Honours Even After Four Goal Thriller In Bergamo

It was a highly entertaining game in Bergamo as both sides share the points. Atalanta did well to come back after falling behind twice.

First Half

Fiorentina have been fantastic away from home this season amassing 19 points in ten matches on the road. They started this game with the intentions of continuing their good form as well as stay on course for the Champions League.

The Viola began brightly and they were applying the pressure early on. A nice break from Donadel allowed Ujfalusi to run down the wing and the Czech defender crossed in a delightful ball into the box. Pazzini got their ahead of Rivalta but the Azzurri striker’s header just cleared the bar.

The home side took their time to get into the game as Fiorentina enjoyed plenty of possession. The Nerazzurri looked to be on the back foot and they hardly showed themselves coming forward. Prandelli’s men always looked dangerous on and off the ball and they seemed more likely to score as the first period ticked on.

Atalanta were guilty of giving the ball away on several occasions, Manfredini and Langella looked uncomfortable on the ball and their careless play almost allowed the Viola to punish them. The home side nearly took the lead though against the run of play. Floccari twisted and turned and played in Muslimovic who took a gamble and ran through to beat the offside trap. However the striker fired his effort across goal much to the relief of Frey.

The home side’s chances were few and far between as the Viola stamped their authority on the game. Although they were excellent at coming forward, Fiorentina were not able to find the deadly finishing which would give them a lead. Atalanta seemed happy just to sit back and play on the break but they were also poor in the final third.

Pazzini was the danger man and he gave his side a well deserved lead, Montolivo played a good ball into the striker’s feet and he turned and got his shot under way and it beat Coppola who could only watch the ball cross the line. However the Viola’s lead only lasted a minute as Atalanta got themselves back in the game through Muslimovic who tapped in from close range after latching on to a corner. The Viola seemed to have fallen asleep at the set piece.

The Nerazzurri’s goal seemed to have given them some much needed confidence as the home side came alive after their equaliser. Both sides created plenty of half chances towards the end of the half but the scores stayed level as they went into the break.

Second Half

Fiorentina started where they left off and came out more determined and eager to score. The Viola were excellent at keeping the ball and created some good chances. The best fell to Pazzini but instead of scoring he blasted his effort over the bar. The striker should have scored as the ball fell kindly to him but he scuffed it.

Fiorentina restored their advantage on the hour mark through Semioli. A brilliant three man move involving Pazzini, Ujfalusi and Semioli carved open the Atalanta defence and the striker was able to finish off the cross with a guided header into Coppola’s far post. It was a well deserved goal by the Viola who were dominating the game.

The home side seemed flat and out of ideas and conceding another goal did not help their cause. The Nerazzurri were poor coming forward and the Viola defence looked comfortable at dealing with any threat.

Atalanta tried desperately hard to get back into the fray but bombing forward left them open to counter attacks and the Viola were quite happy to absorb the pressure as the half wore on.

In one final twist Atalanta’s efforts paid off in injury time. It was a remarkable come back by the Nerazzurri. Muslimovic pounced to finish off a fine move. The striker was the fox in the box as he scored a similar goal to his first. It was an easy tap in for the forward as his side fought their way back to take a well deserved point.

Teams

Atalanta(4-4-2): Coppola, Rivalta, Pellegrino, Capelli, Manfredini(Belleri 25), Pinto, De Ascentis, Tissone, Langella(Inzaghi 65), Floccari(Paolucci 75), Muslimovic.

Subs: Ivan, Fissore, Belleri, Radovanovic, Padoin, Inzaghi, Paolucci.

Fiorentina(4-3-3): Frey, Ujfalusi, Dainelli, Gamberini, Pasqual, Kuzmanovic(Jorgensen66), Donadel, Montolivo, Santana, Pazzini(Vieri 72), Semioli.

Subs: Avramov, Gobbi, Kroldrup, Jorgensen, Cacia, Papa Waigo, Vieri.

Cards:

Yellow: Tissone(Atalanta), Ujfalusi(Fiorentina), Muslimovic(Atalanta), Langella(Atalanta), Manfredini(Atalanta), De Ascentis(Atalanta)

Goals: Pazzini (Fiorentina 29), Muslimovic (Atalanta 30), Semioli (Fiorentina 60), Muslimovic(Atalanta 90)

Are Milan And Inter Really Fighting Over Ronaldinho?

Are Milan And Inter Really Fighting Over Ronaldinho?

Just as Milan’s interest in signing Ronaldinho looked to have cooled, along came Inter with an announcement that they want to sign the player. Gil Gillespie peers through the smoke and mirrors and tries to discover the truth behind the Milanese clubs' intentions.

In the red corner we have Silvio Berlusconi and Adriano Galliani. In the blue corner are Massimo Moratti and Roberto Mancini. And in the middle is Ronaldinho, Brazilian footballing superstar, twice FIFA World Player of the Year and a fading idol currently sinking as fast as an unhappy, out-of-form fly in Frank Rijkaard's mid-morning cappuccino.

Welcome to the one-city, two-club battle for to sign Ronaldinho - an event where no-one should be taken at face value and no words should be treated as gospel.

Milan are known to be long-time admirers of Barcelona's unsettled 'fantasista', but the club's interest was generally thought to have dwindled in recent months, just like the form and commitment of the player himself.

