Category Archives: Serie A

Sassuolo shock champions Inter again but Serie A relegation still beckons

“This was one of those results that felt like an instant piece of sports trivia, future material for the writers of football-themed pub quizzes. “In 2023-24, Inter won their 20th league title with a dominant league campaign in which they only lost two games. Which opponents beat them?” A trick question, as both defeats were to the same team. And an unlikely answer: Sassuolo, who are on course for relegation. We might be getting ahead of ourselves. There are still three games left in this Serie A campaign, time enough for Internazionale to lose again, or Sassuolo to steer themselves to safety. …”
Guardian

How Inter Milan Returned to the Top of Italian Football Under Simone Inzaghi

“In the summer of 1999, Simone Inzaghi left boyhood club Piacenza and joined Lazio, where he would enjoy a fruitful first season by winning the Coppa Italia as well as their first Scudetto in 26 years (and their last to date). He would spend the following decade at the Biancocelesti before hanging up his boots, quickly transitioning into coaching with Lazio’s youth sides and eventually taking the reins as Lazio manager following Stefano Pioli’s sacking. Inzaghi’s interim spell in charge would last just a couple of months, but after his replacement Marcelo Bielsa walked away after less than a week at the helm, the Italian became the club’s permanent manager. Over the next five years, Inzaghi would lead Lazio to two trips to the Coppa Italia Final, winning the 2018/19 edition and coming away with the Supercoppa Italiana on two occasions. …”
Breaking the Lines
W – Simone Inzaghi

Roma now come to play as well as fight – a team in the image of Daniele De Rossi

“When Lorenzo Pellegrini first wrapped the captain’s armband around his bicep, he presumably did not expect one of his leadership duties to include lending a team-mate a pair of shorts so he could keep his dignity in a post-match interview. Roma’s match-winner in Saturday’s Derby della Capitale, Gianluca Mancini, had ecstatically tossed his pantaloncini into the Olimpico’s Curva Sud stand as a memento for some (un)lucky ultra. …”
The Athletic

Will modern man Motta do an Alonso and stick with Bologna over Juventus?

Thiago Motta’s tactical innovations have transformed his players’ careers and taken Bologna to the heady heights of fourth in Serie A.
“The calendar showed 1 April, but there was nothing fishy about a league table that showed Bologna in fourth place. Thiago Motta’s side have held that spot for more than a month, even if it was striking to see after Monday’s 3-0 win over Salernitana that they had closed to within two points of Juventus in third. The gap was 20 at the start of February. April Fools’s Day in Italy is known as Pesce d’Aprile – April Fish. The tradition is for children to stick paper pesci on people’s backs and see how long they go unnoticed, but journalists have been known to mark the occasion with made-up stories, as happens in other countries. Bologna supporters must hope the headlines now linking their manager to Juventus turn out to be fake news. …”
Guardian

Champions League quarter-final draw: Predictions, tactics and players to watch

“The Champions League quarter-final draw is complete — and there is no shortage of intrigue. From the winners of the last two seasons (Manchester City and Real Madrid) being paired against each other to Harry Kane returning to north London to face Arsenal, or one-half of the draw opening up for one of the less-fancied teams in the last eight (something unlikely to ever happen again given the format changes from next season), the sub-plots are fascinating. The Athletic assembled an expert panel to cast their eyes over the four ties to explain where they will be decided, who they are tipping to go through and which team they are expecting to lift the trophy at Wembley on June 1. …”
The Athletic (Video)

Napoli suffer as Claudio Ranieri’s Cagliari strike again in ‘zona Cesarini’

“In Italy, the final moments of a football game are known as the zona Cesarini: a reference to Renato Cesarini, the former Juventus midfielder who cemented his reputation for late goals with a 90th-minute winner for the national team against Hungary in 1931. The term has long since passed into general use, describing anything from political deals brokered right before a vote to homework assignments handed in on deadline. Perhaps it is time for an update. …”
Guardian

Napoli and Barcelona both look out of place in the Champions League

“Occasionally, you hear people speaking wistfully about the days when the Champions League was precisely that: a tournament solely for domestic champions. That was how the tournament was conducted until around the turn of the century when it was opened up to include runners-up and, subsequently, third and fourth-placed sides from the major leagues. There were positives to this format: the high barrier to entry created a sense that you were watching a truly select group of teams. …”
The Athletic – Michael Cox

