Serie A Power Rankings: Round 12

Round 12 of Serie A is in the books and the leaders seem to be separating themselves.

While the entire league is competitive for sure, with clubs as low as just outside the drop zone still with a chance to prove they belong in the top half, three teams are starting to separate themselves and distinguish as the main title contenders.

*Spoiler alert: The three clubs looking to be the serious contenders for the title at the moment are Juventus, AC Milan and Udinese, who are all very tight with each other at the top of the table and are three of the hottest clubs in Italy.

This week saw a couple of upsets, potential momentum-building wins, and again, the apparent distinction of major clubs.

These are the power rankings of one of, if not the world's toughest league through 12 matchdays.

20. Lecce (17)

Round 12: Lost 1-0 vs. Catania (H)

Another poor performance from Lecce sees them fall all the way back down to the bottom of the rankings.

The Wolves welcomed Catania into town and were handed a home loss that put the visitors back on the winning track.

No one should really be surprised at all that Lecce are struggling at the bottom. This is a team of mostly inexperienced players and loan players. Relegation seems like destiny for Lecce and has from the start.

Round 13: 12/3 vs. Napoli (A)

19. Chievo Verona (16)

Round 12: Lost 4-0 vs. AC Milan (A)

Chievo were horribly outplayed at the San Siro, with the defending champions taking a 4-0 lead by halftime and then keeping Chievo from getting any chance to get back into it in the second 45.

Despite recent wins over Fiorentina and Catania, this is not a very good club, and after a thumping like this with a tough schedule ahead, things don't look good for the Flying Donkeys. They sit near the top half of the table, but how long will that keep up?

Round 13: 12/4 vs. Atalanta (H)

18. Bologna (18)

Round 12: Drew 1-1 vs. Cagliari (A)

The draw with Cagliari keeps Bologna at 18 this week, despite moving them outside the relegation zone in the table.

Marco Di Vaio's 75th-minute strike seemed to put the guests in position to win, but Nicolo Cherubin held Daniele Conti in the box and Conti thanked him for the spot kick by equalizing with only nine minutes left.

Besides a midweek win against Crotone in Coppa Italia, it was Bologna's first win since beating Atalanta on October 30th.

They need to get away from the drop zone and quickly.

Round 13: 12/4 vs. Siena (H)

17. Novara (20)

Round 12: Won 2-1 vs. Parma (H)

Raffaele Rubino offset an early own goal from Matteo Centurioni and Marco Rigoni put home the winner eight minutes later as Novara shocked Parma in front of the home crowd at the Silvio Piola.

A week at the bottom was a wake-up call for Novara, who sit just inside the drop zone despite the victory.

Tough times lie ahead for the club against some of Italy's best. How will they manage?

Round 13: 12/5 vs. Lazio (A)

16. Cesena (19)

Round 12: Won 2-0 vs. Genoa (H)

Two wins in two weeks? No, not Cesena. Really?

Yes.

Cesena are on a two-match winning streak after a victory over Genoa this past weekend.

Genoa had the possession for most of the game, but Adrian Mutu netted twice in the final 20 minutes.

The Seahorses will be hoping this isn't just a fluke game from Mutu. One of the most feared players in the league before his drug scandal, Mutu has only scored three times now in his first season with Cesena.

Can he help Cesena stay on a roll? We'll have to see.

Round 13: 12/4 vs. Juventus (A)

15. Siena (12)

Round 12: Lost 1-0 vs. Inter Milan (H)

After a not-so-bad run by Siena, which saw them lose only twice from the start of October, Siena fell to Inter this weekend, providing a boost for the league's most disappointing team this season.

34 percent possession and no shots on goal isn't going to lead to many victories or even draws and this weekend was no exception.

Round 13: 12/4 vs. Bologna (A)

14. Cagliari (13)

Round 12: Drew 1-1

Cagliari welcomed Bologna to the Sant'Elia and nearly walked away with no points at all, and only have Bologna to thank for blowing the chance at a win.

Di Vaio made it 1-0 to Bologna with only 15 minutes left, but a penalty six minutes later allowed Daniele Conti to equalize.

Cagliari started the season so well and have really fallen off in recent weeks. A turnaround needs to happen fast if people are to continue looking at them as a team on the rise.