But then Inter signed a mammoth 10-year sponsorship deal with Nike, and the mischievous Roberto Mancini made his "nobody believed me when I talked about Ronaldinho" speech. Suddenly Milan were forced to prick up their ears again. (Or so we are led to believe.)

Whether Inter are genuinely interested in Ronaldinho or not is beside the point. The Nerazzurri have left their neighbours in an extremely uncomfortable position by merely declaring their interest.

After tracking the player for the last two years, can the Rossoneri just allow him to be snapped up from under their noses by their neighbours and biggest rivals?

And, according to prominent Italian broadsheet the Corriere della Sera, it is Milan who are now favourites to sign the Barca star as they have allegedly agreed to allow him to have complete control over his image rights.

"Not true," says Silvio Berlusconi. As always, the signing of Ronaldinho is a subject he's never been consistent on. He has openly voiced his admiration for the Barca playmaker for the last two years. Yet only a week ago the Milan president issued a clear statement of denial about his club’s interest in the Gaucho.

"I don't think Ronaldinho represents a great objective for us," said the perma-tanned former PM. "We must keep an eye on the balance in the dressing room... his purchase is not a priority for Milan."

But that was before Mancini stirred up this particular hornet's nest with his well-chosen press conference soundbites.

So have Milan really taken Mancini's bait? It's difficult to say. But you have to ask yourself, why would the world and European champions want a player like Ronaldinho anyway?

First of all, they have Kaka, who plays, more or less, in the same position that Ronaldinho occupies. Would Ancelotti ask Kaka to play out wide or drop deeper into midfield? Not a chance. Would he play the two of them behind a lone striker, probably Pato? It's a bit late in the day for Ancelotti to suddenly throw out a tactical approach that he has developed over many years and had so much success with, just so he can accommodate a potentially disruptive player whose best days may well be behind him.

The mind wanders back to 2002 when the Rossoneri brought another former World Player of the Year to the San Siro from Barcelona. Rivaldo spent the majority of his one disastrous season at Milan keeping the bench warm. He didn't fit. He just wasn't a Milan kind of player.

Neither is Ronaldinho.

But it’s not Ancelotti who has the final say as to who is signed and who isn’t signed, as we discovered when it was revealed that Berlusconi vetoed the deals to bring Gianluigi Buffon and Luca Toni to the San Siro in the summer.

But now, surely, the club's transfer targets lie elsewhere - with Gianluca Zambrotta, for example - and finding a replacement for the hapless, hopeless Dida. Thus even with £100 million to spend in the summer, it would be a surprise if Milan signed Ronaldinho.

So what about Inter? Is the Nerazzuri's interest in getting Ronaldinho to sign on the dotted line genuine, or merely provocative? They certainly have more room to accommodate the player on the pitch, even with Luis Antonio Jiménez exceeding expectations playing in the hole behind Ibrahimovic and Cruz.

And Ibrahimovic himself has given his approval to the idea. "Ronaldinho at Inter? Everyone would like to play with him,” the goal-bothering Swede told the Corriere dello Sport.

But despite these comments and those of Mancini, Inter's president Massimo Moratti has attempted to pour cold water on the whole story.

He reacted to the accusations made by Milan's chief executive Adriano Galliani, who claimed that he had been told of Inter's interest in Ronaldinho by Barcelona president Joan Laporta himself.

"Galliani maybe knows more than I do, but it's not true," said the Inter president. "I don't know who has spoken to him, but at this time the information he has is not correct."

In truth, it's impossible to know what is really going on beneath this curtain of double-speak, half-truths and Machiavellian double-bluffing. Maybe Inter are serious about signing Ronaldinho. Maybe they are just pulling their old sparring partner's leg. Maybe Milan will respond to Inter's noises. Maybe Inter are simply showing their fans that they have the financial muscle to compete with their nearest neighbours if they choose to do so.

Whatever the reality of the situation, both clubs need to ask themselves just how effective the Brazilian shoe-shuffler is likely to be in Serie A in his current state of mind, anyway. If he's finding life tough in the defensively liberal world of the La Liga, how will he cope with the fierce shadowing of Italy's most uncompromising back lines? Has he even still got it in him to rise to such a daunting new challenge? Because, right now, Ronaldinho looks as if he'd like to spend more time on the bench - or the beach - and less on the training pitch.

But before he unpacks his Bermuda shorts and lies back on the sun lounger, there is one other factor in this very complicated equation that hasn't been dealt with yet.

Chelsea may yet have the final say in where Ronaldinho plays his football next season. According to the influential player's agent Enzo Bronzetti, Ronaldinho will definitely join up with his former Barca coach Henk ten Cate at Stamford Bridge in the summer. It is a rumour that Spanish sports daily Marca has been talking up for some time and it makes more sense than the ones that see him going to either of the Milan giants. Roman Abramovich is rich enough - and perhaps naive enough - to take a gamble on such a global superstar, regardless of whether his powers are on the wane.

So for all the noise currently emanating from the city of Milan, London could well be the place you are most likely to find Ronaldinho playing his football next season.

Then again, he could always stay with Barcelona.

What do you think? Are Milan and Inter serious about bringing the Brazilian superstar to Italy? Or are they both bluffing, waiting for each other to blink? Where do you think Ronaldinho will be playing in 2008/09?