Mama Mia! After two weeks of Serie A action, the biggest surprise is Lazio is atop the standings with 6 points followed by Atalanta with 6 points and Torino with 4. Lazio is up by virtue of the five goals scored. But say this about Mauro Zarate… that’s three goals in two matches. He scored a brace in the season opener against Cagliari and added a penalty strike against Sampdoria. If he keeps this up, he’s sure to receive a call up to the Argentine national squad that recently won Olympic Gold. But you have to like that attacking triangle with Zarate at the apex and Ousmane Dabo and Goran Pandev on the wings. They’re good finishers and speedy too. Avanti Lazio!
But don’t count out the traditional favorites who are somewhere in the standings and should climb back up soon if they’ll have it their way.
What this reminds me of is Manchester City’s early run last season in the English Premier League when they were flat out outplaying everybody and they were Number One in England with a bullet. Of course when the dust settled after 38 matches, the Old Order was restored.
But… there is a but somewhere. Hope springs eternal. Dreaming of cracking the top four for a spot in next season’s Champions League and if they can put a little more distance on Real Madrid and Valencia… who knows?
Inter Milan. I wonder if this is the proper marriage between Jose Mourinho and the three time defending champs. Mourinho’s Chelsea played in a rich district of London but the team was known for its hard hat players like Frank Lampard and John Terry whose excellent work ethic rubbed off on all. In Milan… well, Internazionale isn’t the workhorse team he had in London. A friend of mine said that the difference between English football and the Italian or Spanish version is the weather. In the UK, people wake up and the weather sucks and they play real pissed. In the Continent, it’s more sunny so they’d rather run and pass. Luis Figo clearly is in the twilight of his great career. Does Mourinho expect him to run back and defend and sprint back up the line? People would wonder why when the Nerazurri have great defenders like Ivan Cordoba, Javier Zanetti, and the Brazilian tandem of Maicon and Maxwell. But that’s why he brought in Ricardo Quaresma so he has that Mourinho prototype blue collar player. Time will tell, of course, if this is a perfect fit for the Special One.
As for Juventus…. Alessandro del Piero should be back for La Vecchia Signora soon. The squad is a couple of points behind Torino unlike AC Milan which is at the bottom. Like I said… too early.
Liverpool beat Marseille 2-1 at the Stade Velodrome to kick off their Champions League Group Stage campaign. Last season, the Reds took it on the chin with a 1-nil loss at Anfield before more than repaying the favor with a 4-0 demolition of Marseille at their home field. LFC icon Steven Gerrard scored both goals in yesterday's match and is now Liverpool’s all-time leading scorer in European play. Midfielder Ryan Babel is now fully healed of the injury that kept him out of Euro 2008 and played well against Marseille but take a gander at Robbie Keane who came off the bench for Dirk Kuyt. He's been unable to mesh upfront so far even with Fernando Torres.
What can you say about Numancia? After getting promoted to the first division, they beat Barca then put the scare of God into Real Madrid before losing 4-3. And this while Sergio Kresic's side is playing without the injured Antonio Guayre.
Barcelona (sorry, Soler) lost their opening game at the Pimera Liga with a 1-0 loss to Numancia then tied Racing Satander 1-1. Pep Guardiola’s boys are feeling the pressure this early on. Luckily for their side, they got back on track with a 3-1 win over Sporting Lisbon in Champions League play. Sam Eto’o… great talent but should keep his mouth shut.
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