⚽️🇮🇹 Can Atalanta close out 2024 with another win?
In this week’s Italian soccer digest, we check in on Christian Pulisic's injury recovery, we give Bologna some well-deserved flowers, and much more!
🇺🇸 Christian Pulisic returns to Milan training ahead of Roma clash
USMNT star Christian Pulsic has been out of action since picking up a minor tear in his right calf muscle three weeks ago, but the 26-year-old returned to training with Milan yesterday.
🙏 Pulisic is following an individualized training program at the Milanello training facility and may be available for selection when Milan hosts Roma on Sunday (2.45pm ET, CBS Sports, SiriusXM FC and the FOX Sports App).
🤕 Pulisic’s return would be timely, given that Rafael Leão is sidelined with a flexor injury.
👉 His USMNT teammate Yunus Musah is also back in training after missing the Rossoneri’s 1-0 win at Verona with a muscle injury.
📖 ICYMI: Pulisic gave an interview to GQ last week, in which he discussed his early career, his role with the USMNT, his Paramount+ docuseries, and much more.
🏟️ Milan President Paolo Scaroni has also provided an update on the oft-discussed fate of the San Siro: the preferred plan is now for the site to be redeveloped, for use by both Milan and Inter.
⭐️ Weston McKennie discusses Juventus role ahead of Fiorentina grudge match
Weston McKennie scored an acrobatic opener for Juventus in Sunday’s 2-1 win at Monza, marking his fourth goal of the season in all competitions.
🗣️ The 26-year-old played the game as a left-back, once again showcasing the impressive versatility he offers to Thiago Motta. "I feel like I'm a type of player that's able to adapt to a lot of different things and throughout my career," he told CBS.
👉 Juve hosts Fiorentina on Sunday (12pm ET, CBS Sports and FOX Deportes) as the only undefeated team in Serie A this season. The two sides both have 31 points, with Fiorentina sitting one place higher in fifth, with a game in hand, thanks to some excellent home form.
🥊 There’s no love lost between the two sides, who have history due to a close-run scudetto race in 1981-82 (which Juve won by a single point on the final day), and the transfers of Roberto Baggio and Dušan Vlahović from Florence to Turin. Read more about the relationship between the sides here.
👀 Atalanta attempts to extend incredible winning streak at high-flying Lazio
Atalanta sits atop the Serie A standings following a club-record 11 consecutive wins in the league. On Saturday, Le Dea faces a stern test with a trip to the Stadio Olimpico to take on fourth-place Lazio (2.45pm ET, CBS Sports and FOX Deportes).
😮 Atalanta hasn’t lost a Serie A game since September and is breaking new records with each passing match. After Sunday’s 3-2 win against Empoli, the club broke its own record for the most goals in a calendar year (124).
🤯 Gian Piero Gasperini’s team is also reaching some continental landmarks: Opta Paolo informs us Atalanta has more wins than any other ‘Big 5’ European league team (13), and is the only side from those leagues with three players on 10+ goals.
😂 With 40 points on the board before the turn of the year, midfielder Mario Pašalić is pleased the team has hit its survival target well ahead of schedule: “In the locker room the President told us ‘40 points, we avoided relegation.' We reached our first objective, now let’s think about the rest.”
🦅 As noted, Lazio will be no pushover this weekend. The Roman side has won five of its last six games in all competitions and has a strong home record with six wins from eight. In fact, only Atalanta has won more home games this season (seven wins from eight).
🏆 After visiting Rome, Atalanta will head to Saudi Arabia to Supercoppa Italiana for the first time in its history. Gasperini’s team faces Inter on Thursday January 2nd (2pm ET, CBS Sports), while Juventus plays Milan the following day (2pm ET, CBS Sports). The winners of those two matches will face off in the final in Riyadh next Monday, January 6th (2pm ET, CBS Sports).
🐶 ICYMI: Verona and Milan players enter the field carrying rescue puppies!
Milan’s aforementioned 1-0 win at Verona was preceded by a walkout that will surely go down in Serie A history as one of the most adorable.
😍 Players from both teams entered the field carrying puppies from a local cat and dog shelter, in order to raise awareness for adoption.
🐾 A total of seven cute doggos entered the field at the Marcantonio Bentegodi Stadium. And yes, we do have more photos. And some video. You’re welcome.
🆕 Salvatore Bocchetti replaces Alessandro Nesta at Monza
With only a single win to its name this season, Monza parted ways with coach Alessandro Nesta on Monday, replacing him with former Italy National team center-back Salvatore Bocchetti.