Victor Osimhen and the stuttering season indicative of Napoli’s title defence

“Walter Mazzarri reintroduced himself to Victor Osimhen over the weekend. They had met three months ago when Napoli brought the amicably garrulous Tuscan who had been their manager from 2009-13 back in a caretaker role following Rudi Garcia’s dismissal. Mazzarri looked forward to working with the reigning Capocannoniere in Serie A. There was a time when he had a reputation in Italy for turning OK strikers into good ones (from Rolando Bianchi and Nicola Amoruso to Claudio Bellucci) and for taking Edinson Cavani from unfulfilled talent to one of the best centre-forwards of his generation. …”
The Athletic

Bayern Munich are… boring. How did Europe’s most thrilling club become so safe?

“… Bayern weren’t bad. No, it was worse than that — they were boring. Watch the Champions League for any length of time and the favourites settle into predictable roles, like a high-school rom-com: Barcelona are the pretty ones, Manchester City the nerds, Paris Saint-Germain the rich kids due a comeuppance, Real Madrid the awkward main characters everyone knows will get a third-act makeover and live happily ever after. …”
The Athletic

How Inter cracked Juventus’ impenetrable defence using wide centre-backs Inter, Juventus

“Breaking into a secure bank facility often requires a meticulous plan, the right personnel and the smartest of tools. Trying to sneak through Massimiliano Allegri’s Juventus might be just as hard — an organised defensive unit with special-ops operative Gleison Bremer leading the way is as close as football gets to an unbreakable vault. The men looking to break in? Simone Inzaghi’s Inter Milan. Allegri recently compared the title race to a game of cops and robbers. ‘The robbers get away and the cops run after them,’ he said when Inzaghi’s side were ahead in the table. …”
The Athletic

The end of Italian football’s secret advantage

“Football in Italy had been taking advantage of a loophole in tax legislation. It allowed clubs to recruit and pay players more than they ever had. But now, with a new government in power in Italy, that tax break has gone. So what was the tax break? How did football clubs take advantage of it? What does it mean for the future of Italian football? James Horncastle writes, Craig Silcock illustrates.”
YouTube

Free agents in 2024 – the players who can now sign pre-contract transfer agreements

“This season’s winter transfer window is now open, meaning clubs can officially start the scramble to add reinforcements or offload players deemed surplus to requirements. Premier League sides can do business until 11pm GMT on Thursday, February 1 — and, following discussions with the major leagues around Europe, that will also be deadline day in La Liga (Spain), Serie A (Italy), Ligue 1 (France) and the Bundesliga (Germany). But while clubs who want to sign players under contract must negotiate and, usually, pay a transfer fee during a FIFA-determined transfer window, wise forward planning allows ‘pre-contract agreements’ in some circumstances. The Athletic explains what these are and which players due to be out of contract in the summer could now step up transfer plans. ….”
The Athletic

Athletic Bilbao’s Basque-only ‘philosophy’ – and why some are calling for change

Athletic players celebrate their win over Atletico Madrid on December 16
“For much of their 125-year history, Athletic Bilbao have been recognised for their unique player policy. Known as a philosophy by those connected to the club, it dictates that Athletic only use players who have been born or brought up in what is defined as the Basque Country, a region of northern Spain and across the border in France of three million inhabitants that shares linguistic, historical and cultural ties. …”
The Athletic (Video)

Through the Looking Glass of Big Data: SSC Napoli 2015/16 and the Vindication of Maurizio Sarri: Part One

