Can Lazio finish in the top three?

15 points from 21 represents a very good start for the Biancocelesti and they currently occupy the third and final Champions League spot in the Serie A table; however with 31 games left to play, can they really qualify for Europe's elite club competition for the first time since 2007?

Every team needs a few individual match winners and Lazio have a handful they can call upon when needed to influence those close games, which could be the difference between a third or another fourth placed finish.

The Brazilian midfielder Hernanes has been quality so far this campaign for Lazio and brings goals to the party as well as being the main source of creativity in the middle of the park.

Despite being 34, Miroslav Klose is still banging the goals in, with five in just seven Serie A games this season. And if the German international can get 20 league goals, then Lazio have a real chance of finishing third.

The returning Mario Zarate offers something different, and if he can find the form that made Inter bring him in on loan last year, then he will play a huge part in Lazio's Champions League push.

Another reason why third is certainly up for grabs is the fact Champions League mainstays in Inter and AC Milan are no longer a certainty to qualify, with the latter making a horrible start to their Serie A campaign, which when coincided with the fact they've lost not only quality but experienced players in the last transfer window, the Rossenari's top three spot is up for grabs.

Udinese finished 3rd last year; however have had another selling summer and have won just once in seven games this campaign, giving Lazio a nine point buffer over the side that qualified for the Champions League last year.

Like I touched upon, two of the three Champions League qualifiers from last year have seen their squad's heavily weakened whilst Lazio's has been improved in a quiet transfer window for the club, with only one notable departure.

Lazio's first eleven is more then capable of finishing in the top three; however whether they've the strength in depth to challenge for third is questionable! For me the likes of Roma, Napoli and even Fiorentina all have stronger looking benches then Vladimir Petkovic's side.

Considering the fact all of Lazio's five league win's have all been sown up on before the hour mark, means that they've not had anyone to bring on to change the game, which was highly evident in their home defeat to Genoa.

Aside from Napoli away from home, Lazio's start has been a favorable one (Facing just two of last season's top 10 in Napoli and Chievo), meaning they've still to play many of Italy's big guns.

This isn't the first time Lazio have found themselves within a realistic chance of a top three spot, and in the previous two campaigns they've blown good opportunities to do so.

For two consecutive seasons the Biancazzurri lost six of their last 12 games, in doing so missing the chance to overhaul Udinese for the final Champions league spot on both occasions.

Like in those two seasons, Lazio have started the season in brilliant fashion, and you'd think they will have learnt from their previous mistakes and will be more competitive come the tail end of the season.

Napoli have started incredibly well and probably will secure Champions League football, meaning the likes of Inter, AC Milan, Roma and even Fiorentina will be left to fight it out for the one remaining spot along with the Biancocelesti.

You'd only really say that champions Juventus are realistically secure of a top three spot, meaning Petkovic's side have an incredible chance of finishing in the top three this season.

Cavani inspired Napoli ease past Lazio

An Edison Cavani hat-trick fired Napoli joint top of the Serie A table, as they thrashed Lazio 3-0 at the San Paolo.

Napoli opened the scoring after 19 minutes as Cavani let fly from 25 yards; however it needed a deflection from the unlucky Michael Ziani otherwise Federico Marchetti would have dealt with the effort.

If Marchetti was unfortunate with the first, he should have done better with Cavani’s second as the Uruguayan scored from a tight angle, despite the Italian goalkeeper getting a good hand on the shot.

Napoli killed the game off with 63 minutes gone as Cavani finished well into the bottom left of the goal.

Lazio were poor throughout; however with the game scoreless Miroslav Klose appeared to have given his side the lead, only for it to be ruled out for handball, which to the German strikers credit, he did admit to when asked about by the referee.

European round up

Spain
Barcelona lost for the first time this season, as Getafe stunned their illustrious rivals with a defensively strong performance in a 1-0 victory. Defeat for Barca, means they now trail Real Madrid by six points after Jose Mourinho's side won the Madrid derby 4-1.

A Valera header won the game for Getafe, as Barcelona without Andres Iniesta, Cesc Fabregas and Carlos Puyol failed to break down their opponents.

Just hours before two Cristiano Ronaldo penalties helped Real extend their lead at the top of the table. Atletico had opened the scoring through Adrian just 15 minutes in; however their joy was short lived as Thibaut Courtois, the man on loan from Chelsea, was sent off in conceding a penalty.

Ronaldo levelled from the spot, and after that Real really made their extra man count, as further goals from Angel Di Maria, Gonzalo Higuain and a second penalty from Ronaldo. The second penalty award saw Atletico go down to nine men as Diego Godin was shown his marching orders for a second yellow card.

Inigo Martinez scored an incredible winner from his own half for Real Sociedad as they edged an incredible match 3-2 against Real Betis, whose poor run extended to nine games without a win.

Big spending Malaga take on the injury hit Villarreal tonight.

La Liga results
Mallorca 2 Racing Santander 1
Athletic Bilbao 0 Granada 1
Zaragoza 0 Sevilla 1
Levante 4 Sporting Gijon 0
Rayo Vallecano 1 Valencia 2
Espanyol 1 Osasuna 2



Germany
Bayern relinquished top spot of the Bundesliga as a second consecutive defeat saw the Munich giants slip to third. The Austrian Andreas Ivanschitz opened the scoring before Daniel Van Buyten scored his first of the game to level the game.

