Serie A Power Rankings: Round 24 and Recent Make-Up Matches

This is still a strange time in the Serie A calendar with all the make-up matches going on. That is why these power rankings have been found closer to the midweek.

Not only is it strange for that reason, but there are some teams on massive surges and teams on the decline.

Here's an example. Bologna, yes, lowly, once relegation-threatened, Bologna, has now gone seven matches unbeaten. This is a team that was recently on the relegation bubble. While they're not clear and safe yet, they have climbed to 15th in the table and are playing great football.

Then there are clubs like Inter Milan, who were once so hot and now can't seem to put together a consistent run of form.

All things considered, 14 teams have now played 24 games, with six straggling behind at 23.

With Round 24 complete and all of this week's scheduled make-ups completed, these are the most updated Serie A power rankings.

20. Cesena (20)

Round 24: Lost 3-1 vs. AC Milan (H)

Cesena were never in their match with AC Milan.

The visitors, coming off a 4-0 domination of Arsenal in the Champions League, picked up where they left off and had no problem putting Serie A's bottom feeders to rest.

Milan had a 3-0 lead after 55 minutes, but David Pudil made it a two-goal deficit after 65 minutes. That was the closest Cesena got to the league leaders.

With seven points between Cesena and a points-tie for 17th place, the safe zone, there is work to do.

Following the Milan loss, Cesena parted ways with manager Daniele Arrigoni. New boss Mario Beretta will be looking to get off to a quick start to his new job against a club he managed for two years.

Round 25: 2/26 vs. Chievo Verona (A)

19. Novara (19)

Round 24: Drew 0-0 vs. Atalanta (H)

Novara's draw with Atalanta isn't enough to help their goal of survival in Serie A.

Simone Pesce was sent off late on, but there wasn't much time for Atalanta to take advantage.

The more losses and draws that come Novara's way, the worse things will get. This is not a team capable of winning many matches the rest of the way, so it seems like relegation is nearly a guarantee. They need a miracle and quick.

Round 25: 2/26 vs. Catania (A)

18. Lecce (18)

Round 24: Won 4-1 vs. Siena (H)

Lecce put a hurting on the team sitting right above them in the table with a 4-1 thrashing of Siena.

The scoring was very balanced with Davide Brivio, Juan Cuadrado, Luis Muriel and Davide Di Michele getting the goals for the Wolves, who are now only two points shy of Siena in the table.

Lecce hold 18th place, which is the highest spot in the relegation zone. To be able to retain their place in Serie A by climbing that one spot would be an astounding and incredible accomplishment. Can they do it is the question.

Round 25: 2/26 vs. Cagliari (A)

17. Siena (15)

Round 24: Lost 4-1 vs. Lecce (A)

Lost make-up match vs. Catania 1-0 (H)

Not Siena's best week.

After a big win over Roma, it looked like Siena could maybe grab some confidence and run with it. That didn't happen. Instead, they fell to the team keeping them out of the relegation zone (for now) and then failed to win their make-up match with Catania, which could have provided three vital points.

Instead, Siena are fighting for their lives. They need to put as much space between them and Lecce as possible. It may be a very difficult task.

Round 25: 2/26 vs. Palermo (A)

16. Parma (14)

Round 24: Lost 1-0 vs. Roma (A)

Oh Parma, what happened? Come on now.

While in the preseason, I had high hopes for the Crusaders, they are now in 16th place, seven points away from the drop zone.

It's a possibility, a small one, but still possible, that Parma could end up being relegated this season. While Lecce and Siena are keeping them safe right now, they are treading in dangerous waters right now.

Sebastian Giovinco can't carry this team on his own. If they want to be playing in the top flight next season, they need to start getting points.

Round 25: 2/25 vs. Genoa (A)

15. Fiorentina (13)

Round 24: Lost 3-0 vs. Napoli (H)

Lost make-up match vs. Bologna 2-0 (A)

Fiorentina had a real hard time of it this week as made obvious by their results in their Round 24 and midweek make-up matches.

Losing to Napoli can't be a shock—but losing 3-0? There used to be a time when Fiorentina-Napoli could be one of the most interesting ties in a season, as it could potentially have European implications.

Instead, Napoli walked all over Fiorentina, despite having not played their best football lately (until this week).

Then there was the loss at Bologna. This 2-0 debacle has completely ruined any hopes I had for Stevan Jovetic and company getting back into the top half this season. La Viola's miseries started with the Riccardo Montolivo scandal in the summer and could carry over into this summer.

