It is a sports holiday at Barbera whenever one form big three comes to town. Palermo are out of form having won only four points in five games and Ballardini has his feet on fire. In his recognizable style, chairman Zamparini stormed on ref Rizzoli claiming to have directed Sicilians’ defeat in Torino, but he had things to say to his players too. Namely, he said his team had played cowardly and the gap between him and a coach is getting bigger. In his 15 years in football world, both as the chairman at Venice and Palermo, Zamparini had sacked 27 managers. Obviously, no one is safe with him. After a dying-moment win over Udinese, Inter grabbed the pole position, since Milan have been stopped in Lecce. Still no one is pleased with champions’ performance. Mourinho slammed the press, he has his black list prepared with Adriano as the first pick to be dropped in January already. Outing to Sicily is a difficult task because if Inter don’t put up their play on a higher plane, they will have a hard time getting points from hot Barbera.

Inter continued poor performance, after the undeserved win in Calabria, they were on the verge of losing in the Champions League against Anorthosis but they ended up saving a point. After the match Mourinho admitted that defense is not working, that some things must be changed as this is definitely not his idea of good performance. The optimistic ones claim that things will fall into place and that team’s quality guarantees good performance sooner or later. Other think that the Portuguese coach doesn’t realize that calcio is very different from Premiership and that his tactical ideas are not doing well in Italy. Udinese continued their awesome run in UEFA Cup by the middle of the week and they arrive at Meazza on Sunday to continue it. Friuliani roared through Moscow and the match against Spartak was solved by Fabio Quagliarella, the player that is slowly reaching his full form. After the draw against Genoa last week, Udinese slipped from the first place but they are only one point behind Milan and they certainly won’t be an easy rival for Inter.

Champions failed to win the last match at Meazza.

Outnumbered genoa managed to resist them without sent-off Juric. After this match but also after the draw with Fiorentina, Mourinho faced a barrage of criticism. Portuguese coach’s statements gained him many enemies in Italian football so everyone were eager to see more poor results. Anyway, Inter are not too far behind their rivals, a poit behind Milan and they are still ahead of Juventus so there is no reason for worries yet. They will have to change something as 4-3-3 formation the coach insists on is not giving results, perhaps because Cambiasso is injured and the reserves are out of form. Players like Quaresma and Mancini didn’t show the quality they were brought for; the attack comes down to Ibrahimovic and moving Adriano away from the team, as justified as it may be, weakened the offensive line. Cambiasso is back which is a big boost, however you can’t rely on only one player; if Inter doesn’t improve dramatically from what we saw in most of the games this season, they will have problems in handling Udinese.

This is the chance for Inter to finish the job, after taking seven points from three matches the game in Cyprus will perhaps be the key for an easy finish of the group stage. First of all, after several tough Serie A matches, Italian champion saw that this season will be anything but not an easy walk to new crown. The rivals are stronger, unlike Milan Inter must play in two competitions and Mourinho still hasn’t managed to impose his style. Saturday win in Calabria was a fortunate and undeserved one, so the pressure on controversial Portuguese coach is growing. Honey moon is over. Anorthosis are making history, they are the first Cyprian club that qualified for the Champions League and they don’t intend to stop there. They took four points in the first three rounds, won only Panathinaikos at home and drew in Bremen, while they suffered a minimum loss at Meazza to Inter two weeks ago. They did lose but they weren’t humiliated.

Reggina almost took the trip to Naples as a chance to do some sightseeing, as they easily lost another away game and according to reports, they will be looking for the new coach, come Monday. President Foti is pondering a couple of possible replacements, and the biggest chances are given to the experienced Papadopulo. Calabresi seemed frightened as usual, they conceded three goals and avoided heavy defeat only thanks to the fact that Napoli slowed down, saving the strength for the game with Milan. Inter is coming to Granillo, the team that slipped to the fourth place in the overall standings following two goalless draws. Mourinho is starting to feel the pressure and the public opinion is that his team is not playing the way they should and that they were second best against Fiorentina. Except when Mancini hit the crossbar, the champion wasn’t threatening to Frey at all. They were lucky, as the referee missed to award Fiorentina a penalty, thus Nero-azzurri could have lost the game at the Franchi.