Round 13: 12/4 vs. Catania (A)

13. Genoa (11)

Round 12: Lost 2-0 vs. Cesena (A)

This is a loss that should have never been and looks really bad for Genoa.

The 2-0 loss at the Dino Manuzzi against Cesena is the second loss in three matches for the club, who started off the season fairly well.

An up-and-down schedule awaits in the coming weeks leading into and shortly after the winter break. There will be chances for points that they must grab and also the chance for a couple upsets, starting on Friday.

Round 13: 12/2 vs. AC Milan (H)

12. Parma (10)

Round 12: Lost 2-1 vs. Novara (A)

Only two other clubs have lost as many times or more than Parma this season. Their seventh loss came this weekend with the fall against Novara.

The losses have been to quality teams, until this week. Parma have snuck out a couple cheeky victories, but they need to put away the "gimme" games when given the opportunity.

The club have the chance for a very big win at the Ennio Tardini this weekend; if they can capitalize, it would be a huge victory to send them to 18 points.

Round 13: 12/4 vs. Palermo (H)

11. Inter Milan (15)

Round 12: Won 1-0 vs. Siena (A)

After only eight points from their first nine games this season, Inter have picked up six in their last two.

Its only Cagliari and Siena, but it's a start.

It was the win that almost wasn't, however. An 89th-minute strike from 19-year-old Dutch youngster Luc Castaignos, the first of his Inter career, was the difference in this one.

Narrowly beating Siena like that makes Claudio Ranieri's statements a little bold.

The second coach of the season for Inter declared that with 14 points and 15th place in the league to boast, Inter are still the favorites to win the Scudetto.

Seriously?

11 points behind Juventus, a minus-3 goal difference and a minus-2 difference at the San Siro. None of these things are going to make Inter a champion.

This club have a lot of work to do to have that happen.

Round 13: 12/3 vs. Udinese (H)

10. Catania (14)

Round 12: Won 1-0 vs. Lecce (A)

Normally, a win against Lecce is worth a high five at most, but the action around them this week sees Catania jump to 10th from 14th.

Pablo Barrientos saved the day only moments from time after getting on the end of a Maxi Lopez pass to put in the winner at the Via Del Mare.

The Elephants will have to be able to put clubs like Lecce away far easier than that if they are to be competitive, but a win nonetheless and a thriller at that.

Round 13: 12/4 vs. Cagliari (H)

9. Fiorentina (8)

Round 12: Lost 2-0 vs. Palermo (A)

Its never easy to go to the Renzo Barbera and take on Palermo. Fiorentina were no exception to that statement at the weekend.

The Florentine club possessed the ball well, but could get nothing going on the attack and allowed two goals against the Rosanero.

Despite facing only four shots on target, Artur Boruc could only stop two; Fiorentina saw 14 shots go wide and only five find the inside of the frame. It wasn't a great day at the office. Matters weren't helped with the Viola missing star midfielder Stevan Jovetic once again.

The 2-0 loss was the difference between ninth and 16th place for La Viola.

The fact that they currently sit in 16th shows just how competitive the league is, as they are only six points shy of a European slot and are still one of the most competitive clubs in the league.

Round 13: 12/4 vs. Roma (H)

8. Atalanta (9)

Round 12: Drew 1-1 vs. Napoli (H)

A draw with Napoli? Not bad Atalanta, despite the fact that it really should have been three points.

Germain Denis became the first Serie A player to reach 10 goals this season with his go-ahead shot in the 64th minute.

It looked like La Dea were on their way to a famous victory, but Napoli's Edinson Cavani showed once again that he knows how to score at the big moments, scoring just before the referee blew the final whistle.

Despite allowing Napoli to leave the Atleti Azzurri d'Italia with a share of the spoils, it was a positive result for the Serie B champions. They are within striking distance of the top half of the table and have a great chance to leapfrog several clubs this weekend.

Round 13: 12/4 vs. Chievo Verona (A)

7. Roma (6)

Round 12: Lost 2-0 vs. Udinese (A)

Roma dropped three big points against one of their fellow giants when they lost to Udinese at the Friuli.

The 17,000 at the stadium in Udin saw their club strike twice in the final 11 minutes with—to no one's surprise—Antonio Di Natale beginning the pressure.

Roma fall out of a European spot but remain right in the mix, with Palermo sitting only two points away. A climb into the Champions League slots will take more time, as third-place Udinese and second-place Milan are joint with 24 points, seven ahead of the Romans.

