⚽️🇮🇹 Christian Pulisic equals a legend's scoring record
In this week’s Italian soccer digest, we're also checking in on the relegation battle, getting to know a Torino rising star, and much more!
⚔️ Italy and Germany lock horns
There will be no Serie A action this weekend, as domestic leagues across Europe are on pause for the international break. It’s a big one for the Italy national team, as the Azzurri are up against Germany in the UEFA Nations League quarter-finals.
🏆 Luciano Spalletti’s side faces Germany over two legs, with a place in the semi-finals at stake. The first leg is at San Siro in Milan today at 3.45pm ET, before the return leg on Sunday, March 23 at 3.45pm ET in Dortmund. If the tie is level after 180 minutes, there will be extra time and penalties to decide the winner - who will then face Denmark or Portugal.
👏 Spalletti has handed debut call-ups to Atalanta’s Matteo Ruggeri and Cesare Casadei of Torino (more on him later), while wingers Matteo Politano of Napoli and Lazio captain Mattia Zaccagni return. However, Inter wing-back Federico Dimarco and Serie A top scorer Mateo Retegui are out injured.
🏟️ An extra bonus for the winner of this tie is that they will host the four-team Nations League Finals from June 4-8, 2025. Italy is aiming to become champions for the first time after Portugal won the inaugural 2019 crown, before France and Spain claimed the next two trophies in 2021 and 2023 respectively.
📈 Italy qualified for the quarter-finals after finishing second in Group A2, behind France but above Belgium and Israel. Germany topped Group A3 ahead of Netherlands, Hungary and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
🤔 This tie also represents a FIFA World Cup 2026 crossroads. If Italy wins, they will go into a qualifying group with Slovakia, Northern Ireland, and Luxembourg. If they lose, they will face Norway, Israel, Estonia, and Moldova in qualifying.
🗣️ "I'm a little tense, but not too worried,” Spalletti said. “I want to convey to my players that matches depend on what we bring to the table. Fear is just an emotion. Danger is different; it happens at a specific moment."
🐍 Inter pulls clear at the top!
Inter made a huge scudetto statement just before the league stopped for a breather, beating Atalanta 2-0 in a thrilling top-of-the-table Bergamo showdown to pull three points clear of second-place Napoli.
⚽ Both of the Nerazzurri’s goals came in the second half, Carlos Augusto and Lautaro Martínez striking, while there were red cards for Atalanta midfielder Ederson and Inter defender Alessandro Bastoni late on.
💪 The result stretched Inter’s remarkable unbeaten run in the fixture to 15 games, dating back to 2018.
👉 Earlier on Sunday, Venezia held Napoli to a 0-0 draw to deny Antonio Conte’s men the chance to go provisionally clear on top.
🧤 Goalkeeper Ionut Radu, who joined Venezia from Inter in January, put in a heroic display to keep out the Partenopei.
🔜 It all means that when play resumes after the break, reigning champions Inter will have a three-point lead over Napoli in second, who then have a three-point gap of their own to third-place Atalanta.
3️⃣ Inter, of course, are still in the running for Champions League and Coppa Italia silverware, too. When Martinez was asked about the chance of winning a Treble, he said: "It's almost like we don't want to say it, but yes. It will be difficult, but we'll go for it because we want to win every match we play. It's what we work for.”
🔥 Bologna bursts into the top four
Bologna supporters have had plenty to cheer recently after a superb run of form, but they were sent into a state of true euphoria on Sunday after witnessing a jaw-dropping 5-0 win over fellow Champions League-chasers Lazio at the Stadio Renato Dall’Ara.
✋ In an incredible display of attacking flair, Bologna blew Lazio away in the second half with five different scorers finding the net: Jens Odgaard, Riccardo Orsolini, Dan Ndoye, Santiago Castro, and Giovanni Fabbian.
📈 The famous result propelled the Rossoblu into the top four for the first time this season as they took advantage of Juventus falling to a 3-0 defeat away to Fiorentina.
🗣️ “We have begun a run of tough matches really well, and this result comes from a week of hard work and focus, looking to concede as little chances as possible against a dangerous side,” said coach Vincenzo Italiano.
🏰 Italiano’s debut season promises to be a memorable one, with Bologna also looking forward to a Coppa Italia semi-final against Empoli next month. Key to their run has been superb home form; Bologna have lost just once in 15 Serie A home matches this season.
