Little V vs Big M

By: Mostafa | May 9th, 2009

Chievo Verona Vs Intermilan

A match up for the ages i’m sure , but last week we proved to be quite a nusciance to the romans and we’ll do the same to these blue’n blacks. Bear in mind we are no donkeys we are flying donkeys. Who knows with all this hype and all this momentum they can actually beat Inter, in the wise words of Sergio Pellissier:

“It wasn’t easy to play in Rome. They were forced to try and win as the fans were against them, but we did our best as always

Now we will try to ruin the celebrations of Inter, we need the points more than they do,

We will tackle the best team in the league. They are trying to secure the Scudetto, but we hope that there can be festivities for both teams.”

T.F.D (mini) I’m sorry for the millionth billionth time, but i have to use goal.com’s preview again (Wait and see after i finish these idiotic exams…..)

Kick-Off: Sunday 10 May, 15:00 CET. Stadio Bentegodi, Verona.

First Scudetto Match Ball For Inter

This weekend Jose Mourinho’s Inter have an outside chance of winning the 17th Scudetto in the club’s history, but they will need a bit of help from their bitterest rivals Juventus. If the troubled Bianconeri manage to beat an in-form Milan side at San Siro, and Inter win their away match against a Chievo side hungry for points, the title race will be officially settled.

Of course, it has been that way for some time, even though some dared to suggest that Milan might be capable of a miraculous comeback after Inter’s surprise defeat to Napoli. While theoretically it was certainly possible, last week’s hard-fought 2-0 victory against Lazio has surely silenced all the doubters. The way the Nerazzurri won was typical of their season, as they struggled to create danger up front until an individual piece of skill from Zlatan Ibrahimovic broke the deadlock, while their own defence was rarely troubled.

While Inter were struggling and Zlatan was misfiring, the fans started whistling the Swedish star, who was not at all pleased about that, and showed it both before and after his goal by pointing his finger to his mouth. One can see faults in both the player and the fans, who were also venting their frustration at Ibra’s admission that he is ready to move on after five years in Serie A, although they should be careful about jeering the player who is undoutedly their favourite team’s best performer.

Meanwhile, Ibrahimovic was right to get upset about the fans jeering him, but the way he reacted was certainly over the top, as he showed a blatant disrespect for his own fans. If one were to go by his behaviour in that match, a departure by the Swede at the end of the season would seem inevitable. Real Madrid are almost certain to make some kind of offer, and although president Massimo Moratti will obviously want to hold on to him at all costs, in the end if a player really wants to leave, there is not much the club can do to stop him nowadays.

Ibra will be unavailable for this match after getting himself booked last week, so it will be interesting to see how Inter will cope without him. Last week Chievo coach Domenico Di Carlo revealed that his players strongly fancied getting a result against Inter knowing that Ibrahimovic would be unavailable, which indicates how feared he is, but also that other teams know just how important he is to Inter’s play.

Chievo Not Out Of Relegation Battle Just Yet

Following their recent 2-0 away win against Siena, it looked like Chievo were only a step away from securing their Serie A survival. However, in the two subsequent games things have changed a bit, as the bottom clubs have started winning, while Chievo unluckily lost a crucial home match 2-1 against Udinese to a last-minute goal.

Domenico Di Carlo’s team did bounce back last week with a creditable 0-0 draw away to a struggling Roma side. In their last four games they have a pretty tough schedule, as after the match against Inter they will face fifth-placed Genoa away from home, fellow relegation battlers Bologna, and Napoli. With a six-point margin over the relegation zone, you would certainly fancy them to make it, but it’s been an up-and-down season for the Gialloblu, so it’s hard to say what might happen next.

They started poorly under coach Giuseppe Iachini, who brought the club back to Serie A after just one season down in Serie B, but he was unable to keep the team away from the bottom of the table in his first few months, and was replaced by Di Carlo in early November. Slowly but surely he managed to get the team into a safer position, and unless they suffer a seriously bad run of results in these last four games, that will likely be enough to keep them in Serie A.

Against Inter they have frequently managed to get the odd surprise result, and earlier this season they came close to causing a big shock in their match at San Siro. Inter went 2-0 up early in the second half, but Chievo managed to tie the game at 2-2, and only two late goals by Zlatan Ibrahimovic allowed the home side to win. In their six home games against the Nerazzurri since their first promotion to Serie A in 2001, they have lost just three times, drawing twice and winning once.

