Frontline Football Blog

When Fiorentina was drawn in Group E alongside Liverpool, Lyon and Debrecen, few expected the Viola to progress to the knockout stages of the Champions League-let alone as group winners as they relegated Lyon to second place and sent Liverpool packing.

The mighty Juventus crashed out in the group stages while cousins AC Milan and Inter Milan secured their places in the final 16 with labored performances, it was minnows Fiorentina that exceeded all expectations as they went on to collect an impressive 15 points in six games-with only Bordeaux boasting better numbers.

The last time Fiorentina was in the final 16 was back 1999. Since then the club has been to hell and back, clawing their way up from Italy's fourth tier to once again grace the continental stage.

Their opening game away to Lyon-who incidentally knocked the Italians out of the group stages last season-was, however, anything but encouraging as Alberto Gilardino was not only dismissed, but also banned for the upcoming game against Liverpool at the Artemio Franchi. In a stroke of genius, Viola tactician Cesare Prandelli invented teenager Stevan Jovetic as a striker. The starlet didn't disappoint and with his brace against the Merseyside team, he officially introduced himself to the rest of the world.

At the beginning of the season, there were few who believed that AS Roma would be able to pose any kind of threat to Inter Milan's title aspirations. Instead, teams such as Juventus and AC Milan were thought to be the reigning champion's toughest competition.

Despite getting off to a brilliant start, Juventus has disappointed greatly during the last couple of months and currently lies in seventh place. While Milan experienced quite a revival after a rather poor start to the season, the Rossoneri are third in the standings at the moment-two points shy of Roma.

Roma started off the season in terrible fashion, with back to back defeats which saw them in rock bottom of the table two rounds into the new campaign. Even more surprising was Luciano Spalletti's shock decision to resign after four years on the job. On Sept. 2, the former Chelsea and Juventus tactician, Claudio Ranieri, was appointed head coach.

The capital club went on to win 2-1 to Siena on Ranieri's debut. Since his takeover, they have only succumbed to three defeats, the last of which came on Oct. 28 against Udinese. In other words, the Giallorossi has gone undefeated in all competition for well over three months.

On March 16th, Inter Milan tactician José Mourinho will return to the Stamford Bridge for the second leg of the double fixture with his former club Chelsea where he spent two hugely successful seasons.

Inter patron Massimo Moratti has made no secret of his desire to lift the Champions League trophy and has splashed the cash in many failed attempts to make that a reality. The Italian champions are aiming for the treble this season and for the first time in many years actually seem to have a fair chance in reaching their objectives.

Although the season is far from over, the Nerazzurri seem well on their way to securing their fifth consecutive Scudetto. On top of that, they also have the advantage ahead of the second leg of their Coppa Italia semifinal against Fiorentina.

But in the end, it comes down to one thing; does Inter have what it takes to make a genuine push for the title that has evaded them ever since the glorious era of "Grande Inter" in the mid-sixties?

Ronaldinho was considered to be past his prime by pundits and supporters alike when he arrived in the Italian Peninsula in the season of 2008/2009. The mediocre debut season did nothing to prove them wrong. On the contrary, it confirmed everything they had expected of the former Brazilian wonder who no longer displayed dazzling performances or smiles.

The current campaign started off much in much the same fashion-but that was all to change. As Coach Leonardo figured out how to get the best out of the players at his disposal, the team started to thrive.

But there was one player in particular-Ronaldinho.

The Brazilian has undergone a renaissance under the guidance of fellow countryman Leonardo and has emerged as one of the team's protagonists this season.

There was once a time when Juventus was synonymous with victory and greatness, a time when all of Italy feared the Old Lady of Turin.

As one of the peninsula's most storied clubs, the pressure is always on for Juventus to perform well-and to do so in style. The days of "Lo Stilo Juve" seem to be long forgotten, considering the Bianconeri can't control the ball, let alone the play, these days.

Lately, Juventus has been acting anything but the storied and prestigious club they are. The objectives set at the beginning of the season are all but washed away. What's left of the club only seems to be bits and pieces.

How did the club get to this point?

In his first press conference as AC Milan tactician, rookie coach Leonardo said that he wanted to see a Rossoneri that in its coming season would put the emphasis on playing entertaining, offensive-minded football.

