weekend picks

he's smiling again. and not just because his team have taken a coveted spot in my weekend picks post either.

only 2 choices this weekend, because of the playoff action sunday night. i'll put together a full preview of the conference championship matches tomorrow sometime, but suffice to say it isn't the review i was expecting to write...

onwards, and prior warning: if you don't like italian football, you might want to look elsewhere for recommendations on what to watch this weekend.

juventus v roma, 7.45pm saturday

about the only advantage that juve have coming into this game is the fact that they are at home and the curva scirea (responsible for the amusing seat-burning against milan) has been closed. it's been another chaotic week in turin, after guus hiddink apparently rebuffed their overtures in favour of, er, liverpool? that should illustrate how desperate things are, and although they've added talented young midfielder antonio candreva on loan, it would be foolish to expect him to be the catalyst this team needs. playing felipe melo in the right position (ciro, if you're reading: he's not very fast, and his passing range is no more than ten feet) would be a good start, as would selling amauri to the highest bidder. immediately.

the aforementioned fans have been doing their bit as well, managing to get themselves banned from the upcoming coppa italia quarter-final against inter. however, in characteristic italian fashion, the ban isn't quite what it seems. no tickets will be sold to those living outside the milan area. you may have guessed the flaw in this cunning plan- it hinges on there being no juve (the best-supported team in the country) fans in milan. right.

as for roma, well they're flying aren't they? victory would put them 4 points clear in 3rd spot, which considering how woeful they were earlier in the season, is remarkable. much credit should go to claudio ranieri for reigning in some of the often reckless attacking tendencies exhibited under luciano spalletti, and establishing a more stable 4-4-2 formation.

however, the tinkerman has a problem. having signed luca toni, everyone- the fans, the owner, the press, and in all likelihood his wife, is urging him to unleash the trident- vucinic and toni up front, and the newly-fit francesco totti behind them. although it goes against his style, there is probably no better time to give it a go than against a juve side in desperate form. unleash it claudio!

inter milan v ac milan, 7.45pm sunday.

if it weren't for juve's spectacularly bad performances of late, we'd probably be talking a little bit more about the indifferent recent run that inter have been on. sluggish displays against siena and bari have let their city neighbours back in a race for the title that looked all but over a month or so ago. they've got a lot of players missing (eto'o, thiago motta, muntari, chivu and stankovic would all probably start), but they do have wesley sneijder, who, when fit, is probably the best player in serie a. and it's the derby. form goes out of the window right?

milan will be hoping not. leonardo has, by accident i suspect, found a way of compensating for milan's obvious shortcomings, namely 4-2-1-3, usually the preserve of desperate men in italy. andrea pirlo has been given freedom of movement, and with the continuing resurgence of ronaldinho, as well as marco boriello (who should be starting for italy in south africa if he keeps doing things like this), they have been playing some superb attacking football of late. this should be a cracker.

playoff preview to come tomorrow.