A win against Siena. A loss against Inter. A tie against Livorno. Does this sequence seem oddly familiar to anyone? If you nodded, it isn't because you hallucinated this event - it is the exact way we started off last year.

The excruciating pain has not fully subsided from the traumatizing derby defeat, which led to the lackadaisical display put on against Udinese in the Coppa Italia. The mental blow from the derby was astonishing, the fire and passion that guided the Rossoneri to a successful spell in the past few months dissipated faster than you can pronounce Salihamidzic.

It's that time of the year again. The day where my high blood pressure peaks to historic levels. The day several remotes will be smashed against hard, unforgiving surfaces. This Sunday marks the most anticipated match of the Serie A.

Milan vs. Intergentina. Round #2.

As you may recall, the first encounter ended in an embarrassing 4-0 defeat, with things spiraling out of control after the snarling dog Gattuso was sent off with a rugged tackle. But then again that was a completely different Milan team. Comparing it to this current squad seems like night and day. Leonardo was still tinkering his formation back then, trying to figure out what puzzle pieces fit in his master scheme.

Has anyone noticed the absence of Pato? If your answer was "not quite", then you're not alone. David Beckham's arrival has finally provided us much needed depth on the wing of Leonardo's favorite 4-3-3 formation. The Juventus match showed the grit and character that has come to characterize our team in recent months.

The first half was more painful to watch than Gattuso's D&G underwear ad (a disturbing image that has unfortunately ingrained itself into my long term memory forever.) The match was a summary of everything wrong with the Serie A: too many fouls and whistle-happy referees not allowing the game to flow naturally. With aggressive midfielders like Felipe Melo, Poulsen, Salihamidzic, Gattuso, and Ambrosini, the match was starting to look more like an English rugby competition instead of a technical battle between two Italian soccer giants.

What a great way to start off a promising new year of soccer. Milan retain their second spot in the standings but still need to play the Fiorentina game which was rescheduled due to snowstorms. The return of David Beckham and a 5-2 thrashing of a talented Genoa side at the San Siro. Could things have gone any better for us today? Despite surrendering an early goal, Milan bounced back immediately thanks to some porous Genoa defending. A total of three penalty kicks were awarded, two of which went in.

Ronaldinho's cheeky first attempt was saved, but he redeemed himself on the second effort by firing a rocket into the bottom left corner. Overall, Leonardo tried a few new tactics, some which I deem to be failures, and others a touch of his managerial wisdom.

The past few games have been a glimpse into the Achilles heel of Milan throughout the season. The lack of depth will eventually haunt us if the issue is not resolved during the January transfer window.

Adriano Galliani has repeatedly stated the past month that his squad is not on the market, and that fans shouldn't expect any new signing. Right, just like the comment he made that Kaka wasn't leaving (which was seen in the media two weeks before we saw Kaka unveiled at the Bernabeu.) At this point I am skeptical to any remark made by Galliani.

The past week has given us Milanistas three noteworthy games. The thriller at the San Siro, where Milan toppled an impressive Cagliari side 4-3, a lucky 1-1 tie in the Champions League against Marseille, and Sunday's game at Catania resulted in one of the most unexpected finishes I have ever witnessed.

Us soccer fanatics have a short term memory. It's unbelievable how quickly we're able to forgive and forget. A player can win himself inside the hearts of fans with one goal. An icon can be whistled mercilessly after one crucial mistake. Just when I thought I had seen it all, our very own Klaas-Jan Huntelaar left me speechless when he transformed his Bidone d'Oro into a Ballon d'Or in stoppage time.

Sunday's without the Serie A are lonely, cold, and oh so bitter. I find myself mindlessly flicking through the vast array of channels available on my satellite, desperately trying to find another sport that can somehow compare to the religion that I call Calcio. Living in Miami, I've grown accustomed to watching soccer as I eat my breakfast. My Sunday's are devoted to the Serie A. I watch the morning games on Rai International, which also does a great job of broadcasting every single goal in real time. Then, the "afternoon" game (which is nighttime in Italy) is at 2:45pm, and La Domenica Sportiva airs at 10:30pm. That's about six hours of soccer I digest every Sunday, so you can imagine the emptiness I feel inside waking up to College Football. The withdrawal symptoms yesterday were horrible.

If you missed the first, and last five minutes of Napoli-Milan, then you missed every single goal.

Ahh Alessandro Nesta, how much we missed you today. After being subbed off in the first half for the other Kakha, our defense slowly unraveled, allowing two Napoli goals in the final five minutes.

At this time last year I doubted if Nesta would ever don a soccer jersey again, and now all I've been hearing is the argument that Nesta is playing as good or even better than he ever has in his long, prolific career. After taking a year off to bask in the scorching sun of Miami Beach, a rejuvenated Nesta came back healthy, tan, and most importantly: determined.

The Bidone D'Oro translates into "The Golden Trash Bin", it is a mock award given every year in Italy to the player who is deemed to represent the complete opposite of the Ballon D'Or. Requisites for winning this prestigious trophy require a team to have spent an inordinate sum of money for a player who didn't live up to expectations. Last year, Ricardo Quaresma of Inter won the famed award. This year, it has to be none other than our very own Klaas-Jan Junkelaar.

This just in: Real Madrid to offer £250 Million for Pato after his performance at the Bernabeu.

The title on the front page of ESPN Soccernet: Milan Stun Madrid. Sadly, this is how far we've fallen off the radar in recent times, when a Milan victory against an elite team is seen as stunning.

My mind is still clouded with the emotional rollercoaster I just had to endure mentally for the past few hours, but I will attempt to write a cohesive article nonetheless. For those of you who didn't watch the game, or somehow ventured on my page without reading Soccernet first: Madrid succumbed to an inspired Milan side 3-2, despite Nelson Dida's best efforts to sabotage the result...