Juventus eked out a 1-0 win over Spezia on Sunday, maintaining its grip on a top-four place in Serie A. After the match, Bianconeri coach Massimiliano Allegri broke some bad news to Juve and USMNT fans with a Weston McKennie injury update: The Texan is done for the season.
With 10 Serie A matches remaining, AC Milan is top of the table following Sunday's nervy 1-0 victory over Napoli at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.
Inter is two points back of Milan and maintains a game in hand, but the Rossoneri are one step closer to a first Scudetto since 2011 while Napoli, which entered the match level on points with Milan, likely now sees its wait for a first league title since 1990 extended.
The moment of the match was provided by Olivier Giroud in the 49th minute.
Eighteen-year-old Moustapha Cissé scored his first two Atalanta goals with the composure of a veteran striker.
The first came from a looping through ball, which Cissé took one touch to control before providing a steady low finish inside the far post. The second came on a well-placed, one-touch shot after some strong interplay with a teammate on the edge of the penalty area.
Milan U19 - Atalanta U19 pic.twitter.com/6VLc3BohBl
Juventus escaped with a 1-0 win over Fiorentina in the first leg of the Coppa Italia semifinals on Wednesday. Dušan Vlahović, who joined the Bianconeri from Fiorentina for up to $90 million in January, played the full 90, but it was one of his (former) teammates who scored the late winner.
Despite approaching 27 years as a senior professional, Gianluigi Buffon has no plans to retire yet after signing a new deal at Parma that will see the goalkeeper continue playing until the ripe old age of 46.
Buffon re-joined Serie B side Parma — the team he made his debut for as a 17-year-old in November 1995 — last year, with the club announcing on Monday that he has signed a contract extension until 2024.
In an era with historically-dominant clubs running away with their leagues every season, it becomes difficult to appreciate their supremacy because they have largely removed the drama from domestic title races.
In France, where the title race last season was one of the best in recent memory, Paris Saint-Germain has once again sat atop the table throughout the campaign.
SALERNO — Serie A leaders AC Milan averted a shock defeat to basement club Salernitana on Saturday, with Ante Rebic rescuing a 2-2 draw with a late strike from long range.
Ante Rebic!
Milan fight back. pic.twitter.com/GMIQiqxW35— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) February 19, 2022
A crucial Serie A encounter in the race for Champions League football between Atalanta and Juventus ended 1-1 at Stadio di Bergamo on Sunday night.
With both sides struggling for fluidity in the attacking third, it looked like a 0-0 outcome was inevitable as we entered the final 15 minutes. Juve's rearguard had been highlighted by the play of Matthijs de Ligt and Danilo, and it was the two Old Lady defenders who'd prove instrumental in both goals.
ROME - AC Milan climbed to the top of the Serie A table with a 1-0 win over Sampdoria on Sunday, when an early strike from in-form winger Rafael Leão proved decisive at San Siro.
Stefano Pioli’s side jumped ahead of Inter Milan and Napoli, who drew 1-1 in Naples on Saturday, to go top with 55 points.
It completed a superb week for Milan, in which they defeated rivals Inter in the Milan derby and hammered Lazio 4-0 in the Coppa Italia quarterfinals, leaving Inter one point behind with a game in hand and Napoli two points back in third place.
Every league has that one team that isn't really all that good but just seems to hang around for far longer than they should. They don't spend much, they don't play entertaining football, and they never really win any big games. Yet when the season ends, they are always mid-table.
In the 2010s, that team in England was Wigan Athletic, as Roberto Martínez's brand of "Guerilla Soccer" kept an underfunded Latics side in the Premier League for eight years.