⚽️🇮🇹 Inter v Juventus: a sibling rivalry
In this week’s Italian soccer digest, we're looking at this weekend's huge Derby d'Italia, we're learning about the A-listers descending on Como, and much more!
🥊 Who will triumph in this weekend’s Derby d’Italia?
The marquee match this weekend sees reigning Serie A champions Inter host 36-time league winner Juventus in the Derby d’Italia (Sunday, 1pm ET, CBS Sports and FOX Deportes).
🤯 After shutting out Lazio in Turin last weekend, Juve has conceded only a single goal after eight games. That’s the fewest goals conceded after eight matches for any Serie A team since 1966/67.
💪 Inter sits a single point above Juventus, having secured a victory over Roma at the Stadio Olimpico on Sunday. Lautaro Martínez scored the winner for his 133rd goal for the Nerazzurri in all competitions. He has equaled Stefano Nyers as the club’s all-time top foreign goalscorer.
😮 Lautaro, meanwhile, will follow the match with a trip to the Ballon d’Or ceremony on Monday (more on that later).
🇺🇸 USMNT star Tim Weah returned to action in the victory over Lazio after an injury layoff. The son of Milan legend George Weah gave an interview to The Athletic about his time with the Bianconeri, his father, his upbringing in New York City, and much more.
🤗 This edition of the Derby d’Italia also has a sibling rivalry storyline: Juventus midfielder Khephren Thuram is set to face his Inter striker brother Marcus. “We are happy and proud,” said Khephren, noting that this is the second time they have faced each other, following a French League Cup game a few years ago.
⚽️ Marcus goes into the sibling rivalry on a high, having scored the winner in Inter’s Champions League victory at Young Boys on Wednesday - his ninth goal involvement in 10 games.
🤩 Christian Pulisic scores an Olimpico!
Christian Pulisic’s sophomore season with Milan keeps going from strength to strength - after providing the assist in Saturday’s 1-0 win over Udinese, the American scored directly from a corner (also known as an ‘Olimpico’) in Tuesday’s 3-1 Champions League win over Club Brugge!
🤓 The folks at The xG Philosophy pointed out that Pulisic’s Olimpico had an xG of 0.00, rounded to the nearest two decimals. That’s an empirical way of saying it was created out of nothing!
👉 Pulisic is the first name on coach Paulo Fonseca’s teamsheet this season, with five goals and three assists in eight league games. The 26-year-old has also scored two goals in three Champions League games.
🗓️ Opta note that Pulisic has been involved in more goals than any other Serie A player in 2024 (15 goals and nine assists).
🗣️ "Christian's game was fantastic," said Fonseca after the Udinese win. "This is the spirit that we must always have."
🇮🇹 Pulisic is endearing himself to his adopted home by conducting his last few post-match interviews entirely in Italian.
✈️ In addition to languages, the USMNT forward has also shown a talent for launching paper airplanes!
Up next for Pulisic and Milan 👉 The Rossoneri head to Bologna on Saturday (12pm ET, CBS Sports). Milan has won three of its last four trips to the Renato Dall'Ara Stadium.
⚽️ Mateo Retegui’s sensational season continues
The early leader for this season’s Capocannoniere (Serie A top scorer) race is Atalanta sensation Mateo Retegui.
⚽️ The 23-year-old, who moved to Atalanta from Genoa over the summer, made it eight goals from eight games with his deft chip in La Dea’s 2-0 win at Venezia last weekend.
🇮🇹 Retegui - who played at youth level for Argentina before declaring for Italy - has also fully claimed the much-debated No.9 shirt for the National Team - coach Luciano Spalletti said the “perfect” striker “will become a top player.”
🗞️ Italian newspaper La Repubblica also expressed its positivity: “The last time Italy has been so completely satisfied by its center-forward was almost 20 years ago with Luca Toni.” (Translated in The Daily Mail)
Up next for Retegui and Atalanta 👉 Verona will visit the Gewiss Stadium on Saturday (2.45pm ET, CBS Sports and SiriusXM FC). Verona came back from 2-0 down to earn a 2-2 draw when they last visited Atalanta in April.
💫 Hugh Grant and Andrew Garfield are the latest A-listers to visit Como
It’s not often that Spider-Man and the British Prime Minister attend the same soccer game - but that’s exactly what we had at Como’s 1-1 draw with Parma last weekend, when actors Andrew Garfield and Hugh Grant paid a visit to the Stadio Comunale G. Sinigaglia.
