PLAY THE ADVANTAGE

The Italians are basically entering their second week of play after the international break.

As I’ve mentioned before, the addition of added referees on the goal lines means the center referees “rotate” more than you see in England, so World Cup Final referee Nicola Rizzoli (above) will only feature as an add at Lazio this week.

There is an interesting article making the rounds in which Rizzoli talked about the upcoming Serie A season, how traditionally difficult that league is for referees, and how technologies like video reviews (he’s not a fan) and vanishing spray (he is) affect the game. Good read.

There are other Italian refs besides Rizzoli, however, including two very good ones on the FIFA list:

Daniele Orsato will take Fiorentina v. Genoa, and Gianluca Rocchi (widely considered to be second only to Rizzoli and often seen in UEFA competition) will be at Hellas Verona v. Palermo on Monday.

Saturday’s marquee match between Juventus and Udinese will be referred by Antonio Damato.

Saturday
EMPOLI – ROMA
GERVASONI
PASSERI – PRETI
IV: LA ROCCA
ADD1: TAGLIAVENTO
ADD2: GHERSINI

JUVENTUS – UDINESE
DAMATO
MUSOLINO – TASSO
IV: DI FIORE
ADD1: PERUZZO
ADD2: FABBRI

Sunday
CAGLIARI – ATALANTA
CERVELLERA
COSTANZO – IORI
IV: MELI
ADD1: GUIDA
ADD2: LA PENNA

FIORENTINA – GENOA
ORSATO
FAVERANI – DE PINTO
IV: DOBOSZ
ADD1: TOMMASI
ADD2: PAIRETTO

INTER – SASSUOLO
CALVARESE
VUOTO – LONGO
IV: PADOVAN
ADD1: RUSSO
ADD2: AURELIANO

LAZIO – CESENA
IRRATI
STEFANI – VIVENZI
IV: FIORITO
ADD1: RIZZOLI
ADD2: MINELLI

NAPOLI – CHIEVO
GIACOMELLI
DE LUCA – CRISPO
IV: DI LIBERATORE
ADD1: VALERI
ADD2: ABBATTISTA

PARMA – MILAN
MASSA
BARBIRATI – MARZALONI
IV: NICOLETTI
ADD1: BANTI
ADD2: CANDUSSIO

SAMPDORIA – TORINO
MAZZOLENI
MANGANELLI – PEGORIN
IV: BIANCHI
ADD1: DI BELLO
ADD2: PASQUA

Monday
H. VERONA – PALERMO
ROCCHI
GALLONI – RANGHETTI
IV: GAVA
ADD1: DOVERI
ADD2: MANGANIELLO