Last week, the new FIFA version of the Balon d'Or was handed out, and an interesting thing took
place: all three players on the podium (Lionel Messi, Xavi, and Andres Iniesta) were all Barcelona
players. But even more than that, all three had been produced by Barcelona's famous Cantera youth
system.
After a winter break which seemed like an eternity, Serie A finally returned yesterday on it's
annual Epiphany match-day. It was an great return with many interesting results, and showed that
these next few months of Serie A should be excellent. Milan are officially winter champions (the
last giornata of the first part of the season is Sunday), and that's a good omen for Milan fans,
because out of the 16 times the Rossoneri have been crowned winter champions, 10 times they have go
on to win the Scudetto.
MILAN, Italy — Inter Milan manager Leonardo says Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho has helped him
settle into his new job. Leonardo, who won his debut 3-1 against Napoli on Thursday, says he owes
former Inter coach Mourinho "a lot of gratitude, in this initial phase he's helped me ... He's been
very open with [.
AC Milan extended their lead to six points in Serie A despite a 4-4 home draw with Udinese,
though SSC Napoli will be hoping to close in on the Rossoneri when they host Juventus later.
Fans at San Siro were treated to an eight-goal thriller as Milan came from behind three times to
force a 4-4 draw.
The 19th Giornata has ended, which means the first part of the season is officially over. So
this weekend the Serie A calendar will start all over again from the beginning, just inverted. It
was an interesting weekend in Serie A with 30 goals scored and lots of great games. Milan continue
to lead the way with 40 points, while Napoli are sole second with 36 points.
Liverpool are considering a summer swoop for Inter Milan star Victor Obinna, according to reports
in Italy.
The Nigerian international is currently on loan at West Ham and has stated he would like to stay at
Upton Park, but his head may be turned if there's the possibility of a move to Anfield.
The 23-year-old has made just eight appearances for Inter Milan since joining them from Chievo, and
the San Siro club is reportedly ready to sell for around £8million.
That was Adriano Galliani's reaction to Zlatan Ibrahimovic's stunning goal vs. Lecce yesterday.
Galliani isn't new to making funny faces, but it was warranted for that goal. The 20th giornata
marked the official start of the first half of the season, and the Serie A calendar reset from the
beginning.
Another weekend in Serie A full of interesting results. Probably the biggest result was Udinese
defeating Inter 3-1 at home. Recently, Udinese has been lauded in the Italian media as playing the
best calcio in Italy, and they are confirming that more and more as the weeks pass (I wrote about
how great a club Udinese is back in 2008, give it a read if interested).
