The Serie A Moved Into The Second Half Of The Season At The Weekend And It Was Immediately Clear That The Final Outcome Is Far From Certain.
League Leaders Inter Milan Stalled At Udinense, Where They Were Held To A 0-0 Draw, While As Roma Reduced The Gap Between Them To Five Points Thanks To A 1-0 Win Over Visiting Palermo.
Third-Placed Juventus, Though Ten Points Back, Kept The Pace With A 3-1 Victory Away At Livorno, While Star-Studded Ac Milan Was Once Again In Awe Of Its Latest Arrival, Brazilian Teenager Pato, Who Scored Both Goals Which Sank Visiting Genoa.
This Brought His Personal Tally To Three Goals In Four Matches In The Red And Black Jersey.
Inter's False Move, Although It Was Their 20Th Positive Result In A Row, Reminded Many Observers That There Are Still 18 Matches In The Season And Fortunes Could Easily Change.
According To Italy's Biggest Sports Daily. La Gazzetta Dello Sport, ''The Numbers Tell Us That The Championship Is Now A Little More Open, While Up At The Top Inter Understood That The Winds Are Changing. They May Still Be Favorable To The Milan Side, But They Have Has Certainly Changed Direction''.
Udinese, The Daily Recalled, Has Been Been Inter's Bete-Noire For The Last Two Years But In The End Failing To Beat Them In Their Past Four Matches Has Until Now Worked In Inter's Favor.
''It Was After Last Year's Draw That That Inter Embarked On Its Record-Breaking Streak Of 17 Victories In A Row Which Assured Them The Scudetto,'' The Daily Recalled.
Turning Its Attention To As Roma's Chances Of Catching Inter, La Gazzetta Observed That Coach Luciano Spalletti ''Has Two Factors Working In His Favor: He Can Rely On A Much Stronger Bench Than Last Year; While Having Mancini Back Is Almost As Good As Getting A Strong Mid-Season Transfer Arrival''.
While It Is Too Early To Tell Whether Inter Will Be Able Maintain Its Lead And Retain The Scudetto, The Daily Wrote, ''This Will Be Clear In A Month's Time When Inter Hosts Roma In Milan''.
Inter Has A Fairly Easy Schedule Before Its Showdown With Roma, While The Capital's Side Has Number Three Juventus And Number Four Fiorentina In Its Path.
Since Last Year At This Time Inter Enjoyed An 11-Point Lead, Roma Captain Francesco Totti Is More Than Optimistic On His Team Chances Of Winning The Serie A Title.
In An Interview Published In The Corriere Dello Sport Daily, The Number 10 Said: ''Roma Is Convinced It Can Do It. We Were Convinced When We Were Seven Points Back, So You Can Imagine How We Feel After Inter Was Held At Udinese''.
''We Have Faith In The Strength Of Our Group. What We Need To Do Now Is Concentrate On The Matches We Have And Not Worry Too Much What Inter Does. I've Said From The Start That This Season Would Be Different From The Last. It's Going To Be A Duel Down To The Last Match,'' He Added.
