ROME - Juventus and Roma are the two clear title favourites after 10 rounds of Serie A.
[b]China Cheap Jerseys[/b] .Figuring out which club will finish third and claim the last Champions League spot is a little more difficult.After AC Milans visit to Sampdoria on Saturday, the situation could become a bit clearer.Sampdoria is tied for third with Lazio and has lost just once this season, while Milan is two points further behind after going winless in its last three matches.At the top of the table, Juventus holds a three-point lead over Roma.Juventus, coming off a difficult 3-2 win over Olympiakos in the Champions League, hosts struggling Parma on Sunday while Roma, which lost 2-0 at Bayern Munich midweek, hosts Torino.In other key matches this weekend, its Empoli vs. Lazio; Fiorentina vs. Napoli; and Inter Milan vs. Hellas Verona.Here are some things to know about the Italian league:___FRENCH CONNECTIONMichel Platini was the first. Then came Zinedine Zidane and Didier Deschamps, followed by David Trezeguet.Now Paul Pogba is the latest France international to make a big impact at Juventus.Let go by Manchester United two years ago, the 21-year-old is rapidly developing into a force in midfield.Pogba scored the first Champions League goal of his career against Olympiakos and also drew the foul that led to Juves opening goal, a free kick from Andrea Pirlo.That came a week after Pogba extended his contract with Juventus through 2018-19, ending speculation that he would transfer to Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain or back to the English Premier League.Im happy to stay here, Pogba said Wednesday. I want to continue wearing this shirt for a long time and perhaps one day go down in Juves history like Platini and Zidane.Pogba was also the only Serie A player included in the 23-man list of nominees for the FIFA Ballon dOr last week.Pogba is improving. He just needs to become more consistent. Thats his only defect, Juventus CEO Giuseppe Marotta said. But he has natural talent and hes one of the brightest young players out there. He has a glorious career ahead of him.___ROMAS PSYCHEHaving been humiliated by Bayern Munich in a 7-1 loss at home two weeks ago, Roma resigned itself to mostly defending and limiting the damage in the 2-0 loss to the German power this week.The important thing was to defend well and we did, Roma coach Rudi Garcia said. Im proud of my boys. It wasnt a surrender.Still, Italian media took aim at his decision to rest several key players for the game.Rudi paralyzed: He was afraid of another lesson, read a headline in the Gazzetta dello Sport.On the eve of the first Bayern match, Garcia declared that he was convinced that Roma would win Serie A. And midfield veteran Daniele De Rossi said this was the strongest Roma side hes been a part of.The two losses to Bayern, plus a couple of recent stumbles in Serie A, have altered Romas approach.We knew we couldnt win, midfielder Radja Nainggolan said after the latest Bayern match.Added De Rossi: This was an impossible challenge for us. Sunday night at Olimpico against Torino will be much more important.___GLADIATOR GAMEA proposal from Romas American president James Pallotta to hold a football match inside the Colosseum has been met with opposition from a government official.I have one big goal, Pallotta told CNN recently. I want to get the city to let us play somebody like Barcelona or Bayern Munich or someone like that at the Colosseum.Well do a pay-per-view on it, $25 around the world, Pallotta added. We could get 300 million people wanting to watch that around the world — a game in the Colosseum which theyll never see again.We take that money, which could be billions of dollars, and then set up a foundation in Rome to fix up the antiquities even faster and put the rest towards inner city programs in Rome.Italys culture minister Dario Franceschini did not take well to the ideaIf Romas president wants to contribute to a fundraiser for restoring the capitals monuments there are many possibilities to do so, Franceschini said. But lets not joke around about the Colosseum.___DUTCH DefenceStefan De Vrij has quickly become the defensive anchor of a Lazio side that has won five of its last six matches.Named one of the top defenders in the Netherlands run to the World Cup semifinals, De Vrij joined Lazio from Feyenoord in July.He has played in nine of 10 matches, missing only one game due to suspension.Former Netherlands coach Louis van Gaal reportedly considered taking De Vrij with him to Manchester United but then suggested the defender head to Italy.Lazio was the only club before the World Cup which was really interested in me and I really liked that, De Vrij said when he joined the Roman club.___Andrew Dampf can be followed at
www.twitter.com/asdampf [b]Nyle McFarlane Jersey Retro[/b] .com) - Carmelo Anthony scored 31 points with eight rebounds to lead the New York Knicks to a 92-80 win over the Los Angeles Lakers.