🙁 Monza’s 2-1 home defeat at the hands of Juventus proved to be Nesta’s final outing, marking a fourth defeat in a row in all competitions and the team’s tenth winless consecutive game in all competitions.
👉 Nesta, who won the scudetto as a player with Lazio and Milan, was appointed in July to his first Serie A managerial role, having previously coached in lower tiers at Reggiana, Frosinone, Perugia and Miami FC.
📉 Monza is bottom of the league, with 10 points from 17 games.
👉 Bocchetti has previously coached at Verona as an assistant and a six-game spell as caretaker in 2022. The 38-year-old lost all six of those matches, including a defeat to Monza.
⏭️ On Saturday, Bocchetti faces his first test in the Monza hot seat when his side visits 15th-place Parma (9am ET, CBS Sports).
Italian soccer fans will say that Nesta did not get to eat his panettone this week. Find out why below…
💬 Calcio Conversations
Around this time of year, the same question is often asked of struggling Serie A coaches: will they get to mangiare il panettone?
🤷♂️ What does it mean? The panettone is a typical festive dish for Italians, so any discussion about whether a coach will get to ‘eat their panettone’ is a way of considering if they will still be in a job come Christmas Day!
🥮 Who didn’t eat their panettone this year? Five coaches didn’t get to eat their panettone this season. Two of them were at Roma - where Daniele De Rossi and his successor Ivan Juric were both dismissed - while Luca Gotti at Lecce, Alberto Gilardino at Genoa, and, of course, most recently Alessandro Nesta at Monza, didn’t get their sweet treat.
👋 Genoa under new ownership
Romanian businessman Dan Șucu has taken majority ownership of Genoa, marking a new era for Italy’s oldest soccer club.
👉 Șucu assumes control of the club from Miami-based 777 Partners, who purchased the club from long-time owner Enrico Preziosi in 2021.
🗣️ “The transfer of majority ownership marks a new chapter for Italy’s oldest football club, with the hope that the entry of Dan Șucu can bring financial stability and new investments to strengthen the team and its infrastructure,” said the club in an official statement.
🇷🇴 Șucu also owns a majority stake in Rapid Bucharest, one of the most successful teams in Romania.
👉 The Romanian businessman owns Mobexpert, Romania’s biggest furniture brand, and also has investments in real estate and media in his home country.
📈 Genoa currently sits 13th in the standings, having lost only one league game -to title challengers Napoli - since Patrick Vieira’s appointment as coach last month.
Up next for Genoa 👉 Il Grifone visits Empoli on Saturday (9am ET), and historic results suggest it will be an even affair: the two sides have tied their last four meetings.
🔥 Bologna is on fire!
It’s high time we check in with Bologna, which is in a rich vein of form under coach Vincenzo Italiano.
🔥 As our friends at IFTV note, Bologna is undefeated in its last six matches in all competitions, including a hard-earned point on the road at Benfica in the Champions League and a 4-0 demolition of Monza in the Coppa Italia.
👍 The only goals Bologna has conceded in that run were in a 2-2 draw at Juventus (against their former coach Thiago Motta).
👏 Bologna, owned by Canadian businessman Joey Saputo, sits in seventh spot in Serie A, three points behind Juve in sixth, with a game in hand. The club is in the final eight of the Coppa Italia (they face Atalanta in February) and is competing in its first-ever Champions League campaign (of the modern era) after their fifth-place finish last season.
Next up for Bologna 👉 On Monday, Italiano’s side hosts Verona, against whom they have recorded 2-0 wins in their last two meetings 2.45pm ET, CBS Sports).
📺 This weekend on CBS Sports, Paramount+, FOX Deportes, and SiriusXM
Saturday, December 28th
Empoli v Genoa (9am ET)
Parma v Monza (9am ET)
Cagliari v Inter (12pm ET)
Lazio v Atalanta (2.45pm ET, also on FOX Deportes)
Sunday, December 29th
Udinese v Torino (6.30am ET)
Napoli v Venezia (9am ET)
Juventus v Fiorentina (12pm ET, also on FOX Deportes)
Milan v Roma (2.45pm ET, also on SiriusXM FC and the FOX Sports App)
Monday, December 30th
Como v Lecce (12.30pm ET)
Bologna v Verona (2.45pm ET)
🇨🇦 Watch ALL Serie A games live on Fubo - and select games with Italian-language commentary on TLN 🇨🇦
🇺🇸 Watch select games with Spanish-language commentary on FOX Deportes and English-language commentary on SiriusXM 🇺🇸
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