FORM GUIDE

Chievo

03/05 (Serie A): Roma-Chievo 0-0
25/04 (Serie A): Chievo-Udinese 1-2
19/04 (Serie A): Siena-Chievo 0-2
11/04 (Serie A): Chievo-Milan 0-1
05/04 (Serie A): Juventus-Chievo 3-3

Inter

02/05 (Serie A): Inter-Lazio 2-0
26/04 (Serie A): Napoli-Inter 1-0
23/04 (Coppa Italia): Inter-Sampdoria 1-0
18/04 (Serie A): Juventus-Inter 1-1
11/04 (Serie A): Inter-Palermo 2-2

TEAM NEWS

Chievo

Stephen Makinwa, Fabio Moro, Francesco Scardina, and Giuseppe Colucci are injured, while Antonio Langella and Giampiero Pinzi are suspended..

Possible formation (4-3-1-2): Sorrentino; Frey, Morero, Yepes, Mantovani; Luciano, Rigoni, Marcolini; Bentivoglio; Pellissier, Bogdani.

Inter

Maicon, Nelson Rivas, Victor Obinna are out injured, while Zlatan Ibrahimovic is suspended.

Possible formation (4-3-2-1): Julio Cesar; Zanetti, Cordoba, Samuel, Maxwell; Vieira, Cambiasso, Stankovic; Figo, Balotelli; Crespo.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Sergio Pellissier (Chievo)

Once again the 30-year-old striker looks set to become Chievo’s top scorer, with 12 Serie A goals to his name so far. Recently he managed to score a hat-trick in the away match against Juventus, helping his side to a 3-3 draw, in what was probably one of his best matches ever. He’s currently in his seventh consecutive season with Chievo, although at this stage of his career, it’s probably unlikely he can still aim for a move to a more ambitious club.

Mario Balotelli (Inter)

After a difficult start to the season, in which coach Jose Mourinho kept him out of the team due to a poor attitude during training, lately SuperMario has become a key player for Inter again. Since scoring a crucial goal against Bologna in February, his first of the season, he has banged in six goals, including a brace in a key home game against Roma. Just like last season, he has proven decisive for Inter’s final Scudetto push.

PREDICTION

Although Chievo are always a tough nut to crack for Inter, they should be able to get all three points in this one and take another step towards the Scudetto.

Chievo-Inter 0-1

Mostafa’s Prediction

Chievo-Inter 2-3 (That 3 is very testy could easily be a 2-2 or 0-0 draw)

Ok so to conclude our post today, let’s hope against all hope that we beat inter, what an upset that would be!

But why am i worried we’ve got this guy (look down) yes you saw right the one and only .“Stefano Sorrentino”

Even the great chris had words of wisdom to say about him:

If the two games against Chievo this year are any judge, Stefano Sorrentino should supplant Doni at Roma, Buffon in La Nazionale, Iker Casillas for Spain and Petr Cech for The Artist Formerly Known As Czechoslovakia all at the same time. The fact that his C.V. reads Torino -> AEK Athens -> Recreativo Huelva -> Chievo Verona leads one to believe he is either the most underrated player in the history of sport and underrating or the games are something of an aberration.

In the last four years, including those two games against Chievo, I’ve paid attention to…ummm…two games he’s played in. Therefore I can’t say for sure, but I’d guess he’s more like Baptista every time Julio sees blue kits with white rings. (Though a bit more impressive since goalkeeping involves fewer matchups to exploit and more natural skill and intangibles.)

If you’d believe the papers – I don’t by general rule – Sorrentino is in the bag. This I doubt, because whatever happens with Doni likely resides on the coach next year, something which, even for the most ardent Spalletti supporter, is surely levitating, if not well up in the atmosphere.

Still, wouldn’t be shocked if he’s brought in either as a replacement or competition for the Brazilian melon – might push him into paying attention once in a while.

The only bad news is roma want to buy anyone named Stefano in Serie A & B Stefano Guberti & Sorrentino so there is much fear that we loose our goalkeeper.

“I’m sorry for Roma, but I’m happy with the performance of the team as it moves us closer to the survival,” explained the shot-stopper to Sky.

Sorrentino also commented the transfer rumours linking him with a move to Roma, stating that he will only think about this at the end of the season.

“Coach [Luciano] Spalletti saw me in action, but I must only think about Chievo and reaching the survival, then we will see,” he said.

And these are the dying words of the post Courtesy of Di Carlo:

“We’ve been training hard since Tuesday to prepare ourselves for this match,” explained the former Parma coach. “I’m getting good responses from the entire team.

“They will want to win, that is certain. Inter are a tough team – they never give up. However, what’s certain is that, although the motivation is different, both sides will want to win.

“We must play a short passing game. We must be careful not to open up too much and we aim to keep to our intensity and speed, which must remain our strong point.”