“Before Luciano Spalletti’s new-look Napoli led by Kvicha ‘Kvaradona’ Kvaratskhelia and Victor Osimhen conquered the Serie A in 2022/23 for the first time since a certain Argentinian had led them to the Scudetto over 30 years prior, it was the unassuming rise of Maurizio Sarri seven years prior that had seemingly marked the start of a new era in the history of the club. Sarri’s appointment to the top job in July 2015 at Napoli had come as a surprise to many in the Neapolitan media as he beat out the more-vaunted likes of Cesare Prandelli and Luciano Spalletti himself to replace Rafa Benitez, freshly departed for Real Madrid. ‘We won’t have a winning Napoli with him,’ the typically outspoken Diego Armando Maradona told the press at the start of the season. …”
Breaking the Lines
Breaking the Lines – Part II: A First Campione D’Invierno (Or, Tuscan Men Love to Curse)
Breaking the Lines – Through the Looking Glass of Big Data: SSC Napoli 2015/16 and the Vindication of Maurizio Sarri: Part Three

Liam Henderson: the Scottish footballer who built his career in Italy

“… Liam Henderson has been living in sunny Italy for almost six years now but he still seems amazed by the endless summer. Last August, as the transfer window was about to close, he left Serie A side Empoli on loan for Palermo in the second tier, heading down to Sicily. It wasn’t a career setback though. Palermo is 80% owned by the City Group and they have assembled a highly competitive, ambitious squad with the goal of promotion. Henderson is a key piece of the puzzle. …”
Guardian

Juventus make a point against Inter as talk of title grows louder in Turin

“On the eve of this season’s first Derby d’Italia, both managers insisted they would not “sign for a draw”. Simone Inzaghi was pragmatic, claiming he would never do that ‘unless it’s the second leg [of a knockout game] and you already won the first.’ Massimiliano Allegri found a way to be even more so, saying: ‘No. We need to play the match that starts at 8.45pm.’ Those replies were as inevitable as the question being posed. Neither manager could pre-declare a willingness to settle for a point in a game against their most likely rival for the Serie A title. Yet it was reasonable to think that outcome might suit them both. …”
Guardian

Leadership vacuum hurting fragile Napoli as Rudi Garcia nears the end

“… Those might have been his final remarks as manager of the Partenopei. Napoli lost 1-0 and the club’s owner, Aurelio De Laurentiis, imposed a press silence at full-time. He was understood to be exploring his options to replace Garcia on Monday, a decision that some fans might celebrate even more enthusiastically than a win. …”
Guardian

Andriy Shevchenko: My Game In My Words

“There have been few more complete strikers in the modern game than Andriy Shevchenko. A powerful all-rounder who could score from distance or slalom through opposition defences, he was, at his peak, the world’s best striker, winning the Ballon d’Or in 2004 to sit alongside winners’ medals from Serie A and the Champions League. …”
The Athletic (Video)
W – Andriy Shevchenko

Olivier Giroud: AC Milan’s match-winning goalkeeper

“Kanye West knows what the Midwest is. Young and restless. But what about Marassi? Old and misty, home to the club founded by James Richardson Spenseley. Although no longer welcome on Venice’s Water Taxis after a compromising photo emerged last month of him and his wife Bianca Censori apparently in flagrante, West was not denied entry to his first Serie A game. Swapping the canals for the carrugi, he was a surprise attendee of Genoa-AC Milan on Saturday night. …”
The Athletic

Victor Osimhen calls time on TikTok saga but Napoli cannot set clock back

Victor Osimhen bellows in frustration after missing a chance

It has been a troubled week for Victor Osimhen after the Napoli forward was mocked by the club’s TikTok account.
“By full time, it was tempting to believe that Napoli’s troubles had all been an illusion. After 24 hours of accusations and legal threats resulting from videos that the club’s TikTok account posted of striker Victor Osimhen, the Partenopei had come back to their home stadium and thrashed Udinese 4-1. The Nigerian played the first hour of the game, scored the second goal and continued to cheer his teammates after being substituted in the second half. …”
Guardian

Tactical Analysis: Napoli 1-2 Lazio

“After stringing together eight consecutive league wins, Napoli entered March in sensational form and the heavy favorites to pick up a victory at home against Lazio featuring a former player in Elseid Hysaj and a former manager in Maurizio Sarri, who spent three years in charge at the Partenopei and took them within touching distance of the Scudetto on multiple occasions, only to fall at the last hurdle to Juventus. Lazio took the lead within 67 minutes via Matías Vecino and prevailed 1-0, going on to finish second in their second full season under Sarri, a mere 16 points behind Napoli. …”
Breaking the Lines (Video)