🫶 Bologna is on a four-match winning run, and our friends at Opta point out that only four teams have picked up more than their 25 points in 2025 across Europe’s top-five leagues: Roma (29), Paris Saint-Germain (28), Bayern Munich (26), and Strasbourg (26).
😥 A sizzling survival battle is unfolding
With the races for the scudetto and European spots looking incredibly tough to call, the same can be said for the battle at the bottom…
🤏 Monza and Parma faced off in a game offering crucial points for both teams’ survival hopes, but they couldn’t be separated as an Ange-Yoan Bonny stunner sealed a 1-1 draw.
💥 Venezia claimed the aforementioned draw with Napoli, and Hellas Verona earned a huge 1-0 win away to in-form Udinese to jump seven points clear of the drop zone in 14th, but there were defeats for Lecce, Empoli, and Cagliari.
😬 That leaves things looking very tight ahead of the run-in, with six points separating five teams between 15th and 19th: Cagliari (26), Lecce, Parma (both 25), Empoli (22), and Venezia (20). Rock-bottom Monza has work to do on 15 points.
🤩 Venezia has put in some impressive performances recently, drawing four tough games in a row against Lazio, Atalanta, Como, and Napoli. “Our plan for survival is simple - win,” said coach Eusebio Di Francesco. “We are showing at the moment that we are still alive, that we are a team.”
⚡ Pulisic equals Zlatan scoring record
It was yet another record-breaking week for USMNT star Christian Pulisic, who was among the goals once again as Milan beat Como 2-1.
🚀 Pulisic struck Milan’s equalizer from a tight angle as the Rossoneri came from behind to win once again. It was his 15th goal of the season in all competitions and his third in the last two matches.
👏 The American’s goal means he is the first player to score at least 15 goals in both of his first two seasons at Milan since Zlatan Ibrahimovic between 2010 and 2012. Not bad company to keep!
🫶 Pulisic ended his debut campaign last year with 15 goals and 11 assists in 50 games. This year, he is already up to 15 goals and nine assists after 38 games...
💬 Calcio Conversations
After an action-packed few weeks, it’s time for Serie A fans to take a breather - la sosta is here!
🛌 The what? La sosta is the term for an international break in soccer, or la sosta per nazionali (for national teams), to use the full term.
🏎️ What does the word mean? It translates directly as ‘break’ or ‘pause’ but can be found in a few different contexts. For example, in Formula 1, a sosta is a pit stop!
👏 Candreva bows out
Antonio Candreva’s incredible career came to an end this week when the 38-year-old former Italy, Lazio, Inter, and Salernitana winger announced his retirement with an emotional video set at San Siro.
🔟 In a 20-year playing career, Candreva represented 10 different clubs across Italy’s top three divisions: Ternana, Udinese, Livorno, Juventus, Parma, Cesena, Lazio, Inter, Sampdoria, and Salernitana.
🇮🇹 Candreva, known for his pacy runs, explosive long-range shooting, and crafty creativity, also represented the Azzurri 54 times, scoring seven goals.
🏆 His only piece of major silverware came with Lazio, when he helped the Romans famously defeat rivals AS Roma in the Coppa Italia final in 2012/13. Happy retirement, Antonio!
⚡ Getting to know Italy and Torino’s rising star
Torino midfielder Cesare Casadei is one of the new faces in the Italy squad for this international break after an impressive start to life with the Granata since his January move from Chelsea.
💯 The 22-year-old spoke to us this week about his dream of representing the Azzurri, something he has done at the youth level but not yet for the senior side.
⚽ He also shared his journey of settling into life in Turin and the excitement of scoring his first Serie A goal in Toro’s recent win over Monza.
👍 Since Casadei’s arrival, Torino has lost just one of their six matches, winning three and drawing two. The former Leicester City player has started each of their last five games, contributing one goal and one assist.
🤳 Social Post of the Week: Pirlo plays ‘Winner Stays On’
Iconic midfielder Andrea Pirlo was challenged to pick the ultimate Serie A free-kick taker… but where did il Maestro rank himself among the dead ball specialists?
📺 This weekend’s international action
Thursday, March 20th
Italy v Germany (3.45pm ET, Fubo)
Sunday, March 23rd
Germany v Italy (3.45pm ET, FS2)
🇨🇦 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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