AS Roma and AC Milan face the toughest tasks of the three scudetto favourites this weekend, after a dismal midweek for the pair. Roma hosts Empoli, just a point behind them on eight points to nine, after a 1-3 defeat at Valencia that exposed uncharacteristic defensive frailties.
"The defence didn't look itself in Spain," said coach Luciano Spaletti.
"But I'm sure we'll have tightened things up against Empoli. Empoli, the surprise team of the season along with second-placed Palermo, have ground out wins by a spare goal and do not have well-known attackers. But the Romans will still be wanting to keep their Serie A season on track after the demoralising defeat at Valencia which left them with three points after two Champions games.
Milan have less to worry about having conceded only one goal in Serie A but their home match against Siena will need them to show more aggression up front.
Coach Carlo Anceloitti has been switching his attacking trio of Filippo Inzaghi, Alberto Gilardino and new signing Ricardo Oliveira of Brazil but is more concerned about the erratic form of superstar Kaka'. The Brazilian midfielder has mixed match-winning performances with anonymous displays as Milan strive to shrug off an 8-point penalty for Italy's match-fixing scandal.
At Lille on Tuesday he again looked out of sorts while the Gilardino-Inzaghi attack was toothless. But the match still left Milan in top spot in their
Champions group, on four points from two games.
Milan will be looking for a boost from the home match against Siena, who are joint sixth with seven points, to continue with their stated aim of catching Inter by Christmas. "I'm sure the forward line will start firing on all cylinders again," Ancelotti said. Inter, meanwhile, are even more worried about their continued defensive lapses after the home defeat to Bayern Munich - the German giant's first win in Italy for 18 years.
"We simply have to stop letting our guard down," coach Roberto Mancini said after Bayern slotted home a late brace to snatch the game. Until then, Inter had looked the better side and the 57th minute sending-off of striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic - followed 15 minutes later by influential defender Fabio Grosso - proved the turning point. The loss left Inter with no points at the bottom of their Champions group, but Mancini is optimistic they will still qualify.
"All we have to do is start showing some of the attacking potential we've been displaying in Serie A - and get our defence sorted out, of course".
Inter have one of the best attacking records in Serie A - they've scored nine goals, the same as Roma - but they also have one of the worst defensive ones, with six goals conceded. Last week against Chievo they were four goals up before letting the Verona side score three times in the last quarter of an hour and spread jitters around San Siro.
"Luckily there wasn't much time to go but it was an uncomfortable few minutes, to say the least," Mancini recalled. It was the second time this year that Inter have almost let a big lead slip. On the first day of the season they racked up three against Fiorentina only to see the Florentines come back with two late goals.
However, their opposition on Sunday, Cagliari in Sardinia, has only two points from four games. With Argentina striker Hernan Crespo on a roll despite coming up short against Bayern, and the prospect of Brazil's Adriano getting back into the groove, Inter should feel confident of retaining their league leadership.
Crespo scored another two against Chievo to bring his season tally to three while Adriano looked more comfortable than he has appeared in ages, leaving the Chievo defence for dead in one mazy run and setting up Crespo's second. Palermo, which is pegging Roma on nine points, one behind
Inter, is away to lowly Chievo (one point) on Sunday and is confident of coming back on song after a surprise defeat at Empoli.
The other matches are Messina (eight points) vs Livorno (five), Udinese (seven)-Ascoli (two), Atalanta (five) vs Reggina (-11), Fiorentina (-16) vs Catania (five), Sampdoria (three) vs Parma (one), and Torino (two) vs Lazio (-5).
