The appointed heir to Gianluigi Buffon as Italy’s No. 1, could it be possible that AC Milan’s Gianluigi Donnarumma will eventually dwarf the Juventus legend? The 18-year-old goalkeeper was sensational in Milan’s highly controversial defeat to Juventus, recording nine saves and showcasing his strength, agility and tenacity.
The fight for second place in Serie A is serious business. Roma and Napoli are not fighting solely for the privilege of finishing behind Juventus, but battling to avoid a Champions League playoff qualifying spot. So bad is the history of Italian teams in the playoff rounds that Italy has, more often than not in recent years, only had two representatives in the group stages of Europe’s premier footballing tournament.
Thus, when Roma and Napoli played one another this weekend, the chance to finish in second was up for grabs.
Fiorentina manager Paulo Sousa has a problem. Paulo Sousa isn’t very good at his job. What’s more, people are starting to notice. For a while now, Fiorentina fans have been trying to tell anyone who will listen that the Portuguese manager is performing well below expectations. After two high profile capitulations in the space of a week, Sousa’s problem is now clear for all to see. Paulo Sousa isn’t very good at his job.
The offseason purchases of Mirlalem Pjanic from Roma (€32 million) and Gonzalo Higuain from Napoli (€75.3 million) haven’t debilitated the selling clubs, but they have had the desired effect for Juventus. Higuain has scored 19 goals, tied with Edin Dzeko for the most in the league, and no Juventus player has more assists than Pjanic.
Even more importantly, Napoli, the team that ran them closest last season, will come short of last season’s total of 82 points while Juventus look poised to surpass their own total of 91. There’s no surer gauge of the impact of that transfer.
The three-headed monster that is the Juventus defense will be without Leonardo Bonucci, who has the most minutes of the three in both Serie A and the Champions League, for Juventus’ first leg match against Porto. The club has every right to believe that the strength of Giorgio Chiellini and Andrea Barzagli in defense will be enough at Porto’s Estadio do Dragao, but the loss of Bonucci can only benefit the Portuguese club.
The cars were on fire and there was no driver at the wheel. For the president of Pescara, a rotten six months was capped with the firing of the manager who brought Serie A football back to the provincial town, the torching of his property by disillusioned fans, and a last gasp, hail Mary attempt to save the club’s position by turning to one of Italy’s most notorious cult leaders, Zdenek Zeman.
Citing a desire to not be the coach that’s guilty of retiring Francesco Totti, Roma’s Luciano Spalletti has threatened to quit if Totti is not offered another one-year contract extension this summer.
The 40-year-old Roman has neither confirmed nor denied a desire to play next season, but the future of the personal embodiment of the club trumps all other focuses, according to Spalletti.
This is a really good goal from AC Milan’s Suso, and it rescued a point in the 85th minute for his side against Lazio. But what really sticks out is how apeshit the Lazio defenders go after watching Suso dribble through them all.
A win for Lazio would’ve taken them to fourth, and you can tell just how devastating this late goal was. In Italy, the land of catenaccio and solid defensive organization, Suso’s ability to drift between defenders and leave two Lazio players on the floor just isn’t acceptable.
Scoring too many goals is graceless. In Italy, when a team gets a few goals ahead, an unspoken agreement settles over the pitch; the team in the lead won’t score too many goals and the team behind won’t try too hard to get back into the game. The energy and the pressure eases off and the three points are settled early on.
Juventus defeated Milan 2-1 in the quarterfinals of the Coppa Italia on Wednesday which, unfortunately for Italian football, isn’t really news. Juventus have won five straight Serie A titles, and, even with the higher likelihood of upsets in knockout football, they’ve managed to win the Coppa Italia two straight years.
Their hegemony of Italian football makes a neutral viewer more apt to turn to other competitions, like The Great British Bake Off. But the romance of Italian football can still be found if you know where to look. You should be looking at Carlos Bacca.