Milan and Juventus are currently the top two teams in the Italian league with the Rossoneri ahead by two points but the Serie A champions have played two more matches than their rivals Juventus. Juve's positive run, the club is undefeated this season in official play, is due to a number of factors such as a solid defensive record and a midfield marshaled by veteran Andrea Pirlo with the aid of Claudio Marchisio and Arturo Vidal.

As we showed on Sunday, Zlatan Ibrahimovic has made the transition from kicking teammates to slapping opponents. And to prove his new hobby, Zlatan has allegedly done it again already. After the final whistle in Juventus' 2-1 win over Milan in the first leg of their Coppa Italia semifinal, Ibra argued with Juve keeper Marco Storari and, according to Juve defender Giorgio Chiellini, Ibra also gave him a slap.

Juventus were crowned Serie A Winter Champions after one of their most controlled performances of the season on Saturday night. Atalanta have proven to be tough opposition for any team, especially at home where their only defeat prior was to champions Milan. But, the Bianconeri overcame early frustration to eventually overcome the Nerazzurri with relative ease.

Eighteen matches into the season and Juventus are undefeated and sitting in first place. Everything seems rosy red, or pink (like their away shirt), in Turin. While Juventus find themselves in an ideal situation heading into the second half of the season, their rise to the top has been much due to their own good work as it has been to many of their rivals' failure to truly assert themselves as.

Despite the importance of club football, Euro 2012 dominates the majority of the continent's players' thoughts going into the second half of the season. Italian football has had it's share of ups and downs over the last decade, with the elation of winning the World Cup in 2006 counteracted by scandal in the domestic game; Italy need a strong performance in the tournament.

Juventus will be at home for the first time in 2012 on Sunday when they welcome Cagliari to the Juventus Stadium. Starting the New Year off with more of a whimper than a bang, Juve did manage to take home the three points from Lecce even if it was a struggle. As Antonio Conte stated afterwards, they will look to build from that match and improve their performance.

Serie A Weekly welcomes writer Luca Cetta to our pages Udinese and Juventus played out a 0-0 draw at the Stadio Friuli in Wednesday evening's early Serie A kick-off. The winner would go first, but in a match of few clear cut chances, Juve remains unbeaten while Udinese's home winning streak has come to an end.

Chelsea breathed life into their faint title hopes, while also helping open up the English Premier League title race after handing Manchester City their first loss of the season in a 2-1 victory at Stamford Bridge on Monday.

Frank Lampard came off the bench to convert the game-winning penalty as a Joleon Lescott handball doomed City to their first defeat, which leaves the Premier League leaders just two points ahead of Manchester United.

AS Roma vs Juventus 1-1 Highlights 2011 Video Goals De Rossi Chiellini Totti miss is a post from Soccer Blogger. Follow Soccer Blogger on Twitter

AS Roma vs Juventus 1-1 Highlights 2011 Video Goals De Rossi Chiellini Totti miss is a post from Soccer Blogger. Follow Soccer Blogger on Twitter AS Roma vs Juventus 2011 ( Video Roma Juventus below) Final score and result:- AS Roma vs Juventus 1-1 ( Daniele de Rossi/ Giorgio Chiellini) Stadio Olimpico, Rome, Italy- Monday- [.

Juventus defender Giorgio Chiellini has brushed off speculation linking him with a possible move to Liverpool.
Reports emanating in England had suggested Liverpool were lining up a January swoop for the Italy international.
However, Chiellini has moved quickly to brush off the rumours admitting the reports were "laughable".

Chiellini laughs off Liverpool talk

Juventus defender Giorgio Chiellini has laughed off reports linking him with a possible move to Liverpool.

View the full story here: Sky Sports

A news article on 2011-12-06 19:44:54 from: Sky Sports

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

Manchester City striker Mario Balotelli is expected to start today's friendly fixture against Uruguay. The 21 year old striker who been instrumental in City's recent form will earn his 6th cap for the senior side in a match that could cement his position in the Italian squad.

After his amazing performances against Poland last Friday, Prandelli has decided to stick with Balotelli.

by serieaweekly guest writer Matthew Coccoluto This Sunday will see Juventus travel to the San Paolo to take on Napoli and as always there are some interesting story lines coming into this matchup. Juventus are coming off a strong win against Inter last weekend and are hoping to remain the leagues only unbeaten team.

Juventus threw away another two points with Genoa scoring a late equalizer in Turin to force a 2-2 draw on Saturday. The Juve supporters must be disappointed with the club's inability to display a killer instinct in finishing off weaker opponents. The Bianconeri also wasted a number of opportunities highlighting the lack of scoring touch despite the presence a plethora of attacking options such as Fabio Quagliarella (did not play versus Genoa), Alessandro Matri (scorer of both of Juve's goals versus Genoa), Alessandro Del Piero (a late substitute) and Mirko Vučinić (played but again failed to score).

After a quite incredible week which saw Internazionale coach Gian Piero Gasperini lose his job just three games into the Serie A season, one thing is abunduntly clear in the world of Italian Football the Scudetto is definitely there to be won.

For the first time in a long time, there is no clear front runner to win the league and there is a growing belief that one of as many as 7 or 8 different clubs could be crowned champions at the end of the season.

Germany, Italy, Spain and Netherlands (plus hosts Poland and Ukraine) are the first nations to be qualified to Euro 2012 with still two more rounds of matches to play in October.

In this moment Germany and Spain seemed the best European national teams. Last saturday Joachim Loew's team has won 4-0 for the 4th time in the season and they're ready to improve the second place in Euro 2008 and the semifinal of the last Wolrd Cup.