Lost talents rediscovered as Roma and Juventus kickstart Serie A season

Roma’s Andrea Belotti celebrates after scoring the first of two goals against Salernitana.
“… His team had not even played that badly, losing 2-0 away to an Inter team who ended last season in a Champions League final. The Nerazzurri were superior throughout, yet the result was not settled until Lautaro Martínez bagged his second goal in the 75th minute. If Monza had reacted more sharply to Yann Sommer wafting a cross into the middle of his area just after half-time, it could have been a different story. …”
Guardian

Italy: Serie A, 2023-24 season

“The map page has a location-map of 2023-24 Serie A, along with 3 charts. The location-map features each club’s home kit [2023-24]. The map also shows the 20 Regions of Italy. And the map also shows the 11 largest cities in Italy (2020 metropolitan-area figures) {Metropolitan cities of Italy}. The cities’ population figures can be seen at the top of the location-map. Also, the map shows the locations of both the 3 promoted clubs and the 3 relegated clubs from 2022…Promoted to Serie A for 2023-24: Cagliari, Frosinone, Genoa; relegated to Serie B for 2023-24: Spezia, Cremonese, Sampdoria. …”
billsportsmaps
W – 2023–24 Serie A

Christian Pulisic begins life in Serie A with a goal and a renewed sense of purpose

“As AC Milan’s bus wound through Bologna, passing the porticos and red and orange buildings, the colour of the fat and tomato of the ragu that make this city world famous, Christian Pulisic prepared for his upcoming debut in Serie A. When the Stadio Renato Dall’Ara’s iconic brick tower came into view, the American could have been forgiven for thinking it was one of the fortresses that make the region of Emilia Romagna feel like one of those far off lands in Game of Thrones. …”
The Athletic

From Wolfsburg misfit to immortality in Naples: the rise, blip, and rise of Victor Osimhen

“In Naples, football is more than a sport. This southern city, famous for its natural beauties and rich history, is a place where men who become heroes are immortalized. They are worshipped. Take, for instance, the reverential adoration inspired by the late Diego Maradona after leading I Partenopei to their first two Scudetti, in 1987 and 1990—establishing Napoli as a force to be reckoned with in Italy, in a league the wealthier northern clubs have a history of dominating. This city of mostly working-class people quickly embraced a Maradona who himself came from humble beginnings, growing up in Villa Fiorito, an overcrowded shantytown in the Buenos Aires suburbs. …”
Football Paradise

Cholismo 2.0: This Time It’s Possession-Based

“… It has taken years to finally land on a coherent and convincing style of play. After several false starts, failed launches and beta testing malfunctions, Cholismo 2.0 is here and it looks nothing like it’s predecessor. We are still not even sure if the current iteration of Atlético — post-World Cup Atlético — is the real deal. The tactical change is evident and the results have been promising, but the caveat is they have had nothing to play for since after the World Cup. They were eliminated from the group stage of the Champions League, finishing last in a group made up of Bayer Leverkusen, Club Brugge and Porto. Any whispers of a title challenge were hushed with losses to Villarreal, Real Madrid, Cádiz and Mallorca. …”
The Analyst

Inter have gone from the brink to the jackpot — reaching final matters for so many reasons

Inter Milan’s Lautaro Martinez celebrates after scoring his side’s opening goal during the Champions League semifinal second leg soccer match between Inter Milan and AC Milan at the San Siro stadium in Milan, Italy, Tuesday, May 16, 2023.
“Rippling down the Curva Nord, the choreography unfurled by Inter Milan’s ultras before their Champions League semi-final second leg showed a knight in shining armour, his shield pock-marked with arrows, a depiction of Inter’s quest for the holiest of grails. If the knight were to have suddenly animated and taken off his helmet, it would not have come as a surprise to see the face of Simone Inzaghi revealed. He may as well have ridden in on a white charger when he joined Inter two years ago. They were champions of Italy at the time. But they did not look like a club who were going to dominate Serie A in the way Inter did between 2006 and 2010, when five domestic titles in a row culminated in an unprecedented treble. …”
The Athletic (Video)
Guardian: Inter’s Champions League progress built on depth and defensive resilience
Guardian: Lautaro Martínez finishes off Milan to put Inter in Champions League final

