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Josip Ilicic of Palermo (Wikimedia Commons)

On Sunday, Palermo fell 1-0 to Fiorentina in a crucial match for top-flight survival. The result means that theRosanero will now be playing in Italy's second-tier professional league next season.

Palermo president Maurizio Zamparini, the man who bought the club in 2002 and helped bring them into the Serie A, has conceded that they will be a struggle to hold onto the likes of Josip Ilicic and many of the club's star players now that the club has fallen to Serie B for next season.

Napoli conquered Bologna to secure second place, Fiorentina won the Tuscan Derby, Juve clinched victory in Bergamo and Udinese stunned Palermo in a 3-2 thriller in Serie A action tonight.

AC Milan beat relegated Pescara 4-0 to close in on a top-three finish and that all-important Champions League spot.

Josip Ilicic of Palermo (Wikimedia Commons)

In 2010 Italian Serie A side Palermo stumbled upon two young Slovenian star midfielders. The first being Armin Bacinovic and the second being rising starlet Josip Ilicic. The two moved to the southern Italian island in the summer of 2010 from Maribor and have been on the books for the Rosanero.

Photo by Paolo Bruno/Getty Images

The battle for supremacy in Italy continued this past weekend as the race towards the top of the table became even tighter.

The key result was second-place Inter Milan's 1-0 away defeat at the hands of Lazio. In a relatively even affair, the teams looked likely to share the spoils until a Miroslav Klose goal in the 82nd minute gave the hosts the lead they would maintain until the final whistle.

Serie A leaders Juventus eked out a 1-0 victory away against Palermo to increase their lead at the Serie A summit to four points, while Inter Milan beat Napoli 2-1 to leapfrog Walter Mazzarri's men into second.

Juve had suspended coach Antonio Conte back on the sideline for the first time this season as his suspension in the match-fixing scandal has ended.

Verona pulled off a shock in the fourth round of the Coppa Italia after they beat Serie A side Palermo 2-1 at the Stadio Renzo Barbera.

Verona are riding high in third place in Serie B and took that form into this evening's cup clash.

The home side made the ideal start as Luigi Giorgi gave Palermo a seventh-minute lead, but two minutes later Verona levelled through Andrea Cocco before Daniele Cacia sealed the win after 73 minutes.

Lazio - Roma: Il derby è arrivato Di Fabrizio Landolfi Domenica pomeriggio si gioca il derby del Cupolone: la Roma di Zeman, reduce dall'importante vittoria per 4-1 sul Palermo, contro la Lazio di Petkovic, sconfitta pesantemente a Catania ma riscattatasi giovedì sera, quando ha battuto il Panatinaikos in Europa League.

Roma - Palermo 4 - 1: Prova convincente dei Giallorossi Di Fabrizio Landolfi La Roma ha avuto la meglio sul Palermo allo stadio Olimpico, nel posticipo dell'undicesima di campionato: quella dei giallorossi è stata una vittoria netta, col risultato di 4-1. Finalmente, la squadra è riuscita a mantenere una buona concentrazione per 90 minuti, senza concedere facili possibilit agli avversari.

Manchester City FA Cup 2011 (Flickr Commons)

With the news of Sir Alex Ferguson's retirement still being digested by many, as well as rampant speculation regarding the future of Jose Mourinho in Spain, it's safe to say that it's been a pretty eventful week in football so far. And with the weekend on the horizon, we can now look ahead to the range of on-the-field matters that look set to be settled in the coming days.

Leon Osmsn of Everton attempts to tackle Liverpool's Stewart Downing (Flickr Commons)

Though many of the major leagues are just weeks away from reaching the end of their campaigns, there appears to be no sign of the action slowing down just yet. This weekend plays host to some of the biggest games of the football calendar, with high-profile fixtures featured from right across the globe.

Rafael of Manchester United (Photo by Ian Walton/Getty Images)

With a number of the top European leagues entering their final 10 games of the season, we find ourselves at an exciting time in the world football calendar. A strong run of form now could see two championships won, continental football secured and even the threat of relegation avoided.

10.12.2012 - Nueve entrenadores fueron cesados en el transcurso del Torneo Inicial 2012:

Frank Kudelka en Unión (sustituido por Nery Pumpido); Rodolfo Arruabarrena en Tigre (Néstor Gorosito), Cristian Díaz en Independiente (Américo Gallego); Ricardo Caruso Lombardi en San Lorenzo (Juan Antonio Pizzi), Facundo Sava en San Martín (Gabriel Perrone), Leonardo Astrada en Argentinos Juniors (Gabriel Schurrer), Omar Asad en Godoy Cruz (Martín Palermo), Matías Almeyda en River Plate (Ramón Díaz) y Darío Forestello en Rafaela (Jorge Burruchaga).

* Encuentros a completar: Quilmes - Tigre (fecha 19) e Independiente - Tigre (fecha 12)
* Descenso directo: Independiente (1.128); Quilmes (1.000) y Unión (1.000).
* Nueve entrenadores fueron cesados en el transcurso del campeonato: Frank Kudelka en Unión (sustituido por Nery Pumpido); Rodolfo Arruabarrena en Tigre (Néstor Gorosito), Cristian Díaz en Independiente (Américo Gallego); Ricardo Caruso Lombardi en San Lorenzo (Juan Antonio Pizzi), Facundo Sava en San Martín (Gabriel Perrone), Leo Astrada en Argentinos Juniors (Gabriel Schurrer), Omar Asad en Godoy Cruz (Martín Palermo), Matías Almeyda en River Plate (Ramón Díaz) y Darío Forestello en Rafaela (Jorge Burruchaga).

By JUSTIN FERGUSON

Although the result was much closer than they would have liked, Juventus celebrated their second straight Serie A title with their fans in Turin on Sunday.

Juve narrowly edged relegation-threatened Palermo, 1-0, on an Arturo Vidal penalty.

Palermo have had a terrible season filled with managerial hirings and sackings and rehirings and resackings, along with the poor performances that you might expect to go with all of that. So having a steadily slipped down the Serie A table since finishing fifth in 2009/10, Palermo now find themselves in the relegation zone with just a handful of matches left to play.

#WhereIsFootball: March, 2013.

1. "Throwback to when I used to live in Brazil. Just kidding, this is Vung Tau, Vietnam." [x]

2. Nothing like Sicilian calcio on a perfect pitch.

QPR on the verge of signing Christopher Samba - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

QPR boss Harry Redknapp is closing in on the signing of Anzhi Makhachkala defender Christopher Samba after the London based club triggered £10m release clause inserted in his contract.

Guus Hiddink is unhappy with Samba's attitude towards Anzhi

The former Blackburn Rovers defender has been with the Russian club for less than a year and left his teammates at the club's winter training camp in Spain (Russian Premier league is on a winter break) to discuss personal terms with QPR.

The agent of Palermo playmaker Josip Ilicic insists that there is no truth in speculation linking his client with a move to Liverpool.
Reds boss Brendan Rodgers is still in the market for creative talent, according to Sky Sports, with Daniel Sturridge the only addition to-date at Anfield during the January transfer window.