Yes, it may have been "just a friendly," but anytime you can claim a victory over the reigning world and European champions, it is something worthy of getting excited over. Italy's 2-1 win at the Stadio San Nicola in Bari over Spain may not count in terms of any competition, but for new coach Cesare Prandelli this win brings a smile to his face and hope to fans of the Azzurri.

Philippe Mexes is a dirty cheat. He's a walking red card and a thuggish scumbag; an explosion waiting to happen like that quiet, inevitable interval in between lighting a firecracker and waiting for it to go off. Philippe Mexes is a tremendous defender. Sure, he has a dirty side, but what centerback doesn't?

Guest writer/Abdel Kader Zeidan The last week has been an active one for Juventus, as we witnessed a change of direction in the transfer market, the team starting the pre-season training, Amauri receiving abuse from fans and an Iaquinta injury. Nothing out of the ordinary there. Meanwhile at the Copa America last week every time Sergio Aguero grabs a goal, he seems further and further away from.

Goals from Keith Andrews and Simon Cox in either half saw Ireland pull off a famous victory over Italy in Liege.
Andrews scored with a low effort into the corner of the goal on 36 minutes after an excellent back heel from the impressive Stephen Hunt.
Giovanni Trapattoni's 'Boys In Green' then had to withstand pressure from the former world Champions before substitute Cox tapped home a Hunt cross at the death to make sure of the win.

Juventus twice came from behind to earn a 2-2 draw at home to Champions League qualifiers Napoli on the final day of the Serie A season, but it was not enough to put them in the Europa League. Goals from Christian Maggio and Cristiano Lucarelli had given the visitors the lead on two occasions but Giorgio Chiellini and Alessandro Matri levelled the scores.

In what has become a habit for Juventus, the Bianconeri dropped two points and settled for a draw with Catania. Juve could not defend a 2-0 lead over the visitors who have yet to register their first away win of the season. The Bianconeri squad is lacking in quality and this is evident when the legendary but aging Alessandro Del Piero is the main source of creativity for the team.

In what has become a habit for Juventus, the Bianconeri dropped two points and settled for a draw with Catania. Juve could not defend a 2-0 lead over the visitors who have yet to register their first away win of the season. The Bianconeri squad is lacking in quality and this is evident when the legendary but aging Alessandro Del Piero is the main source of creativity for the team.

Now that we know the squad that Cesare Prandelli is taking with him it is time to discuss the matches coming up. Italy have two games within a 4 day stretch, and they will be the away side for both games. However, there is a big difference between the two games. One is a Euro Qualifier that, with a win, could send Italy to a very safe place in group C and the other is an international friendly.

Juventus have struggled to find any consistency throughout another frustrating season which currently sees them sit in sixth place in Serie A with Lazio in fourth on 48 points, a full seven ahead of Juve. There is no point comparing this season's Juve with the last one for a number of reasons.

Cesare Prandelli has a big test coming up, when the Italian national team faces Germany in Dortmund on February 8th. His list of 23 called up players features some new faces, along with a few returning veterans. Yet the squad which has been called up is missing some important players who are injured.

ROME, Italy — Alessandro Matri returned to haunt his former club Cagliari on Saturday when he scored twice in Juventus's 3-1 win. The victory ended a run of three straight defeats and eased the pressure on Juve coach Luigi Delneri. Matri's goals sandwiched a strike from Cagliari's Robert Acquafresca before Luca Toni scored a late [.

PALERMO, Italy Palermo put a huge dent in Juventus' Champions League qualification hopes after beating the Turin giants 2-1 at Stadio Renzo Barbera in Serie A. In doing so Palermo leap-frog Juventus in the table and look a good bet for European football next season. With this loss Juventus' winless streak reached four matches.

Scot Munroe presents Team of the Week for match-day 21. Formation 3-4-3 Goalkeeper Michele Arcari (Brescia) Denied Palermo on more than one occasion and did well to keep the score down. Both Pastore and Miccoli were denied by the keeper on numerous times. Sadly was beaten by a brilliant strike by Cesare Bovo Centre back Philippe Mexes (Roma) Replaced Nicolas Burdisso in the Xi and was Man of the.

We know. Javier's hair. We'll discuss in a minute. Images: Zimbio.com.

Italian footballers! Oh, how we love to love. And yet? Much like the rude arse Yetis placed outside our favourite nightclubs whose sole purpose in life is to push us away from guest list queue towards the one full of peasants, footballers' fashion choices often act in a similar, aggressive shoving manner to our senses.

Internazionale swept all before them at this year's Oscar's; and Il Principe, Diego Milito, finally got the recognition he so greatly deserves. These awards are particularly significant as they are voted for by the Serie A players. "Il Principe" won the best Foreign Player and also Player of the Year.

Chances are if you love Serie A then you keep up with the Italian National Team, or gli Azzurri. The national team has a long history on the national stage. Italy has won the World Cup tournament 4 times, only second to Brazil's five time championship record. The names Giuseppe Meazza, Alessandra Del Piero, Dino Zoff and Paolo Rossi have all worn the blue jersey at one time.

Episode 2 of the New Year bring more surprises as the boys are joined by Matthew Barker a freelance writer who has been published in the pages of FourFourTwo, When Saturday Comes, Esquire, GQ, ITV and Skysports. Topics include the Macheda loan-transfer, Roma and Mexes, Juventus' crashing fall and Udinese's romp in the San Siro.