Milan haven’t learned from derby defeats – Inter were far superior with and without the ball

“… Inter may well have learned, but Milan did not. Their first half looked almost identical to the 3-0 Supercoppa loss to Inter in Riyadh in January. They were 2-0 down after 21 minutes that night to goals from Edin Dzeko and Federico Dimarco, as their 4-2-3-1 struggled to cope with Inter’s advancing wing-backs and combative front two. …”
The Athletic (Video)
SI: Inter Dominates Milan Champions League Derby But Fails to Finish the Job – Jonathan Wilson

The New A.C. Milan Picks Up Where the Old One Left Off

“Stefano Pioli could feel it, even if he could not quite define it. In the nicest possible way, Pioli has made several journeys around the block as a soccer manager. At 57, he has been coaching in the volatile, capricious world of the Italian game for two decades. His current job, at A.C. Milan, is the 13th of his career. There is very little, these days, that counts as new to him. The couple of weeks leading up to and surrounding Milan’s Champions League quarterfinal against Napoli last month, though, were different. …”
NY Times

Napoli’s title-winning tactics analysed and explained

“The Scudetto is heading to Naples. A lot has happened since Napoli’s last league win in 1989-90. A Diego Maradona-inspired team won that title with 51 points — Serie A had only 18 teams and a win was worth just two points at the time. They were then relegated in 1997-98, came back up at the second attempt before going down again immediately in 2000-01. They even spent two seasons in the third tier before getting back into Serie A for the 2007-08 campaign. …”
The Athletic (Video)

‘You can’t help but get swept up’: joy as Napoli near first title for 33 years

“Naples has exploded into delirious celebrations as its football team edged closer towards clinching its first Serie A title in 33 years – a victory that would resonate well beyond football for this often-derided southern Italian city. Napoli had hoped to claim Scudetto glory with six games still to play, but a 1-1 draw against Salernitana meant it has had to delay the official party by a few days. …”
Guardian (Video)

Napoli can begin their party while shroud still envelops Juventus

“It was not the goal that sealed Napoli’s third-ever Scudetto, but it sure felt like it, an emotion so overpowering that some players could not keep their feet. As Giacomo Raspadori’s volley skidded through Wojciech Szczesny’s legs and into the Juventus net, Piotr Zielinski simply collapsed on to his back, lying spreadeagled on the Allianz Stadium turf. …”
Guardian

Inter’s tense season can end in glory with all-Milan Champions League semi-final

“‘Squadra nervosa, squadra vittoriosa.’ When Esteban Cambiasso was a treble-winning Inter Milan midfielder, people used to say that an irritable team, agitated and often upset with itself, tended to be a winning team. What better preparation, then, for Benfica’s visit to San Siro than a rondo ruckus at Appiano Gentile with Romelu Lukaku stepping into separate Andre Onana and Marcelo Brozovic after the Inter goalkeeper made a rather overzealous challenge on the team’s playmaker-in-chief. …”
The Athletic
Guardian: Inter survive late goals to set up all-Milan Champions League semi-final

Sevilla 3 Manchester United 0: De Gea horror show – but are Ten Hag’s team running out of puff?

“It was a night when everything went wrong for Manchester United. Having been 2-0 up in the first leg of this Europa League quarter-final last week, they duly conceded five – two at Old Trafford and three in Spain tonight – to stumble out of the competition in embarrassing fashion. It was a terrible performance which raises major questions over how strongly Erik ten Hag’s side can finish a season where they are in an FA Cup semi-final on Sunday and still battling for a top-four finish in the Premier League. Our experts analyse the major talking points. …”
The Athletic

European roundup: Barcelona held at Getafe, Union Berlin title dream fades

“Barcelona were held to a second straight 0-0 draw in La Liga after mid-table Getafe managed to take a point off the leaders in a hard-fought game on Sunday. Xavi’s side, who drew 0-0 with Girona last weekend, still have a healthy lead over second-placed Real Madrid at the top of the standings. Madrid’s 2-0 win over Cádiz on Saturday means Barça’s lead is now 11 points with nine games left in the season. …”
Guardian

