After a break last weekend in honor of the life of Piermario Morosini, Serie A is back in action for Week 34 (the week 33 fixtures will take place midweek). And with a tight race at both the top and bottom of the league table, nearly every match has the potential to be decisive.
Serie A 2012, Week 34 Preview And Fixtures: Everyone’s Got A Horse In This Race
Nearly every match in Week 34 matters, as Juventus and Milan continue to battle for the scudetto, while six teams challenge for the remaining European slots. At the bottom, Cesena need at least a point to keep relegation at bay for another week.
Juventus leads Milan in the scudetto race, but by just one point. If somehow Roma manage to break that unbeaten streak, the giallorossi could potentially be just one point back from that sweet sweet third place position. That, of course, depends on whether Udinese can overcome a Chievo side that’s been quite successful as of late.
Lazio will want to do their best to put space between themselves and both Roma and Udinese, but with seemingly all their players injured, their match against red-hot Lecce might be more difficult than they’d anticipated. Lecce are once again making a late, desperate grab for safety, and three points could lift them from the relegation zone. Genoa have become draw masters as of late, but the club feeling the real pressure is Fiorentina. The Viola host Inter, but will be without Stevan Jovetić, undoubtedly their only spark in an otherwise dreadful season. With the nerazzurri now with the opportunity to challenge for third place, it’s difficult to see any points for Fiorentina.
Napoli may have the same number of points as Inter, but you get the feeling they’re on the fall while the nerazzurri are on the rise. The partenopei have exhausted themselves, but with Novara at the San Paolo, they absolutely must get these three points. Novara are nearly as good as down anyway -- although their situation is not so helpless as Cesena’s. Should Palermo win in Sicily today, the Seahorses will be back down in Serie B.
Finally, we’ve got Catania welcoming Atalanta, with the club still insisting they’ve got Europe in their sights. A drop in form has the rossazzurri down in eighth place, so the Europa League would require a late winning streak, combined with points dropped by all those currently occupying 3rd-7th. Catania will also be cheering on Napoli, as a third place finish for them means that the 6th placed finisher heads to Europa League.
You’ll notice I made no mention of the Milan match. If they can’t beat Bologna at the San Siro, they don’t deserve the title.
Fixtures
Saturday, April 21
Chievo Verona v Udinese (18:00 CET / 12:00 ET)
Sunday, April 22 (all matches 15:00 CET / 9:00 ET unless otherwise noted)
Fiorentina v Inter Milan (12:30 CET / 6:30 ET)
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