SERIE A:Beckham in fitness battle for Lazio visit

godtabh

Preview

David Beckham's chances of continuing his impressive form for AC Milan in Sunday's Serie A visit to Lazio (1930) are in doubt because of a leg muscle strain.

The England midfielder was substituted in the 71st minute of Wednesday's 1-1 draw with Genoa after scoring a first-half free-kick to notch his second goal in as many games.

"He came off because of a muscle strain," coach Carlo Ancelotti was quoted as saying by Thursday's La Gazzetta dello Sport. "We'll assess (the situation) in the next few days, but it does not seem serious."

The 33-year-old joined Milan on loan from Los Angeles Galaxy for two months in a bid to stay in contention for England selection during the U.S. close season.

But his assured showings in four starts so far have led to a growing clamour for him to stay permanently and the player admitted he was torn about whether to return to the U.S. in an interview published on Wednesday.

If Beckham does not recover in time then Ronaldinho could return to the starting lineup as third-placed Milan seek to regain ground on Inter Milan after dropping eight points behind the leaders.

Ancelotti tried fielding Ronaldinho and Beckham together on the Englishman's league debut, a 2-2 draw at Roma, in a highly offensive lineup that also included Clarence Seedorf, Andrea Pirlo and fellow Brazilians Kaka and Alexandre Pato.

But the team was lopsided in attack and Ancelotti has sought to restore balance by bringing Massimo Ambrosini's steely presence into midfield and leaving out Ronaldinho, who is less inclined to chase back and did not look 100 percent fit against Roma.

Even when Ronaldinho was in good form in front of goal earlier this season, Kaka complained that he was having play deeper and tackle more to compensate for his compatriot's presence in the side.

Milan captain Paolo Maldini and midfielder Mathieu Flamini will be suspended for the match in Rome.

Champions Inter entertain struggling Torino on Sunday (1400) with morale high after they won 2-0 at Catania on Wednesday with 10 men to extend their lead over second-placed Juventus to six points.

Coach Jose Mourinho will be without suspended midfielder Sulley Muntari, who was sent off in Sicily, and Brazil forward Adriano, who will serve the second part of a three-match ban for throwing a punch in Sunday's 1-0 win over Sampdoria.

Juventus hope to have Alessandro Del Piero back for Saturday's home game against Cagliari (1930) after the captain missed Wednesday's 2-1 defeat at Udinese with a knee knock.

, January 31, 2009
Time Home Away VENUE
17:00 UK Napoli v Udinese San Paolo
19:30 UK Juventus v Cagliari Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Time Home Away VENUE
14:00 UK Atalanta v Catania Stadio Azzurri D`Italia
14:00 UK Bologna v Fiorentina Renato Dall'Ara
14:00 UK Siena v Lecce Artemio Franchi Montepaschi Arena
14:00 UK Genoa v Palermo Comunale Luigi Ferraris
14:00 UK Reggina v AS Roma Stadio Oreste Granillo
14:00 UK Chievo Verona v Sampdoria Stadio Marc`Antonio Bentegodi
14:00 UK Internazionale v Torino Giuseppe Meazza
19:30 UK Lazio v AC Milan Olimpico

It'll be interesting to see how Geona get on in the next couple of weeks. Its the half way point in the league (or a bit more) and they are in 4th spot a point ahead of Roma.

Roma have picked them selfs up afterlosing 7 games already this season. They'll be strong finishers so come May it could be a good fight on for Europe

Dave!

Beckham seems to be loving it in Italy, judging from his comments, his reaction after his goals, and the team spirit that seems to be evident in Milan.

godtabh

Dave! wrote: »

Beckham seems to be loving and the team spirit that seems to be evident in Milan.

thats probably because he is on the same sort of money the rest of the team is on

Theresalwaysone

Well Im happy to see him performing to a certain degree again and also enjoying it.

Hope he stays at Milan too, better to have the 2 seasons max he has left there with some quality footballers than rot in the MLS.

godtabh

Juve go down 3-2. Inter could be 9 points ahead by the end of the day

JPA

kearnsr wrote: »

thats probably because he is on the same sort of money the rest of the team is on

He's getting bucket loads in America as well you know.

godtabh

JPA wrote: »

He's getting bucket loads in America as well you know.

but his team mates arent. THats the point

FatherTed

I've watched the two recent Milan games and he really hasn't been that great. OK so the scored two goals, but that last one was a goalkeepers nightmare. Not much else though from him.

godtabh

Inter drop points again.

Maybe they want to make a contest of it?

Trippie

Beckham with two assists tonight and Milan playing well despite Senderos starting. Pato is going to be something special once he sorts his first touch out