Serie A, Week 35: Four Clubs Crowd Into Coveted Third Place Slot

Here’s a quick wrap-up of what happened:

In stoppage time, Lazio players heard a “phantom whistle” and stopped playing, allowing Roberto Pereyra to race uncontested down the wing and chip a shot in to the open goal. Lazio players went mad, screaming at the match officials and setting off a protracted ending to the match that featured lots of yelling, pushing and various histrionics.

Aside from a couple dangerous moments on the counter, Lazio never really seemed to have any ideas for attacking Udinese. You got the feeling they were happy to get a scoreless draw and had no options when Di Natale put the Zebrette in the lead.

Lazio put everyone forward late in a desperate attempt to find the equalizer but the move backfired when Lazio gave up a long clearance that was kept in play by Roberto Pereyra who promptly raced forward and chipped the ball in to the open net. From that point, all hell broke loose as André Dias went mental and started a fracas near the benches, complaining about something to do with Pereyra’s goal. Dias was red carded but the fireworks were far from done.

Sebastian Giovinco. ‘Nuff said. Oh, and Gabriel Paletta. Whatever, it means Genoa breathe a bit easier.

Once again, though, Napoli were made to pay for the chances they just couldn’t convert -- and for a defence that just can’t stand up to quality play. Sloppy, so sloppy at times, that Napoli back line...and Fabio Simplicio managed to get behind and evade DeSanctis with an easy little volley. Should the partenopei manage to pull off third in the end, they’ll need to prop up that defence if they want to seriously compete in the Champions League next season.

You have to think Catania could have taken this match if it weren’t for unfortunate injuries. The visitors welcomed back Pablo Barrientos, who was instrumental in the goal, heading on an Alejandro Gomez cross to where Legrottaglie was waiting on the far post. Alas, Barrientos found himself hurting again before the end of the match. Cristian Llama came on in his place, only to have to come off with injury three minutes later. Sergio Almiron also pulled up with injury.

When Gonzalo Bergessio, Gomez and Barrientos are all on the pitch, it’s a different Catania, it’s a rossazzurri that can genuinely compete. Palermo just don’t have that spark this season. Josep Ilicic is inconsistent, Abel Hernandez prone to mistakes, Miccoli aging. The derby may have ended divided, but it doesn’t cover the rosanero cracks in the season --Palermo need an off-season refresher to reconquer Sicily.

It’s really sounding like a broken record, I know, but the most interesting storyline at the end of this Serie A season is the race for third. No one really believes Juve will slip up, especially not when their last three matches are against Novara, Lecce and Cagliari, so the scudetto is almost certainly sown up. Relegation is a bit more interesting -- Cesena’s already grabbed a spot in Serie B, and Novara will almost certainly follow, but Lecce are still fighting with all their might to stay up. If they do, it will be at Genoa’s expense (and do we really want to see what the Ultras will do in that situation?)

So it’s third place, then, that should be given the most attention. The week ends with the battle between Udinese and Lazio, currently fifth and third respectively. With Lazio’s injured list currently filling more pages than a boxed set of Harry Potter, it might seem like this would be an easy enough win for the zebrette, but Francesco Guidolin has appeared out of answers for the last month. Anything but all three points for Lazio gives Napoli the opportunity to reclaim third. The partenopei have the most to lose if they miss out on Champions League football -- say goodbye to El Matador, Naples -- but with Roma’s entire squad spending Saturday at anger-management sessions, there should be little to trouble the visitors. Which is exactly why Napoli will lose, natch. And with Inter’s victory over Cesena all but certain, the nerazzurri could end the week in joint third-place.