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...

The bitter Rossoneri fans that ventured to the half empty San Siro whistled mercilessly after another 90 minutes of frustration came to an abrupt end. A disheartening goalless draw against a team that last year was playing in the Italian Serie B. Bari outclassed, outplayed, and embarrassed Milan on their home turf.

As the whistles died down, images showed fans slumped in their chairs in disbelief, probably asking themselves how one of the world's proudest, most storied franchises could have ever fallen to such low standards of play.

After consecutive wins stemming from inspired efforts, Milan succumbed to defeat at the Stadio Friuli against a tricky Udinese side.

Last week, Milan traveled to Marseille to take on the French giants in the first match of the group stage. As I imagined, Leonardo unleashed Super Pippo to go scavenging in his natural hunting ground: the Champions League. Inzaghi repaid the coaches trust in him by scoring a brace and earning the team three valuable points.

There is a popular saying in Milan about coaches who under perform with their respective clubs. Panettone is a typical treat enjoyed around Christmas time, popular in the Lombardy region. So as the saying goes: will Leonardo be kept around long enough that he too can indulge in this Milanese delicacy?

With back to back horrendous performances that had me reeling in agony, the pressure is mounting on management. If the string of uninspired play continues, some changes need to take place. But sacking Leonardo would basically suggest that Milan is raising the white flag and admitting defeat. Only time will tell.

Kaka entering the San Siro donning a foreign jersey. The two most storied clubs in the world facing off twice in the span of several months. This could not have been scripted any better. Destiny just had it that Milan first opponents of the Champions League group stage were the new Galacticos of Madrid: a team that over the summer spent nearly a quarter billion Euros to revamp its roster, and purge any Dutch player in the process.

At first thought, this is a great challenge for us since it's more convenient to play Real Madrid in the group stage as they're still gelling as a unit, rather than in a direct elimination face off later on in the contest.

One city. Two teams. One victor. The day I mark on my calendar months in advance. Tense anticipation crept up on me a few hours before the starting whistle. I tried desperately to find anything to console my nerves. Thinking of Inter's first seasonal outing versus newly promoted Bari surely helped.

The Nerazzuri, a team brimming with world class stars that failed to outclass a squad that has been bouncing back and forth between Italy's top two leagues for the past several seasons.

Then there was Milan, who the previous week played an impressive game against mid-table ranked Siena. It seemed obvious, we were on form and Inter were still gelling as a unit. I brainwashed myself to believe we were the favourites. And for the first 20 minutes of the game, it sure seemed that way... But then...

Only a few days before the famed city derby, (also the same day the entire city of Milan temporarily shuts down) Milan owner Silvio Berlusconi has once again undermined the tactics of one of his coaches.

At the end of a disappointing campaign last year, the Italian Prime Minister unleashed a scathing attack on former coach Carlo Ancelotti, blaming him for Milan's failures, and pointing out that the current Chelsea boss did not play the seemingly unmotivated and overweight Ronaldinho nearly enough. Also mentioning that the fans paid their tickets to see the former Ballon d'Or winner gracing the pitch rather than the bench.