp attack, then had an effort saved magnificently by Cesena's veteran goalkeeper Francesco Antonioli. And as Cesena looked for a winner, a mistake in the centre of the field allowed Samp to break quickly and grab the winner deep in stoppage time.

Guido Marilungo's cross provided a simple tap-in for Pazzini to end his own drought this season and take some of the attention away from the issue of Cassano's club suspension.

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Cagliari struck twice in the second half to beat Bologna and climb out of the Serie A relegation zone.

Nene broke the deadlock in the 50th minute and Radja Nainggolan doubled his team's lead with 12 minutes remaining. The outcome lifted the Sardinian outfit to 13th in the standings while Bologna dropped to 19th place.

Cagliari went into the encounter looking to bounce back from two straight defeats. The hosts enjoyed a strong start and Davide Biondini was first to test Emiliano Viviano with his effort from outside the penalty area.

The Bologna goalkeeper dived to his right to clear the danger.
Midway through the first half, Michele Canini should have put the home team in front but his powerful header from Biondini's cross went over the bar.

Cagliari missed another good chance to score before half-time. Andrea Cossu's cross found the unmarked Simon Laner inside the box and his header went just wide of the far post.

The hosts took a deserved lead early in the second half.
Nene got behind Cossu's cross and he drove the ball in from close range past Viviano. Marco Di Vaio should have levelled the scores on the hour mark but his close-range header from Antonio Busce's cross was off target.

Cagliari extended their lead in the 78th minute when Nainggolan's bullet strike from 30 yards beat Viviano. The visitors almost gave themselves a lifeline a minute from the end but Cagliari goalkeeper Michael Agazzi came up with his first save of the match.

Miguel Britos' header from six yards forced Agazzi to fully stretch as Cagliari held on for their second win at the Sant' Elia this season.

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Napoli moved up to fourth place in Serie A thanks to Ezequiel Lavezzi's late winner at Brescia.

Coach Walter Mazzarri rested several key players ahead of the trip to Liverpool in the Europa League on Thursday and Lavezzi's 77th-minute goal justified the decision.

Brescia struck the woodwork twice, but were unable to respond to Lavezzi's goal, and defeat leaves them just one point off the bottom of the table in 14th place.

Mazzarri left both Christian Maggio and Edison Cavani out of his starting XI, giving starts instead to Juan Zuniga and Jose Ernesto Sosa. Despite the changes, Napoli still played with confidence, pegging Brescia back inside their own half for much of the game.

Lavezzi was going closer each time he took aim as Brescia allowed him far too much room for shooting practice in the first 20 minutes, culminating in an effort which Michele Arcari saved at full stretch. Marek Hamsik then tested the Brescia goalkeeper as Napoli searched for the opening goal.

The home side had to wait until the 58th minute for their first dangerous moment as Andrea Caracciolo somewhat fortunately guided Eder's cross against the post. That gave Brescia confidence and Napoli's Hugo Campagnaro almost scored an own goal in the 73rd minute as he diverted Perparim Hetemaj's cross on to his own crossbar.

Napoli reacted to the danger and took the lead five minutes later thanks to Lavezzi, who stole in to score from close range after being found in the area by Marek Hamsik.

It was a crucial goal which earned Napoli all three points and lifted them into a share of fourth place with Juventus, just three points behind second-placed Inter Milan, but still seven behind leaders Lazio.

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Parma climbed out of the Serie A relegation zone with a goalless home draw against Chievo in a game which saw both sides reduced to 10 men.

Blerim Dzemaili was sent off five minutes into the second half for the hosts while the visitors lost Gelson Fernandes late in the contest. Parma, who have not won since August 29, hit the woodwork in the second half but could not find the breakthrough and had to settle for a point.

The draw nevertheless lifted Pasquale Marino's side up to 17th spot on eight points - albeit only out of the bottom three on goal difference - while Chievo slipped to seventh. Chievo made a bright start and almost took the lead in the fifth minute when Sergio Pellissier got his head on the end of a Andrea Mantovani cross, but he nodded wide of the far post.

At the other end, Sebastian Giovinco's 30-yard attempt went over the bar. The visitors put a good move together soon after.
Kevin Constant served Pellissier inside the area and he struck the ball on target only for his effort to be kept out by Parma goalkeeper Antonio Mirante.

Parma had numerous chances to break the deadlock before half-time but Giovinco fired wide while Valeri Bojinov's two attempts were kept out by Chievo goalkeeper Stefano Sorrentino.

Chievo players demanded a penalty early in the second half after Pellissier fell inside the area following contact with Alessandro Lucarelli, but the referee waved play on.

Parma then suffered a blow when Dzemaili was booked a second time and was given his marching orders. Chievo almost went in front in the 78th minute but Mirante palmed Roberto Guana's right-footed effort from the edge of the area over the bar.

At the other end, substitute Antonio Candreva's header beat Sorrentino but rebounded off the crossbar in what was the best chance of the game for either side.

Fernandes was then also dismissed as the teams shared the spoils.

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Udinese continued their climb up the Serie A standings with victory at a Bari side who are free-falling in the opposite direction.

Alexis Sanchez scored one and set up the other for Mauricio Isla as the Friuli club moved to eighth. Paulo Barreto missed a penalty for Bari and they now find themselves propping up the rest of the teams after their fourth successive defeat.

Udinese took just 16 minutes to get on the scoresheet this afternoon through Sanchez, who created a hole in the home defence before smashing a shot from 25 yards into the top corner.

Gokhan Inler had the chance to add another seven minutes later but his powerful strike from distance was brilliantly tipped away by Jean Francois Gillet. The Bari keeper was in the thick of the action again moments later, palming away a cross-shot from Antonio Di Natale.

And Gillet continued to keep Udinese at bay, making another fine stop to deny Di Natale as the visitors threatened to run amok.
Bari had to wait until 10 minutes before the interval for their first chance, a fierce shot from the edge of the box by Abdel Kader Ghezzal which was parried clear by Samir Handanovic.

They then had the chance to get back on level terms four minutes after the restart when Ghezzal was brought down in the box by Cristian Zapata. Barreto stepped up to take the spot-kick, but it was a poor kick and Handanovic made the save with a dive to the right.

That gave Udinese fresh momentum and Gillet had to be at his best once more to prevent Sanchez from finding the target with his low drive. However, the second goal arrived after 60 minutes with Sanchez playing the ball through to Isla who fired home with the help of the underside of the crossbar.

Bari threw everyone forward in the final 10 minutes to try to get something from the game, but Handanovic was up to the challenge as Udinese claimed their fourth win of the campaign.