However Mainz were the better side, and two quick goals from Marco Caligiuri and Niko Bungert gave the relegation threatened side breathing space. A second Van Buyten goal wasn’t enough as Bayern’s poor form continued.

The surprise package Borussia Monchengladbach went top of the Bundesliga, all be it only for a short time, after a comprehensive 3-0 away victory against Koln on Friday. Last year’s champions Dortmund regained the spot on goal difference with a comfortable 2-0 home win against Schalke. Goals from Robert Lewandowski and Felipe Santana ensured they took full advantage of Bayern’s Sunday slip up.


Italy

Juventus extended their unbeaten start to eleven games with an impressive 1-0 away win at Lazio. Simone Pepe's 34th minute winner gave the Turin side their seven win of the season as victory saw them replace Udinese at the top of the table. Juventus face Napoli next in a re-arranged fixture as the game was postponed due to flooding recently, and the match will no doubt test Conte's side title credentials.

Flying in Europe, struggling at home, that’s the scenario Napoli are in currently. With just four wins in 11 games this league campaign, Walter Mazzarri's side are struggling, and were fortunate to leave the Stadio Atleti Azzurri d'Italia with a point, as Edison Cavani's late goal ensured the game finished 1-1. Atalanta have done brilliantly this year, and if they had started the season without a six point deduction, they would sit an impressive fifth place.

Elsewhere in Italy A.C Milan romped to a 4-0 win over Cheivo, with Zlatan Ibrahimovic scoring his 100th Serie A goal in the process. All four strikes came in a dominant first half. Thiago Silva, a double from Ibrahimovic and an Alexander Pato strike meant Milan went second for the first time this season. A.C's city rivals Inter Milan, won back-to-back league games for the first time this season as Luc Castaignos's 90th minute winner stole the points from Siena.

Serie A results

Udinese 2 Roma 0
Leece 0 Catania 1
Novara 2 Parma 1
Cagliari 1 Bologna 1
Cesena 2 Genoa 0
Palermo 2 Fiorentina 0

Preview to Serie A and review of 1st La Liga week

Serie A

Champions AC Milan start the defence of their title tonight against a strong Lazio side. AC Milan had a strong transfer window bringing in the likes of Philpe Mexes, Taye Tawio and Alberto Aquliani aswell as completing permanent deals for Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Kevin Prince Boateng. Lazio brought in expierenced forward Miroslav Klose as well as  Djibril Cisse, and the duo are both expected to start tonight in a new look strikeforce having lost the former Birmingham City striker Mauro Zarate to Inter Milan.

The league's big spenders Juventus and Roma both start the new season with new managers and new optimism. Despite Italy only having three Champions League participants for the 2012/13 season, these two will be confident of challenging the likes of Napoli for the key third spot. Juve have brought in the likes of Mirko Vucinic, Eljero Elia, Andrea Pirlo and Arturo Vidal in an attempt to force their way back into Europe's elite competition, however for me I don't think they will have enough about them to do so.

The other big spenders in Roma however have a better chance, with not just exicting additions but clever and needed ones. The obvious loss of Mexes and Vucinic to their rivals will be huge, but new manager Luis Enrique has brought in no less then 17 players, and if the team can gel quickly then I can see them challenging Inter Milan for a second place birth. Fernando Gago, Bojan Krkic, Miralem Pjanic, Simon Kjaer, Pablo Osvaldo, Erik Lamela and Gabriel Heinze were all added in an highly exiciting window for the Rome side.

Inter Milan for me this year will struggle to really live with AC Milan at the top of the league with the choice of manager a suprising one. Gian Piero Gasperini's failed at Genoa despite big name signings, and the move is in similar fashion to AC Milan's move for Massimiliano Allegri, which was an obvious success. The loss of Samuel Eto'o is a huge one with Diego Milito really struggling to find the form of the treble winning season. Giampaolo Pazzini and Mauro Zarate are very hit and miss players, and much pressure will be placed on new signing Diego Forlan to replace Eto'o's goals.

My top 7 prediction
1) AC Milan
2) Roma/Juventus
3) Inter Milan / Napoli
4) Napoli / Inter Milan
5) Juventus/Roma
6) Udinese
7) Lazio

La Liga

The La Liga kicked off a week before the recent international's and somewhat unsuprisingly the dominant duo of Real Madrid and Barcelona won 6-0 and 5-0 respectively and already take their position at the top of La Liga.

You don't have to be a football genius to realise that these two will top the table come June and their infatic start to the season only goes to show the dominance the duo have over the rest of the Spanish League.

Athletico Madrid began life with Sergio Aguero, Diego Forlan and David De Gea in uninspiring fashion with a 0-0 draw at home to Osasuna. The amount of transfers in and out of the club obviously have dictated their start and it will take them a while to gel properly, with Falcao and Arda Turan good additions to the club.

Malaga the huge spenders in La Liga started life with a 2-1 defeat away to Sevilla. Manuel Pellegrini's side were poor in the first half and Alvaro Negrando exposed Malaga's centre half uncertainty for the first goal before a lovely finish doubled their lead. Despite a good second half showing, they only had new signing Santi Cazorla's wonderful free kick to show for it. The club were scheduled to play Barcelona on the first week of the season, meaning they would've had a doubly as hard start, however with Granada and Real Mallorca up next, expect to see them improve in not only performance but points. Sevilla in comparison to their opponents have had a relatively quiet transfer window with Manu del Moral and Martin Caceras their two big deals.