[b]Cheap Jerseys 2020[/b] .com) - Rajon Rondo turned in a game-high 21 points to go with eight rebounds and seven assists as Dallas claimed a 102-98 win over the Lakers on Friday.LOS ANGELES, Calif. - Clayton Kershaws first home win of the season was a perfect example of how the two-time Cy Young Award winner has made a living out of pitching through early adversity and getting stronger as the game goes along. Kershaw shrugged off a two-run homer by Jose Abreu in the rookies return from the disabled list, and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Chicago White Sox 5-2 Monday night. "It was one pitch. Thats all it was tonight. One pitch. But he was great all the way to his last one," Dodgers catcher Drew Butera said. Kershaw (4-2) allowed four hits over eight innings, striking out nine and walking none. Kenley Jansen got three outs for his 17th save. "I think Kershaw just continues to fight no matter what. If they get him once, hes going to keep it right there," Dodgers pitching coach Rick Honeycutt said. "Hes not happy about the home run, but hes able to put it behind him and keep going. Thats the sign of a guy with a short memory. The great ones dont worry about the past. They just know what theyve got to do going forward." Justin Turners two-run single keyed a five-run sixth inning in which all the Dodgers runs were unearned. "Thats how you win games. You take advantage of one little mistake, and a lot of times it ends up rolling into a big inning," outfielder Scott Van Slyke said. "Good teams do that. When they get the opportunity, they take advantage." Jose Quintana (3-5) gave up six hits through six innings and was charged with all five unearned runs. The Dodgers parlayed two infield errors, four singles and a walk into the five-run rally that put them ahead. All the runs came with two outs. Kershaw led off with a single and Matt Kemp reached on one-out grounder that went under second baseman Gordon Beckhams glove for an error with the infield overshifted to the left side. Yasiel Puig struck out on a high fastball and slammed his bat in frustration, but the Dodgers got a break when third baseman Conor Gillaspie fielded Hanley Ramirezs grounder behind the bag and bounced his throw past first base as Kershaw scored. "He had a chance to get the force at third, but thats an error and thats part of it," Chicago manager Robin Ventura said. "Q pitched a great game, going inning for inning with Kershaw, and he deserved a better fate. Theres no two ways about it. But when you dont play defence, and give a team like that opportunities, you leave that littlle crack in the door.
[b]Fake Cheap Jerseys[/b]. And they kicked it wide open." Adrian Gonzalez drove in Kemp with an infield hit, and Quintana gave up a two-run single to Turner and an RBI single to Butera after a walk to Van Slyke. "Its always fun to get hits, and its always fun when youre part of the run-scoring," Kershaw said. "Sometimes with us, it takes a couple times to get through the lineup. I knew if I just kind of kept us in the game, gave us a chance, we were going to break out." Kershaw needed only 12 pitches to get through the first two innings and retired his first 10 batters before Beckham singled and Abreu followed with his 16th homer. The Cuban slugger was leading the majors in homers and ranked second in RBIs with 42 before missing 14 games with tendinitis in his left ankle. The White Sox were 8-6 in his absence. "It was nice, coming against a guy like Kershaw," Ventura said. "It didnt seem like he missed too much of a beat. When we have that guy swinging the bat good, were a better offence." The only other baserunner the White Sox had against Kershaw through the first six innings was Moises Sierra, who hit a dribbler to the right of the mound and beat the left-handers throw to first base with two outs in the fifth. Kershaw, who led the majors in ERA each of the previous three seasons, made only 66 pitches through six. "I was throwing strikes. They were swinging and my pitch count was low those first four, five innings," Kershaw said. "Theyve got some aggressive guys over there. It doesnt really bother me as long as I make my pitches early." NOTES: The Dodgers announced after the game that RHP Chris Withrow will undergo Tommy John surgery Tuesday. ... Abreu set major league rookie records for homers (10), RBIs (32), extra-base hits (19) and total bases (71) in April and was named AL rookie of the month. ... Beckham committed another error in the seventh, booting a routine grounder by Puig. ... Abreu and Puig, teammates with Cienfuegos before defecting from Cuba to the United States, are among six Cuban-born players in uniform for this series. The others are Alexei Ramirez, Dayan Viciedo, Adrian Nieto, and the Dodgers Erisbel Arruebarrena. ... Ventura gave 1B-DH Adam Dunn the night off even though he is 8 for 13 against Kershaw with four home runs. ... Quintana has not allowed a home run in 43 1-3 innings over his last seven starts, after giving up one in each of his previous four outings. ' ' '
Find in Directory
Find in Events
Find in Marketplace