Serie A 2012, Week 7 preview and fixtures: Milan Derby gets top billing

Valerio Pennicino - Getty Images

Round 7 in Serie A wraps up with the Derby della Madonnina. But before we visit Milan, what matches are in store?

Well, folks, have we got an exciting week in store in Italy or what! (Don't say "or what". It will make us sad.) You all know what I'm talking about...It's Derby della Madonnina time! That's right, Inter and Milan meet up for the first time this season on Sunday evening, which means, at the very least, it's quite tragic that the Curse of the San Siro has already passed. I mean, if neither Milan side was destined to take a point at home this year, what would have happened during the derby? A plague of frogs? Alas, we will never know, as Inter defeated Fiorentina there last weekend, and Milan beat Cagliari the last time they hosted a match at the San Siro.

But before we travel to the place of such storied lore, the gods at the FIGC have seen it fit to make us pay penance. Yes, they have stacked the deck against us, giving us nothing more than dregs to watch on Saturday. Sure, Sampdoria are good, but watching Chievo is like having a tooth extracted. And after last week, Palermo have surely run out of goals for the season.

As if that weren't enough, fates have managed to put Roma on during the unwatchable hour. How will we have enough jokes to fill our standup slot on Monday night if we can't tune in to see this week's giallorossi meltdown? Finally, instead of allowing the Milan derby to stand alone, as is custom, they've shoved Napoli v Udinese into that same time slot. Blasphemy.

Be sure to check back in to this StoryStream as SBN Italia brings you match-by-match previews, as well as some special notes on the derby.