Luis Enrique has his club on the right track, but they need to prove they can beat the big boys.

Round 13: 12/4 vs. Fiorentina (A)

6. Palermo (7)

Round 12: Won 2-0 vs. Fiorentina (H)

Star players Fabrizio Miccoli and Josip Ilicic found the net for the Rosanero this weekend and propelled Devis Mangia's club back into a European slot, sitting fifth in the table which is good enough for the last UEFA Europa League spot.

Palermo have proven that they can hang with the toughest in Italy and are certainly in with a shot to play spoiler to some title and European dreams for their fellow big clubs.

Palermo have a golden chance at 12 more points heading into the Christmas break. They'll have to be at their best, but the Rosanero are a tough test for anyone.

Round 13: 12/4 vs. Parma (A)

5. Lazio (3)

Round 12: Lost 1-0 vs. Juventus (H)

Being at home in the Olimpico wasn't enough to help Lazio past high-flying Juventus.

The numbers were practically similar to Juventus', but eight shots on goal were all stopped by the great Gianluigi Buffon, and Federico Marchetti couldn't stop Simone Pepe from putting one past him just past the half-hour mark.

Nothing Lazio could do this weekend. The finishing just wasn't there. They just need to find that stroke in front of the net again. It shouldn't be a problem.

Round 13: 12/5 vs. Novara (H)

4. Napoli (4)

Round 12: Drew 1-1 vs. Atalanta (A)

Edinson Cavani does it again.

After being down 1-0 for nearly a half hour, Cavani recorded his fifth goal of the season right before the final whistle and salvaged a point for Napoli against Atalanta.

Draws in matches they should have won have not helped Napoli this season, as they currently sit on 16 points, three away from Palermo's Europa League spot.

Two matches this week give them the chance to make up ground, but they'll have to be at their very best in Tuesday's clash with the first-place Turin club.

This Week: 11/29 vs. Juventus (H), makeup from earlier round

Round 13: 12/3 vs. Lecce (H)

3. Udinese (5)

Round 12: Won 2-0 vs. Roma (H)

The crowd at the Friuli watched their club pull off an incredible victory, dominating in the final minutes to grab a 2-0 victory over the Giallorossi.

Antonio Di Natale and Mauricio Isla continued their great seasons by scoring in the 79th and 89th minutes respectively to give Udinese the big win.

24 points is the second-highest total in Italy, but their plus-9 goal difference is shy of Milan's plus-13, and therefore the Zebras hold the last Champions League spot and third place.

They will certainly want to leapfrog Milan and also are within a point of Juventus. If they can get help from Genoa and Napoli (and/or Cesena), Udinese could be in first heading into Round 14.

Round 13: 12/3 vs. Inter Milan (A)

2. AC Milan (2)

Round 12: Won 4-0 vs. Chievo Verona (H)

Milan were the dominant team in Serie A this week.

Coming off a loss to Barcelona in the Champions League, a match that left Milan thinking they could hang with and beat the world's best, the Rossoneri put four past Chievo before the halftime whistle and then simply saw the game out until the final whistle to take second place.

Thiago Silva, playing as captain, scored the opener eight minutes in and was followed by goals from compatriot Pato and two from Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who recorded his 100th Serie A goal.

One point shy of Juventus, Milan are once again the title threat they were expected to be. The road to the Christmas break should be kind to them as like Palermo, they have a chance at what should be 12 points.

Round 13: 12/2 vs. Genoa (A)

1. Juventus (1)

Round 12: Won 1-0 vs. Lazio (A)

11 matches in and Juventus have taken at least a point from each of them, including all three in each of their last four matches.

Simone Pepe scored 34 minutes in and Gianluigi Buffon was brilliant in the goal, making eight stops, as Juventus picked up a 1-0 victory over Lazio at the Olimpico in the Eternal City.

They are Serie A's hottest team at the moment and show no signs of slowing down.

Its been a while since Juventus have been able to call themselves a main title contender, but right now, up a point with a match in hand, they may be the top contender for the Scudetto, which would be their 28th and first since 2002-03.

Two games are on the plate this week, including a very tough match with Napoli on Tuesday. Can Juventus keep up their great form?

This Week: 11/29 vs. Napoli (A), makeup from earlier round

Round 13: 12/4 vs. Cesena (H)