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.

A match-fixing scandal ahead of the 2005-2006 season while Genoa was still in Serie B sent them tumbling down to Serie C1. The club had to start on the bottom in their quest for success and that season a playoff against Monza sent the Grifone back up to Serie B.

Ahead of the 2006-2007 season club president Enrico Preziosi brought in Gian Piero Gasperini. Under the guidance of the newly appointed tactician the Peninsula's oldest club managed to secure promotion back to Italy's top flight on the last day of the season. Twelve years of waiting had finally come to an end.

In their first season back in Serie A the Rossoblu finished on a respectable 10th place. During the summer that followed Preziosi was careful to make some wisely considered additions while offloading those that didn't fit into the club's long-term plans.

Two of the players that arrived during the 2008 summer mercato that would come to leave the biggest impact in the coming season were Zaragoza's Diego Milito and Barcelona's Thiago Motta.

Milito refused several lucrative offers from top club suitors in order to rejoin his former club. The Argentinean has been firing on all cylinders and is ahead of the final game of the season only one goal shy of Serie A top scorers Marco Di Vaio and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

The news of Fabio Cannavaro's very likely return to Juventus has sparked heated debate amongst the Bianconeri faithful. While he's widely regarded as a traitor for leaving the club at its darkest hour in the aftermaths of the Calciopoli scandal when players such as Alessandro Del Piero, Gianluigi Buffon, Pavel Nedved, David Trezeguet and Muari Camoranesi became heroes for remaining, many also seem to welcome the news of the center back's return to the Old Lady.

After spending three years in the Spanish capital with La Liga giants Real Madrid, where he's won two league titles, the 2006 World Cup winner looks set to rejoin his former club.

I was initially siding with the group that protested his return but, although I'm far from being a fan of Cannavaro's, I have come to realize after much thinking that there might actually some perks in bringing him back. I know that a big part of the Juventus supporters hate this man very passionately, but hear me out.

The past season has showcased that Juventus are in dire need of capable defenders and although Cannavaro is turning 36 years old in September this is only a short term solution to the club's immediate defensive difficulties. According to reports from the Peninsula Cannavaro has been offered a one-year deal with the option of a yet another depending on his the level of his performances.

From Serie C1 to the European stage in four seasons-that's the impressive feat former Partenopei coach Edy Reja managed to accomplish during his time at the club.

Despite beginning the season in a fashionable way-when even the prospect of Champions League seemed highly possible-a string of disastrous results after the turn of the year has seen Napoli freefall in the table down to 12th place.

There has been a lot of controversy surrounding the club with stubborn reports of late night parties and fistfights in training. At one point during the season representatives of the Napoli Ultras sat down with players, coaches, and club representatives to discuss a plan of action.

The aim was to bring back the team spirit that had seen the team flying high ever since Reja took over the reins at the Naples club.