(Note: Sorry that this is later than usual for the week, but the wifi in my current apartment in Buenos Aires is hit-and-miss and this week, mostly miss. I move this weekend and hopefully, this will improve.)

In 1991, for the seventh consecutive year, the club that won the Champions League did not finish on top of the World Club Rankings annual charts.

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19-year-old Norwegian starlet Jo Inge Berget is contracted to Udinese Calcio, but would rather be anywhere else than in Udine.

After a loan spell at his home club in Norway, the striker was expected by Norwegian media to get a call-up to the senior national team in November, alongside players such as Aston Villas John Carew and Le Mans Club's Thorstein Helstad.

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Rafa needs to find funds for Brazilian talent.

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There has been increased speculation for the highly rated Brazilian Hernanes, with a move to Premier League giants Liverpool.

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Rafa interested in Samba Star.

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Interest is mounting for Brazilian hot property Hernanes who is strongly linked with a move to Italy but has also attracted the interest of a number of Premier League sides.

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For years all we've been hearing about is how great the English and Spanish clubs are, about how much better they are than our "aging" Italian clubs. Based on recent CL performances, that looks to be out the window.

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Two large Italian clubs received huge injury news today as they sought to climb up the Serie A table.

Juventus star and striker Vincent Iaquinta revealed today that he has a torn meniscus and will have surgery on his knee Tuesday.� He injured it during training Saturday and did not play this Sunday against Siena.

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First off, I noticed that I forgot to put links to the international cup tournaments and to prior annual rankings in my post for 1989. If you read that post and noticed those missing, I have gone back to that post and remedied that. Sorry.

1990 seemed fairly similar to 1989 in the big scheme of things.

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For the unsuspecting football supporter, the prospect of a European away trip to Italy is usually accompanied by a detailed health warning. As Mirror columnist Brian Reade noted recently: "Spend a night as a football fan in Italy and there's a good chance you'll end up eating hospital food. Usually after being stabbed in the buttocks by a youth wearing a crash helmet who does you from behind and then scarpers. Click to continue reading...

Arsenal and Manchester United fans will remember the games against Fiorentina in the early part of noughties as Spanish and Italian clubs dominated the European front. That Fiorentina featured the likes of Gabriel Batistuta, Fernando Toldo and Rui Costa. In the following years they went from one extreme to the other as they rose from the grave to once again qualify for the Champions League.

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� A lot has been said about Serie A's� decline over the past couple of years. Critics have claimed the English Premiership and Spain's La Liga have become Europe's best leagues leaving Serie A to challenge the Bundesliga for third spot.� �

Sadly, Serie A has witnessed a sharp decline in the past few years that cannot be attributed to the lack of financial means alone.

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Here we go again!

Fifa have confirmed they have been contacted by Fiorentina about Manchester United's signing of Michele Fornasier.

The Italian Under 16 skipper has agreed a move to Old Trafford and he played in their Milk Cup win in Northern Ireland in the summer.

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I am no Chelsea fan, also the full facts are not yet out, but having collected my thoughts it does appear that they may have been rather harshly treated by FIFA. Tapping up adult players under contract is something that should be punished severely, but time and time again UEFA and FIFA have ignored the big Spanish and Italian clubs of doing this, what Chelsea have been banned for this time around Click to continue reading...

Can This Man Own Milan?

For Milan fans, the news was bad enough that they had been trounced by rival Inter while being watched by their owner and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.� However, a rumor circulating that Berlusconi has been in negotiations to sell the club to Libyan leader Muammar al-Gadaffi adds to the confusion about whether the team is a serious threat to the scudetto and Champions League.

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The new season saw one of the biggest Italian clubs left without a manager already after first two rounds. Luciano Spalletti obviously had enough after his team was demolished in the derby against Juventus and right after the game he resigned from the post of Roma boss. New coach on Roma bench, Claudio Ranieri stated on his presentation that he will try to shake things up, so his team could contend for the title this season.

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Most Italian soccer fans should be familiar with the name of Andrea Russotto. As a youngster he was dubbed as "the next Roberto Baggio" and "Antonio Cassano with a level head" but up until now he has not even been close to living up to those names. His story is a bit particular, and for those of you that don't know it here it is.

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The title race will be solved by Inter or Juventus this season. Milan will have nothing to do with it and seven days before the start of the season soccerpie gives you the comparison of three biggest Italian clubs.

Inter – life without Ibrahimovic

Inter are certainly starting the new season as favourites for lo scudetto, however the difference in the quality is not so big anymore, as Juventus are reinforced and much stronger.

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The time many of you have been waiting for is here. The English Premiership season debuts this weekend!!!! Though I'm aware that some of you still are patiently awaiting the beginning of La Liga and Serie A, but this weekend's debuts are enough to celebrate. We can celebrate the other debuts in the next few weeks. Click to continue reading...

