Serie A, Week 17: Fiorentina, Juve grab easy wins while Inter and Napoli flounder

Stevan Jovetic was back after a six week injury layoff, while David Pizarro returned from compassionate leave after the premature death of his sister in Chile.

The home side were awarded a penalty three minutes later when Felipe tugged Toni back in the area. Pizarro stepped up and squeezed the spot kick underneath Pegolo who had guessed the right way. The Chilean openly wept for his sister upon scoring in a very touching and emotional moment.

Roma are on a roll and arrive in Verona seeking a fifth league win in a row. Recent meetings have certainly favoured the Giallorossi who are unbeaten in their last 17 meetings with Chievo in all competitions.

It’s highly doubtful that there’ll be a repeat of last season’s 0-0 draw as a scoreless draw is akin to an insult to Zeman and his idea of total football. It should come as no surprise that Roma haven’t registered a single stalemate all season, finding the net in every one of their 16 league games thus far. Chievo currently have the third worst defensive record in the league, but Roma have only conceded one goal less. On that evidence alone, goals look like a given.

Anyway. There’s no way for Juve to lose their lead at the top, but the closeness of their competitors must mean they’re anxious to give themselves a bit of breathing space. All that requires is a simple victory over Atalanta. Shouldn’t be a big problem, as la dea are currently tenth in the table, and still having a bit of a problem finding the back of the net. They’ve got just 17 goals, 7 of those coming away.

Oh dear, oh dear! What will Juventus do without their Great Dane?

Match Date / Time: Sunday, December 16 at 12:30 p.m. local, 6:30 a.m. ET

Venue: Stadio Artemio Franchi -- that’d be the one in Florence, not Siena, in case you’re confused