Fiorentina have plenty of reasons to be satisfied after last weekend. They have reached the top after the win in Barbera. It is very hard to take points in Sicily but the purple’s fourth straight triumph saw them side by side leading teams. Three points suited them just fine after the tough loss in the Champions League though the success is still shadowed. There was a lot of turmoil about Gilardino’s handling the ball and Palermo president Zamparini came down on the excellent scorer and asks for his suspension. This might happen but probably after the match against Inter. Champions dropped two points at home, Genoa avoided defeat at Meazza and Jose Mourinho was furious at his players that didn’t keep to the agreement from the locker room. He threatened with repercussions not so much because of the results, but because of the play that was very poor at moments. Even the fact they had a numerical advantage didn’t help Inter.

inter are already standing on top of the standings completely alone. They have two points in hand in front of their rivals, but more importantly, biggest threats for their title vying are on the safe distance. Lazio, Catania and Napoli are closest behind. With all due respect, none of them can’t threat the champions. After the great show in Rome, Mourinho said that was the Inter he wanted to see from one game to another. This certainly was black and blues’ best performance, but the margin was too high. Once again, the master and commander of the triumph was Zlatan Ibrahimovic who had opened the score and then only sealed the rivals’ fate. Genoa are arriving to Meazza after the win over Siena. It wasn’t a memorable performance but the points are most important. Gasperini felt that his team’s flying performance would have a hard time breaching the packed defense of the Toscanini side, so he entered the game more carefully. His team scored a goal and it was enough to win the game. Former youth coach at Juventus, is very mature at the helm of his present team, if he manages to find the away games recipe, Genoa could even find a way to UEFA Cup next season.

Inter’s triumph in Rome claimed their contention for defending the title, and judging by what we saw so far in Serie A, only their city rivals could be a threat. After demolishing Roma, Mourinho said that it was his side’s best game this season and that it is only the beginning. Zlatan Ibrahimovic shined again and his fifth-minute drive opened the door to victory and it was all routine after that. Neroazzuri are now on top with two points ahead of their rivals. This season is a dream for Anorthosis, by far the most successful season in the history of the club. Cyprus side first eliminated Rapid and Olympiakos in the qualifications and for the first time in history they qualified for the group stage. They have also had an excellent start so we can see why coach Ketsbaia is now trying to calm the euphoria after four points taken in the first two games.

Derby of the 7th round as champions Inter arrive at Olimpico. This will be the clash of the teams that had the main role in Serie A after calciopoli. Neroazzuri won two titles, while giallorossi snatched two cups. This of course didn’t satisfy Roma’s ambitions that were greatly damaged last year in their fight for the title. Roman’s were bitter at the situation, as theses sides met in a super cup match that ended 2:2 but Inter got hold of the unimportant trophy after the penalty. Recent history shows that Inter always play better away against Roma. Statistics show that they have gone five years without losing to Roma in Serie A, the situation in the cup is completely different but don’t let that fool you. This is an insignificant competition, and Inter doesn’t care much for the double crown. That is why they can be optimistic before this game. Roma are in a crisis, as they lost three out of six matches and they can’t seem to complete their squad. There are some hints that Totti will start this match, but few other players are suspended.

Last week was not good for Inter; they first suffered the defeat in the derby Della Madonina and then failed to beat Werder in the Champions League on Wednesday. The question is: do we se first cracks in the champions squad? After the failure against Milan they insisted on the fact that they deserved at least a point but on one wanted to hear excuses. They defended, without a positive approach in the game and the media couldn’t wait to criticize Mourinho. His replies are controversial statements, but the thing that worked in England, meets disapproval in Italy. After the triumph over Milan, Bologna lost four games in a row. Arrigoni is still on the bench but he will probably lose his job if there is no progress. He might get sacked in the upcoming break, though president Menarini claims that the coach is safe.

Inter’s wounds are still healing from the city derby defeat. The public didn’t welcome Mourinho well and they don’t want to hear his statements and controversies so they glad to see this defeat. Inter play was considered cowardly, tactics completely wrong and the squad clueless and focused on the opposite attack instead of their own. The truth is that initial 4-3-3 formation failed as Quaresma, Mancini and Ibrahimovic were cut-off. Mourinho tried to change something in the second half by introducing Cruz and Adrian but his team had few chances they failed to use. Werder arrive at Meazza after a new win; after Bayern, they also beat Hoffenheim, scored five goals again but this kind of style, with their guard down usually doesn’t do good in Europe. Bremen side didn’t start well in the Champions League as they only drew 0:0 with Anorthosis at home.