Although last weekend's Supercoppa match between Inter Milan and Lazio in Beijing, China made craptons of money for all parties involved, the Chinese hosts apparently weren't too pleased with the visiting Italian clubs or Jose Mourinho in particular. From Reuters:

"The two teams from Italy were just like two luxury tourist groups," Wang Bo, who looked after the teams on behalf of organisers United Vanson International, told the Beijing News.

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It seems that the wandering time, transition period after relegation to the second league and breaking legs on Italian countryside is finally over. Over the last two years, after returning to Serie A, the biggest Italian club were searching for their identity. Delusions like Claudio Ranieri or bad moves on the market cost them dearly, but they have learnt the lesson.

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As we amble through the 'most amazing transfer season ever', drunk on the memories of the 'closest title race ever' from last season and looking forward to what surely must be 'the most exciting Premier League season ever', it's easy to miss the trees for the forest - or the blinding neon light that is 24/7/365 football.

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It's the summer, and that means summer friendlies. And most Italian clubs (the ones that don't go abroad and play in makeshift tournaments vs other big sides) stay in a remote town up in northern Italy or even another country like Austria. So, to gain match fitness, they play summer friendlies, and these summer friendlies are most of the time vs whatever local side the club can find, usually made up of the town butcher, a construction worker, some bricklayers, and a few office workers.

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The Italian season opener, the Supercoppa Italiana (Italian Super Cup), between Serie A champions Internazionale and Italian Cup winners Lazio, is taking place abroad again at Beijing's Olympic Stadium the Bird's Nest. It's a showy step in Italian football's attempts to keep pace with the Premier League's branded behemoths and one that also includes a breakaway league reminiscent of England's league transformation in the 1990s.

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Interest is mounting for Brazilian hot property Hernanes who is strongly linked with a move to Italy but has also attracted the interest of a number of Premier League sides.
Liverpool are the latest club to be linked with the playmaker in the Brazilian press with claims that Rafa Benitez will replace want-away midfield schemer Xabi Alonso with the talented South American. Click to continue reading...

I've been avoiding most of the circus- you know, the clowns, elephants, and lions- for a few reasons. One, it has shit all to do with the Azzurri. None of these guys are Italian and except for probably making ti tougher fro Italian clubs to win the CL, this hardly affects Italy at all. But at the same time, I'm personally torn.

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With most news being transfer rumors now and calcio being in a lull period, I thought this would be an interesting thing to do. I call it Calcio Quiz! (name stolen from an iPhone application. My apologies if the creator is reading this), and I'll test your knowledge of the calcio world with random questions that I made up.

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After the disappointing last season, Juventus officials have been very busy during this transfer window and they managed to sign a couple of great players. After Diego and Cannavaro, Old Lady won the race with Arsenal to sign excellent Fiorentina midfielder Felipe Melo, who will join the club in exchange for €20 million and Marco Marchionni.

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Dave McIntyre/BBC606 - Magilton eyes first signing
Rangers are hoping to sign Argentine playmaker Alejandro Damian Faurlin. Click to continue reading...

Sir Alex Ferguson is back to his old tricks as he raids yet another mid-level Italian club of their best prospect right before the Italian outfit can sign said prospect (see Federico Macheda and Giuseppe Rossi). Sir Alex attracts and signs the players at age 16 just before the players can sign professional contracts with their Italian clubs. Click to continue reading...

Fantastic performance on U21EURO have launched Marcus Berg, Swedish international striker into the football orbit. He sank both Belarus and Serbia with seven goals in four matches and he deserved the title of championship's best player.

The market reacted right away and the price on this blonde striker grew up so his club Groningen won't sell him for less than 10 million Euros.

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American soccer fans weren't the only ones watching the U.S. national team's run to the Confederations Cup final, and the stellar performances from several American players to make it happen.

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American soccer fans weren't the only ones watching the U.S. national team's run to the Confederations Cup final, and the stellar performances from several American players to make it happen.

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Press reports suggest a number of Serie A's biggest clubs are vying for the signature of PSV's attacking midfielder Ibrahim Afellay this summer alongside Rafa Benitez's Liverpool.
The talented 23-year-old has also been linked to a number of Premier League clubs in the past with Arsenal thought to be very keen although the arrival of Andrey Arshavin seems to have ended that interest. Click to continue reading...

According to "Berliner Kurier", Manchester United are keen on Serbian utility player Gojko Kacar, who played very well at the Under 21 Euro in Sweden. The reports are suggesting that Hertha could be forced to sell him in order to solve difficult financial situation, but several Italian clubs are also in the race.

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If you had mentioned Luis Jimenez's name three or four year ago in his home country, Chile, no one would have known what you are talking about. Today he is an international, playing in one of the most prestigious clubs in Italy and he should move to West Ham.

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Well, it looks like Vermaelen is all but a done deal. He claims he has reported to London for his Arsenal medical. Frankly, once things get to that point, there is probably very little left to do in terms of finalizing the deal. Vermaelen seems genuinely pumped about the move, saying:

I feel so proud.

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