The 12th round of Serie A has already delivered two verdicts: on Thursday evening, Gilardino’s Genoa drew 1-1 at home against Como, while on Friday evening Lecce-Empoli ended with the same result. The Saturday matches will kick off at 3:00 PM Italian time with Venezia-Parma, a crucial match both for survival and for the futures of coaches Di Francesco and Pecchia, as both teams have earned many compliments but few points so far.
At 6:00 PM, the spotlight will be on Cagliari-Milan: the Rossoneri come from a great win in Madrid against Real, but the risk of losing focus after such a thrilling Champions League performance is high, and Fonseca will need to make the right changes to manage the fatigue accumulated during the week. At 8:45 PM, the Turin derby between Juventus and Torino will take place: Thiago Motta must secure the three points to shake off the uncomfortable “Mister X” label he earned after a season full of draws in both the league and cup. Juventus’ defensive solidity has been weakened by Brehmer’s loss, and they need more goals from Vlahovic in attack.
Sunday’s matches will start at 12:30 PM with Atalanta vs Udinese in Bergamo: Gasperini’s team is perhaps the most in-form team in the league, coming off two big away wins against Napoli and Stuttgart. Fiorentina-Verona and Monza-Lazio seem like good opportunities for Palladino and Baroni’s teams to keep pace with the top teams, but especially watch out for Monza, coached by the legendary ex Nesta, whose position has been precarious for some time. They will be looking for a turnaround at home to get back on track.
At 3:00 PM, the struggling Roma under Juric will take to the field, possibly facing the final moments of his time as Roma coach: if they lose against Bologna, Juric’s sacking seems almost inevitable, though some believe his fate is sealed even with a draw or victory. Mancini is the front-runner to replace him, but Allegri’s name has also been mentioned. Roma’s season seems to be severely compromised, partly due to inexplicable ownership and management decisions, and fan protests continue. The big match of the 12th round will take place later on Sunday at San Siro, with Inter and Napoli facing off. The Nerazzurri come off a great Champions League win against Arsenal, while Napoli, who are not involved in European competitions, suffered a heavy defeat at home to Atalanta in the last Serie A match and risk losing all the advantage they had built earlier in the season, which had put them 5 points ahead of second place just two rounds ago.