How many of those big players, especially Montolivo and Jovetic are going to want to stick around to play on a bottom-half club?

Round 25: 2/26 vs. Lazio (A)

14. Chievo Verona (16)

Round 24: Won 1-0 vs. Genoa (A)

Chievo have looked pretty good lately.

Coming off an expected loss to Napoli last week, Chievo slipped by Genoa on the road to pick up a well-earned three points.

Cyril Thereau scored for the Flying Donkeys, showing once again that this is not a team completely reliant on Sergio Pellissier.

Up next for Chievo is the bottom-feeders of the league. However, Chievo can't take Cesena for granted or else they could be in trouble.

Round 25: 2/26 vs. Cesena (H)

13. Bologna (17)

Round 24: Won 3-0 vs. Inter Milan (A)

Won make-up match vs. Fiorentina 2-0 (H)

Look at this team go!

Bologna had one of the most impressive weeks of any club during any week this season, as they dominated both Inter Milan and Fiorentina.

At the San Siro, Marco Di Vaio scored twice in one minute, and Robert Aquafreseca scored one of his own in a 3-0 domination of Inter.

In the match with Fiorentina, Alessandro Diamanti and highly regarded youngster Gaston Ramirez put in the goals that earned Bologna the three points at home against the struggling Viola.

Bologna are flying high right now and are pulling away from the relegation zone. Can they keep it up?

Round 25: 2/26 vs. Udinese (H)

12. Genoa (11)

Round 24: Lost 1-0 vs. Chievo Verona (H)

Genoa have struggled lately, and the loss to a team playing as well as Chievo is no surprise.

The Rossoblu have dropped to 12th in the table and show no signs of improvement. Pasquale Marino's club needs to turn this around. Genoa have regularly hovered in that mid-table area but don't want to fall farther then 12th.

Round 25: 2/25 vs. Parma (H)

11. Catania (12)

Round 24: Lost 3-1 vs. Juventus (A)

Won make-up match vs. Siena 1-0 (A)

Despite Pablo Barrientos putting the Elephants 1-0 up after four minutes, Catania never stood a chance at being the team to get the first ever win by a visiting team at the Juventus Arena.

They were up 1-0 for only 18 minutes before Juventus got on a roll and ended up picking up the 3-1 win.

At the midweek, Catania had to make up a match with Siena, and Francesco Lodi's penalty put Catania past their relegation-threatened hosts.

Catania have had a solid season and are hovering near the mid-table. They sit in 10th in the table, one point behind Cagliari for ninth with a game in hand.

Catania undoubtedly want to finish this season top half. Since arriving in the top flight for the 2007-08 season, Catania have failed to reach that accomplishment. It would be a monumental moment for the club and could lead to brighter avenues in the future.

Round 25: 2/26 vs. Novara (H)

10. Inter Milan (9)

Round 24: Lost 3-0 vs. Bologna (H)

After an uncharacteristically awful start to the season and a meteoric rise back to the top, Inter are now in the midst of another decline.

This weekend's 3-0 shellacking at the hands of Bologna adds to the misery that has been Inter's season.

At one point, it looked like Claudio Ranieri was going to have a steady future at Inter, but now the crowd is calling for the return of their departed hero Jose Mourinho.

Massimo Moratti's leash is very short with his coaches. Inter need to step it up and get back to their January form in order to keep European dreams alive, especially with their Champions League campaign in doubt after a 1-0 loss in France to Marseille this week.

Round 25: 2/26 vs. Napoli (A)

9. Cagliari (10)

Round 24: Drew 0-0 vs. Udinese (A)

Cagliari move up because of the results around them, but they did well to salvage a draw against Udinese.

Very few shots were taken during the game, but Udinese fighting for their spot back in the top three were surely looking for that opportunity, but Cagliari remained steadfast.

With their spot in the top half nowhere near guaranteed, the Sardinians now turn their attention to Lecce, who will be playing with a lot of ferocity with safety on their minds.

Round 25: 2/26 vs. Lecce (H)

8. Atalanta (7)

Round 24: Drew 0-0 vs. Novara (A)

There is no way Atalanta should have accepted a 0-0 draw against lowly Novara.

La Dea have fallen off a little bit since their rapid start but are still one of the most competitive teams in the league and should have done better.

Atalanta have three extremely difficult tasks in their next four matches. Can they rise up and show they're for real?

