Serie A: 5 Things We Learnt from Week 29

Jack Alexandros RathbornMar 27, 2012

Serie A is entering the final stages of the season, with just nine rounds remaining. The table is beginning to take shape in terms of relegation, European places and the Scudetto race.

Week 29 gave us several thoroughly entertaining matches, with over half resulting in draws, further emphasising how competitive the league has become.

Juventus have turned a corner with two emphatic victories in a week to turn the heat up on the champions, Milan, by claiming the spoils in the Derby d'Italia.

There was drama in the race for the coveted third place that ensures qualification for the Champions League, with Napoli seemingly destined to move one point clear of Lazio before late goals in both of their games ensured a four point swing. The Partenopei squandered a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 at home to Catania, while the Biancocelesti ground out a 1-0 victory at home to Cagliari with just two minutes remaining.

Nothing changed in the relegation picture with the bottom seven sides all drawing, but Novara and Lecce can take solace from the fact Parma are now just five points clear of the drop after extending their winless run to eight games. Genoa are a further two points ahead, but similarly have not claimed three points since the beginning of February.

Here are five things we learnt from the weekend.

Inter Milan: Moratti Correct to Sack Ranieri, Appoint Stramaccioni

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Inter Milan's misery continued this weekend with Juventus claiming the bragging rights in the Derby d'Italia, with the Nerazzurri taking just six points from the last 30 available to them.

Frankly, this is not good enough, and despite Massimo Moratti insisting that Claudio Ranieri's job was safe until the end of the season at least, the news that arrived on Tuesday that the former Chelsea manager has been sacked was no surprise.

Ranieri's successor is a fascinating managerial prospect in Andrea Stramaccioni, who has been promoted from his position as the Primavera manager.

The 36-year-old guided the Primavera to the inaugural NextGen Series, beating Ajax in the final on penalties, before the first team lost 2-0 to Juventus the following day, prompting Moratti to make his third managerial appointment of the season.

Stramaccioni is a managerial novice whose only previous experience was several positions held with the Roma youth sides from 2005.

Inter are in desperate need of a new direction, and Moratti knows that this appointment could provide the spark that the Nerazzurri need in order to begin a rebuilding project over the coming years.

Udinese: Zebrette Remain in the Hunt for Champions League Qualification

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Udinese claimed a crucial come-from-behind point at the Stadio Renzo Barbara to deny a spirited Palermo side. Gabriel Torje capped a resilient performance from the Zebrette after Fabrizio Miccoli had given the Rosanero the lead in the first half.

Udinese have new life in the chase for third place, currently level on points with Napoli in fourth, as they approach an easy run of fixtures to end the season (which includes a home match against the current occupiers of third, Lazio).

Despite a season-ending injury to the superb Mauricio Isla, Udinese seem to have overcome a blip that coincided with their exit from the Europa League two weeks ago.

Udinese play Siena and Parma in their next matches, which will provide the perfect opportunity to gain points on Napoli and Lazio, who face each other in two weeks. The Partenopei are also facing the daunting task of an away trip to Juventus next weekend.

If Francesco Guidolin could guide his team to third place it would be a remarkable achievement, achieved despite losing key players Alexis Sanchez, Gokhan Inler and Cristian Zapata in the summer.

Juventus Truly Believe They Can Win the Scudetto After Formation Change

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Juventus earned a superb 2-0 victory against Inter Milan on Sunday evening with goals from Martin Caceres and Alessandro Del Piero.

Antonio Conte can take the majority of the credit for the Bianconeri's victory after the Nerazzurri comfortably contained the Old Lady until a double change eight minutes in to the second half changed the momentum in the game.

Conte brought off Alessandro Matri and Simone Pepe and sent on Del Piero and Leonardo Bonucci—which seemed bizarre with over 30 minutes remaining and seemingly no need to force the match at that point.

The changes meant Juventus switched from a 4-3-3 to a 3-5-2 due to Inter's lack of ambition, safe in the knowledge that their three-man defence would not be overrun. The Nerazzurri could not double up on the Juventus wide men, initially Pepe and Mirko Vucinic, due to the extra attacker being deployed centrally.

Caceres and Paolo De Ceglie were able to flourish in advanced wide roles with Maicon and particularly Yuto Nagatomo struggling when forced to defend backing up.

Juventus face a resurgent Napoli next weekend and will feel that a third consecutive league victory gives them a wonderful chance of winning their first Scudetto in nine years.

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Palermo: Prandelli Should Consider Miccoli for the Azzurri

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Palermo could be in the midst of a relegation battle right now if it was not for their talisman, Fabrizio Miccoli.

The 32-year-old is currently enjoying his best season in terms of productivity. After scoring the opener against Udinese on Saturday, Miccoli took his tally to 12 goals and 13 assists in only 20 league games.

Miccoli has worked tirelessly for the Rosanero this season by constantly closing down the opposition and helping his side reclaim possession as quick as possible. The Aquile involve Miccoli in all their attacking moves as he creates from deep, manoeuvring the ball in tight areas before bursting beyond the opposition into the space behind.

Miccoli's energy could be highly useful for Cesare Prandelli and his Italy side this summer at the European Championships in Poland and Ukraine. The Azzurri have lacked an injection of urgency in recent times, and Miccoli could provide the answer.

Serie A 2012/13 Will Start Early Next Season to Help European Performance

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Serie A 2012/13 will begin two weeks earlier than usual after the Lega Calcio scheduled the opening round to begin on 26th August.

Immediately the reasons for enforcing the earlier start appear to be motivated by improving the performances of their representatives in European competitions. Udinese faced Arsenal in the preliminary round of the Champions League this season two weeks before the domestic season had begun.

The earlier start should ensure Italy have a better chance of ensuring they have three sides in the Champions League group stage with only the top two guaranteed progression to the group phase of the competition.

Napoli in the Champions League and Udinese in the Europa League were hampered by a busy fixture schedule. This was partly caused by several rounds of fixtures postponed due to poor weather.

With Serie A scheduled to start earlier, the league should be able to fit in rearranged fixtures at more convenient times to avoid hindering their representatives in European competitions.

Jack Alexandros is a football analyst for Football Radar covering Serie A. You can follow him on Twitter @jackalexandros and @FRcalcioJack.