BY ABDALLA M. TARYAM

Italian football has produced great teams over the years. The magical Napoli of Maradona or the all-conquering Milan of Ariggo Sacchi to name a few but in all honesty I was never too fond of the Italian catenaccio style of football. Personally, I would rather entertain myself with the fast paced Premiership or the free flowing Spanish Liga than to nod off watching the likes of Inter and Juventus on a weekly basis.

Many have argued about which of the top European leagues is most entertaining but it is evident why more international viewers have chosen to stay away from the Italian league. Leaving my opinion of boring football aside, the true culprits are the Italian fans themselves.

Starting with the Calciopoli scandal and the stabbings of Middlesbrough fans in Rome, the Serie A was making the news for all the wrong reasons. It was obvious that the fans of the beautiful game were ruining football when the chaos reached a climax in February 2007 with the suspension of all football matches due to the killing of police officer Filippo Raciti at the hands of hooligans. This brought more unwanted publicity to the Italian game and coupled with the downfall of Juventus, it made no sense watching this league.

If the Italian fans did eventually calm down from all the violence, they ultimately resorted to something just as damaging. Racism in sports has existed all around the globe but nothing has equaled the levels that the Italian game has brought. Recently, fans all over the league have taken the liberty of chanting at the expense of Mario Balotelli. Balotelli, a naturalised Italian citizen of African origin, is not considered to be the most civil footballer around and some might say that he deserves the heckling of the fans but to go to the extreme lengths of insulting him at venues where he is not even present is unwarranted. Fans have dedicated their entire time at stadiums to affront this player and to make their voice heard that they do not wish to see him represent the nation at international level.

Fines and threats by the Italian Football Federation have, to some extent, limited these events recently but nothing in their power would prevent the latest disgrace bringing the game into disarray. What the world witnessed from Lazio fans in last week's match with Inter has brought shame and antipathy to football. Now, we all know how rival fans can hold extreme hatred to one another and that they would celebrate a single victory over a close rival just as much as a title but to actually encourage your team to lose just to affect your rivals is absolutely shocking.

Roma, Lazio's eternal rivals, are the only team left with a chance to dethrone champions Inter Milan but the matter is out of their hands. With three games to go Inter sat atop the standings with only one tricky fixture left which ironically was an away match to Lazio. Could Lazio, who are actually struggling to steer away from the relegation zone and in dire need of some points, do themselves and Roma a favour? Not if their fans have anything to do with it.

After sending death threats to their club president warning him over the consequences of a Lazio victory they showed up to the stadium to cheer on the opposing team. For 90 minutes they whistled, booed and insulted their own players in their own stadium while celebrating Inter's goals. They simply sucked any morale out of the players who came to win and left them wondering why they even bother.

This has brought sporting rivalries to a new level. To rejoice at an opponent's failure is one thing but to do so at your own expense is something else. As Lazio defender Aleksandar Kolarov put it, "this went beyond common sense and intelligence. It isn't passion any more, this is sick. I simply cannot understand how someone could prefer to damage another team rather than support their own."

This tragic behaviour has no place in sport and if the Italian football supporters continue with their violence, racism and poor sportsmanship its only a matter of time until the international stars start questioning their involvement with such a place, where fans are too occupied with hating each other. Then surely the entire boring Italian league will wither away into insignificance. By Abdalla M. Taryam

340 million dollars is the figure that was on everyone's mind before the football season started. Fans around the world were jumping on the Madrid bandwagon due to the second tenure of the Florentino Perez circus.

The global stars that were enticed were the last two Ballon d'Or winners amongst other well renowned players, to form not only a fearsome eleven but endless possibilities on the bench. This was extremely necessary in Perez's eyes. He needed to build a team that could win everything en route to the Champions League Final, which was going to be played in their own stadium.

Scores of sports journalists and football analysts struggled to find a balanced formation to fit all the soon to be disgruntled Nuevos Galácticos. Even the newly appointed manager Manuel Pellegrini couldn't engineer a way to fit all of his attacking players in the same team. The obvious result was to trim down the squad and lower the staggering wage bill.

The guillotine fell on the Dutch duo of Wesley Sneijder and Arjen Robben, a decision that may come back to haunt them at the Bernabéu on the 22nd of May.

Early season jitters and stumbles were excused as a period for the team to adapt, but nothing prepared the Blanco faithful for the first humiliation of the new epoch. At the first stage of the cup tournament, usually reserved for youth players and bench warmers to stake a claim for more regular action, Madrid were facing Alcorcon of the 3rd tier of Spanish football. Desperate to emulate Barcelona's record breaking treble season, Pellegrini fielded a team consisting of no less than seven internationals.

The result: a 4-0 annihilation that turned into a lesson for the entire football world. Not only did lowly Alcorcon produce a massive victory but the manner in which they laid siege to the Madrid goal was an epic in itself. Skill, talent, player price tags and tactical superiority were all thrown out of this match while only team morale and passion were left fighting on the pitch. Traits that seemed missing from Madrid since the first Galáctico era.

Four months after the great debacle, Madrid found themselves facing their Champions League curse again. They have not progressed past the 2nd round of this tournament since 2004 and now for the sixth consecutive year were staring at another early exit. Well the curse continues, 2 down 1 to go.

Now defeat to Lyon is hardly a humiliation but the fact that they lost to a team with a tenth of their budget, let alone the fact that Lyon's best player now plies his trade in the Spanish capital must be a victory to all fans of the so called small teams. The game itself showed the difference between individual brilliance and team unity and we all know what football requires.

Moving back to the league again and while Madrid's hierarchy kept reminding people that they are topping the standings (albeit on goal difference) of the only tournament they are still playing for, Barcelona are quietly racking up more points than in their previous record breaking campaign. Cue the grand 'El Clasico': The game billed to be the decider only laid claim to the fact that purchasing a team will not guarantee trophies.

Is it already 3 down and out for Real Madrid? Some might disagree, but one thing for sure, it is Barcelona's title to throw away.

Looking back at the teams that have turned Madrid's season sour: Alcorcon, Lyon and Barcelona. We must not write off Alcorcon's victory down to luck because anyone watching that match would realise that organisation and teamwork overcame arrogance that day. Lyon on the other hand have always produced world-class players but are known to be a selling club. They have adhered to their strategy and have reaped tremendous rewards. With Barcelona, many might argue that they are in the same category as Madrid, but I beg to differ. I point out the match against Bilbao a couple of weeks ago where Barcelona fielded ten academy players. Yes they do buy to fill the voids that their academy couldn't provide but that's normal. What is absurd is spending nearly half a billion Euros in four years and getting massacred by a 3rd division side.

Whether Madrid find a way to salvage their most expensive season ever or not, this experience will always remind the fans, and most of all, the decision makers at other clubs to forget the idea of outspending their rivals and to focus on forging a team built around a football philosophy and not on glamour.