Round 25: 2/26 vs. Roma (H)

7. Udinese (4)

Round 24: Drew 0-0 vs. Cagliari (H)

The results around them drop Udinese significantly, but that is their own fault for failing to pick up three vital points against Cagliari. They did however climb into a tie for third following Lazio's disaster.

A 0-0 draw against Cagliari when in the midst of a race for the last Champions League spot is not what the Zebrete wanted. It could end up hurting them in the long run. They are lucky that Lazio crashed and burned this weekend, but with the Romans' exit from the Europa League while Udinese advanced, Lazio have a better chance at the league now that they can focus solely on that.

An interesting road waits in the next few weeks for Francesco Guidolin's men, but while this result hurts, it may only be a bump in the road.

Round 25: 2/26 vs. Bologna (A)

6. Lazio (3)

Round 24: Lost 5-1 vs. Palermo (A)

Lazio, really?

The Romans were absolutely manhandled in their trip to Palermo, and the result drops them quite a bit in the rankings.

Like Udinese, they remain tied for third, but the result at the weekend was definitely one that calls for a wake up.

Lazio will probably finish top four, but they need to get back to their winning ways. Losing to Atletico Madrid in the Europa League didn't help matters, but if they can get back to winning, they may have too much for Udinese to contend with.

Round 25: 2/26 vs. Fiorentina (H)

5. Palermo (8)

Round 24: Won 5-1 vs. Lazio (H)

WOW!

Palermo likes to put the hurting on some of the league's finest and absolutely trucked Lazio during the weekend, which probably didn't help Lazio's confidence during the following Europa League loss.

Balance seemed to be a theme in Serie A this past weekend. Edgar Barreto, Massimo Donati, Matias Silvestre, Igor Budan and of course Fabrizio Miccoli made sure that Sunday was a memorable one for fans of the Rosanero.

Palermo are in the hunt for a European spot. While at one point this year it looked like they may be happy just to be top half, they are now four points shy of a Europa League spot.

Miccoli and company may have a lot to say about who plays European football next season.

Round 25: 2/26 vs. Siena (A)

4. Napoli

Round 24: Won 3-0 vs. Fiorentina (A)

Prior to putting the hurt on Chelsea in the Champions League, Napoli did away with Fiorentina in dominant fashion.

Edinson Cavani added to an impressive goal total with two goals in less then an hour. His 15 have him level with the suspended Zlatan Ibrahimovic and two short of Antonio Di Natale. Ezequiel Lavezzi added a late goal to make it 3-0.

Napoli will be riding a wave of momentum after the win over the Viola and then the dominant victory over Chelsea. They are going to be a dangerous team down the stretch.

Round 25: 2/26 vs. Inter Milan (H)

3. Roma (5)

Round 24: Won 1-0 vs. Parma (H)

Fabio Borini sealed a win for Roma in a match that could have easily been more.

Luis Enrique's boys put eight shots on net, but only connected once. The Giallorossi are on the doorstep, sitting only four points behind Lazio and Udinese and maintain the final Europa League spot.

As long as they can keep up the solid form they've shown lately, Roma may have a chance to squeak into the top three.

Round 25: 2/26 vs. Atalanta (A)

2. AC Milan (2)

Round 24: Won 3-1 vs. Cesena (A)

After dominating Arsenal at the midweek in the Champions League, Milan returned to the sight of their first loss last season to do away with Cesena.

Sulley Muntari scored in his debut for the Rossoneri to put Milan up 1-0 after 29 minutes. Urby Emanuelson scored two minutes later, and Robinho netted the third with 35 minutes to play.

By the time Cesena scored, the game was well out of reach, and Milan had no problem getting the points needed to put them ahead of Juventus despite their rival's game in hand.

Milan will get the chance to prove themselves against the Bianconeri this weekend. Milan and Juventus meet in a northern derby at the San Siro.

Round 25: 2/25 vs. Juventus (H)

1. Juventus (1)

Round 24: Won 3-1 vs. Catania (H)

Juventus came from a goal down to dominate Catania. The visitors never really stood a chance in the match at Juventus Arena.

Andrea Pirlo, Giorgio Chiellini and Fabio Quagliarella each netted in the victory. They remain in second place only because of their game in hand. With that game left to play, they are a point behind Milan.

With that in mind, Juventus take on Milan in one of the biggest games in the league all season. They have a chance to take over first place with a win and put Milan on the offensive.

The result of Saturday's match could very well end up deciding who wins the Scudetto in 2012.

Round 25: 2/25 vs. AC Milan (A)