Napoli may have regrets from defeat in Milan – they need to unite for the home leg

“In San Siro’s Curva Sud, a pair of devilish red hands threatened to strangle the Pulcinella, a cowering look of pure terror writ large on the masked face of this figure from Neapolitan folklore. ‘In our hands, our destiny,’ proclaimed the Milan ultras’ pre-match choreography. But once the Champions League quarter-final kicked off, the street-wise Pulcinella cunningly escaped Milan’s clutches and seemed intent on making fun of their hosts on the biggest stage. Napoli did not appear intimidated by the atmosphere or the team that beat them up 4-0 in the league at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona 10 days ago. …”
The Athletic (Video)
Guardian – Milan against the world: five of their greatest nights on the big stage
NY Times: Milan Celebrates Its Revival With a Mighty Roar

Milan giants are Champions League contenders but may miss top-four cut

“The Champions League quarter-finals are upon us and, for the first time in 17 years, there are three Italian sides among the final eight. Before anyone gets carried away contemplating brave new eras, they might consider the growing possibility that two of those teams might not even qualify for next season’s tournament. Inter have won none of their last six games and slipped out of Serie A’s top four after drawing 1-1 with Salernitana on Good Friday. …”
Guardian

AC Milan toyed with Napoli in 4-0 win – roll on their Champions League rematch

“There is an old theatrical tradition that a bad dress rehearsal is followed by a successful first night of a show. Napoli will have to hope that is true. Sunday’s Serie A game against AC Milan was the first of three meetings between the sides in 17 days. The other two are in a Champions League quarter-final, with the first leg at San Siro next Wednesday and the return in Naples the following Tuesday. …”
The Athletic

Champions League Quarterfinal Draw Brings Intrigue to Wide-Open Field

“This has been an unusual season, with the break for the World Cup adding to a rare sense of unpredictability. This looks to be the most open Champions League in years, with the only side clearly in form, Napoli, never having previously gotten this far in the competition. It’s almost certainly too early to say the presence of three Italian sides in the quarterfinals represents the return of Serie A as a major power, 13 years since the last Italian winner, but that only one Spanish side got through the group is indicative of the financial difficulties La Liga sides are enduring. Wider trends are one thing, the specific ties another. After Friday’s draw, we assess the four quarterfinal ties. …”
SI – Jonathan Wilson

Juventus beat Sampdoria amid tangled subplots worthy of Oscars

“The final scene was back-to-front, each actor playing the wrong part. Dejan Stankovic’s Sampdoria had just lost 4-2 to Juventus, a result that left them joint-bottom of Serie A amid ongoing concern that the club could face bankruptcy at the end of the season. Yet there he was at full time, pulling Dusan Vlahovic into an embrace and offering consolation to the striker whose team had just beaten his own. …”
Guardian

Why Italian football has no money

“Clubs in Serie A are struggling to spend money. In January 2023 transfer window when the Premier League spent a combined total of 800m Euros, Serie A spent just 33m. But why? What is holding Italian clubs back from competing with their European counterparts? What are the main revenue streams, and why aren’t they fruitful? James Horncastle writes, Henry Cooke illustrates.”
YouTube

Eternal rivals Lazio and Roma dreaming of the Champions League

“The Scudetto is still heading to Naples, but for one weekend Serie A belonged to the city of Rome. On Friday, Lazio toppled the league leaders at their own stadium. On Sunday, Roma beat the Juventus side who would be second if it weren’t for the 15-point penalty given to them at the start of this year. …”
Guardian

Liverpool, Napoli and the Problem With Systems

Jürgen Klopp’s Liverpool has lost its edge.
“There is no such thing as a 4-3-3. The same goes for all those pithy threads of numbers that are hard-wired into soccer’s vernacular, the communal, universal drop-down list of legitimate patterns in which a team might be arrayed: 3-5-2 and 4-2-3-1 and even the fabled, fading 4-4-2. They are familiar, reflexive. But none of them exist. Not really. …”
NY Times

Napoli attack space. So how did they adapt when Eintracht Frankfurt didn’t leave them any?