We all know what happened from there.

The circumstances were anything but ideal. The close to zero activity in the player mercato combined with the lack of real training resulted in a disastrous preseason. On top of that, Leonardo missed the key components to his preferred 4-3-3 system-high quality fullbacks.

The bright start against Siena on the opening matchday was followed by the 4-0 onslaught at the hands of their city rivals, Inter Milan. As the Diavolo followed up with more mediocre performances and goalless stalemates against teams such as newcomers Livorno and Bari, it naturally resulted in the papers calling Leonardo's future into question.

Despite a promising start to the season wherein Napoli even aspired to a Champions League spot, the Partenopei went on to plummet in the league table during the second half of the season and ultimately finish at a lowly 12th place.

Prior to the ongoing campaign, owner Aurelio De Laurentiis had set his sights on a top six finish. The movie mogul wanted to see a more disciplined squad as opposed to last season, wherein there was much speculation over whether or not the stars were too young to handle the pressure the fanatic city of Naples was putting on them.

In spite of Europe's powerhouses trying to lure away stars such as Marek Hamsik, Ezequiel Lavezzi, and Fabiano Santacroce, the club managed to hold on to their key-players-and add quite a few more.

Napoli had one of Serie A's most impressive mercatos as they spent around £30 million in order to secure the services of Morgan De Sanctis, Hugo Campagnaro, Juan Zuñiga, Daniele Mannini, Luca Cigarini, and Fabio Quagliarella.

On Sept. 1, Luciano Spalletti, AS Roma coach of four years, announced that he had handed in his resignation to the board and would be leaving the club.

Roma had gotten off to their worst start since the 1950-51 season-as they ultimately dropped down to the second tier. After consecutive defeats in the two opening games, the prestigious club now lay at the bottom of the table.

For three seasons, the capital club from the mythical Eternal City competed with Inter Milan for the top spot. Roma and Spalletti were hailed over all of Europe for their entertaining play as they showcased some truly mind-blowing football.

Since then, the relationship between the coach and the club has grown to be infected.

For five years Zlatan Ibrahimovic has been plying his trade in Italy and Serie A. During that time, the Sweden international has blossomed into one of the most highly rated footballers in the world, along with his unique technical skills, wonderful back flicks, and the ability to singlehandedly determine the outcome of a game. Along the road he has also won an incredible five Scudetti (two revoked) and two Italian Super Cups.

This coming season he's switched for La Liga outfit Barcelona that last season completed the very unpredicted historic triple as they rampaged their way to the title, picked up the Copa Del Rey, and lifted the Champions League trophy as they thumped Manchester United in the final by a 2-0 scoreline-all in Josep Guardiola's first season on the Blaugrana bench.

Ibrahimovic's departure has no doubt left a bitter aftertaste in the mouths of the Interisti faithful who have seen their gangly superstar play an integral part in delivering three consecutive league titles to the Nerazzurri-the team that he dreamt of playing for ever since he was a kid kicking his ball around the old pitches of his suburban hometown Rosengård.

To say that the Swede played an integral part is almost an understatement. The dependence on which the team placed on their hit man was more than obvious, as they tended to rise along his moments of sheer brilliance and fall when the burden of carrying the team became too heavy for the shoulders of Ibrahimovic.

Around midnight the re-elected Real Madrid president Florentino Perez did what many thought was impossible.

He finalized the €65 million switch which brought Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite, or Kaká as he is more commonly known, to Real Madrid by making him the second most expensive player in history.

Back in January AC Milan was ready to sell their star player to Manchester City who tabled an astronomical bid of around the regions of €100 million. The club left the final decision down to Kaká, who later stated that he hadn't even given the offer 30 seconds before turning it down.

The reason behind Milan's lack of pressure for the move to go through was in some sense respect for the player. No offense to Manchester City, but they still have a long way to go before they'll be able to fight with the Premier League top four. Instead, whispers of a summer move to Real Madrid began flourishing in the media.

During the January transfer window Kaká also pledged his love for the club and has continued to do so ever since. Just last Monday he gave an interview on the plane on his way to Brazil where he once again said he wants to continue winning titles with Milan.