“… Glasner does not set Frankfurt up to dominate European games but Napoli had 70 per cent possession, outshot the hosts 18 to five and created three big chances — a situation where a player should reasonably be expected to score — (including a penalty) without conceding any. This extends Napoli’s run to six straight wins, scoring at least twice in each and conceded just once. How did Napoli adapt their approach away to Frankfurt? …”
The Athletic

Youth, muscle and attitude: Lecce win at Atalanta validates Baroni methods

Fans celebrating the club’s eighth promotion to Serie A in May 2010
“On paper, it looked like a game Atalanta should win. They had been rounding into form since the start of 2023, piling up goals and muscling their way back into the fight for Champions League places. Last weekend, a 2-0 win at Lazio leapfrogged them into fourth, so Sunday’s fixture at home to 13th-placed Lecce should have been straightforward by comparison. Football matches, however, are not played on paper. Nor, as the Lecce manager, Marco Baroni, reminded us recently, are they played on a video game console. …”
Guardian
W – U.S. Lecce

European Super League: This week was a glimpse of what that world could look like

“Liverpool vs Everton, Paris Saint-Germain vs Bayern Munich, AC Milan vs Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal vs Manchester City, Borussia Dortmund vs Chelsea, Barcelona vs Manchester United. From Monday to Thursday, this week’s football fixtures have offered night after night of glamorous, high-profile match-ups between some of European football’s elite clubs. …”
The Athletic (Video)

European roundup: Neymar carried off before Messi’s late winner for PSG

“Lionel Messi scored a stunning free-kick in added time to earn Paris Saint-Germain a 4-3 comeback win over Lille and lift them eight points clear at the top of the Ligue 1 standings. PSG, who have struggled for consistency since their return from the World Cup break, extended their lead over second-placed Marseille who travel to Toulouse later on Sunday. …”
Guardian (Serie A, Germany, Video)

The best goalkeeping performances in Champions League history – ranked

“There’s been plenty of brilliant individual performances in the UEFA Champions League down the years. Lionel Messi vs. Man Utd, Cristiano Ronaldo vs. Juventus, Ronaldo (R9) vs. Manchester United are some of the standouts from the outfield players, but what about goalkeepers? Well, here’s the five best from the boys between the posts. …”
90min

Champions League last-16 preview: Analysing each team’s tactics

“Europe’s top competition is back. For those who have missed the soothing tones of the Champions League anthem, fear not. The knockout stage is upon us and we have 16 more games to feast on over the next four weeks. Using FiveThirtyEight’s well-respected prediction model, Bayern Munich stand as favourites to win the competition, edging ahead of Manchester City, Real Madrid and dark horses Napoli. However, we all know how knockout football works — do not expect things to go the way you might predict. …”
The Athletic (Video)

Luciano Spalletti – Napoli – Tactical Analysis (2022-23)

“Luciano Spalletti has worked wonders since arriving to the scene of Naples in 2021. The Italian manager helped Napoli to a third-place finish last season, and now prepares to lead the closing stages of their title charge in 2023. With some supremely smart acquisitions in the summer working their magic, Gli Azzurri currently sit ten points clear atop the table, and have more than double the points of Serie A’s historical dominator – Juventus. If Spalletti can continue to get his tactics right and maintain the remarkably positive culture he’s built since arriving, Napoli will walk away with the title this year. So with that, here is our analysis of the club from Naples so far in 2022-23. …”
The Mastermindsite

Inside the Juventus crisis: The Paratici ‘black book’, Chiellini’s WhatsApps and Ronaldo’s wages

“If English football needed proof of how hard it can be to dispel the clouds cast by a major financial scandal, they need only look at Italy. While Manchester City are only beginning to confront over 100 claims that they breached financial regulations over a nine-season period, Juventus — the most successful club in the history of Serie A — have been under siege for almost two years. The scrutiny on the Turin giants has been four-pronged. …”
The Athletic (Video)

Diego Simeone and Atletico Madrid are set for change – their story looks close to an end

“‘How are things at Atletico Madrid at the moment?,’ The Athletic asked a former club employee last week. ‘Bad. Bad. Really bad,’ was the reply, delivered with a grimace. ‘Not just the results, but the play, the feelings. It’s not like before.’ That same downbeat and anxious tone was a feature of many conversations with over a dozen sources close to Atletico last week, each requesting anonymity to protect their positions. …”
The Athletic

The Juventus scandal is awful for the whole of Serie A. It could be crippling

“Only in Serie A. It’s a common refrain, sometimes jocular — ‘Ah, those crazy Italians’ — and all too often dispiriting at what goes on in Italy’s biggest league. Some fans consider it a part of its appeal. All the dysfunction, the scandals, as if it were a football version of a true crime podcast or one of those shows about cults that top the Netflix charts. …”
The Athletic

Why Juventus are in crisis

“In November 2022, Andrea Agnelli, the Chairman of Juventus, and the rest of the board announced they were resigning. Agnelli had been the Chairman for 12 years. They had decided to leave following an investigation into Juventus’ finances. Why were Juventus’ finances being investigated? What did the investigators find? Why did it cause the board to resign? What happens to Juventus now? James Horncastle explains. Philippe Fenner illustrates.”
YouTube

At Juventus, a Strange Season Takes Another Turn

“The start of Juventus’s season was miserable. A raft of injuries ravaged the club’s squad. The team’s results, in those first few weeks, were flecked with disappointment. Barely a month into the campaign, Manager Massimiliano Allegri was having to smooth over the impact of an interview in which he had suggested “something was missing” from his side, alienating several of his players. …”
NY Times

Serie A 2022-23 Predictions: Rest of the Season

“Napoli are bossing things in Italy, right now. The Naples side are eight points clear of second-place Milan as the Italian top-flight returns to action following the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, and our supercomputer is struggling to see past a third Serie A title for them in 2022-23. Their chances of winning their first scudetto since 1989-90 thanks to the brilliance of Diego Maradona are rated at 88.7%, while Napoli fans are almost certain to enjoy UEFA Champions League football again in 2023-34, with the supercomputer rating their chance of finishing outside the top four places in Serie A at just 0.06%. …”
The Analyst

How Good is Enzo Fernandez?

“On 2 August 2022, 21-year-old Enzo Fernández made his Benfica debut in a UEFA Champions League third-round qualifier against FC Midtjylland. He was uncapped at senior international level for Argentina and his move to Portugal was his first foray into European football. 138 days later, the young midfield maestro is a world champion with Argentina, was named the FIFA Young Player of the Tournament in Qatar, is an integral part of a Benfica side that is top of the Primeira Liga, has gained passage into the UEFA Champions League knockout stages helping As Águias top their group ahead of Paris Saint-Germain and Juventus, and he has yet to lose a single match for his new club. It’s fair to say that Enzo Fernández’s rise has been nothing short of meteoric. …”
The Analyst

Serie A 2022-23 recap: Where were we?

“It has been six weeks since the last Serie A matches, so let’s have a reminder of where the races for the Scudetto, Champions League, Europa and relegation spots stand. The fixtures kick off again on January 4 with a full slate of 10 games on that day and it’ll pick up with a big clash between leaders Napoli and title chasers Inter. Luciano Spalletti’s men went into the break for the World Cup sitting a massive eight points clear at the top of the Serie A table, trailed by Milan on 33 points and Juventus on 31. …”
Football Italia

Roma’s early momentum dissipates to leave Mourinho pointing the finger

“The players were in the tunnel ready to emerge for the second half at the Mapei Stadium, but José Mourinho was headed in the opposite direction, returning from the dugout to the changing room. Roma were drawing 0-0 with Sassuolo but just for a moment that was not his priority, as he went to retrieve a team shirt to give to a young supporter in a wheelchair he had noticed beside the pitch. …”
Guardian

European roundup: Filip Kostic inspires Juventus in defeat of Internazionale

“Filip Kostic set up both goals as Juventus beat Internazionale in Serie A on Sunday in a challenging game where both teams had chances to win. Kostic took advantage of a cleared Inter corner and raced into the box, where Adrien Rabiot guided the assist elegantly into the bottom corner in the 52nd minute. Kostic then fed an unmarked Nicolo Fagioli six minutes before full time for the second goal. Juventus are fifth on 25 points, 10 behind leaders Napoli. Inter are seventh on 24 points. …”
Guardian