👀 Grant was seated next to Raphaël Varane, who was last week revealed as Como’s latest board member.
🆕 In addition to entertaining Hollywood’s elite, the Frenchman will advise on youth development, education, and product innovation.
🎬 Oscar nominee Garfield took a break from promoting his new movie We Live in Time to add to Como’s A-list credentials.
👋 Last month, actor Kate Beckinsale was at the Giuseppe Sinigaglia for Como’s 3-2 win over Verona.
👸 Como aren’t the only Serie A team to attract acting royalty, as Dame Helen Mirren is a big Lecce fan!
😬 Dame Mirren might not be pleased to learn that Fiorentina’s 6-0 win at Lecce was La Viola’s biggest away win in nearly 70 years.
🐺 Could Francesco Totti come out of retirement?
Roma legend Francesco Totti hung up his cleats in 2017, after 25 seasons, 786 appearances, and 307 goals for the Giallorossi. This week, the 48-year-old said that some Serie A teams have approached him to make an unlikely return to the field!
🗣️ "There were Serie A teams that called me. I admit that they made me think a little, a little crazy," Totti said in an interview published by Corriere dello Sport (and translated by ESPN). "It would be difficult, but in life you never say never. There are players who have played many years after the end of their career.”
🏃 Totti admitted he would need to train hard to get back into shape. “If I were to return to Serie A I would have to train really well… I'd be ready in two to three months."
😲 The 2006 World Cup winner, who only ever played domestic soccer for Roma, did not reveal which clubs had courted him - but there is one particular club in the capital he could never play for: “Lazio? I wouldn't even consider it.”
👴 The folks at Yahoo listed the 10 oldest players to feature in the Italian top flight, all of whom were in their 40s. Lazio goalkeeper Marco Ballotta, at 44, holds the record.
💬 Calcio Conversations
After another week of elite European soccer, now would be a good time to explain what Italians mean when they describe a ‘eurogol’.
🤷♂️ A what? We know what you’re thinking: it must be a goal scored in European competition. But no, in fact you can use ‘eurogol’ to describe any spectacular strike. What we might call a ‘worldie’ or a ‘wonderstrike’, Italians can call a ‘eurogol.’
🧐 Where does it come from? The origin appears to be the Rai TV show Eurogol, which aired from 1977 to 1994 and showed highlights from the top European competitions - and therefore showed a selection of the best goals from the best players across the continent.
🏆 Five Serie A stars on Ballon d’Or shortlist
The Ballon d‘Or, the annual ceremony which recognizes the best individual player in the world, takes place on Monday evening in Paris - and several Serie A stars are in the running for the big prize.
👏 The 30-man Ballon d’Or shortlist also features aforementioned Inter star Lautaro Martínez and his teammate Hakan Çalhanoğlu, Roma’s Artem Dovbik and Mats Hummels, and Atalanta’s Ademola Lookman.
👉 Inter coach Inter boss Simone Inzaghi says Lautaro “is in the top five in the world.”
🇦🇷 The Argentine forward also has the endorsement of the current Ballon d’Or and the player who has won it more than anyone else: Lionel Messi. The Inter Miami star said his countryman deserves it “more than anyone else.”
👏 The prolific forward finished as Serie A Capocannoniere with a career-best 24 league goals last season, guiding Inter to its 20th scudetto and picking up the league MVP award.
🇦🇷 Over the summer, Lautaro won the Copa America, scoring the winning goal in the final and finishing the tournament as top scorer.
🇮🇹 The last Serie A player to win the Ballon d’Or was Kaka with Milan in 2007. The last Italian to claim the prize was Fabio Cannavaro in 2006.
😮 Elsewhere at the ceremony, Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan and his Inter counterpart Yann Sommer are up for the Yashin Award, while Atalanta’s Gian Piero Gasperini is nominated for Men’s Coach of the Year.
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🇮🇹 Leonardo Bonucci named as assistant coach for Italy U20s
Eight-time scudetto winner Leonardo Bonucci retired after a storied career in May - and has now accepted a role with the Azzurri’s U20 side.
👉 The Italian Football Federation (FIGC) confirmed the former defender will serve as an assistant coach for the U20s in a statement on Tuesday.
⏭️ The 37-year-old will assist former Serie A striker Bernardo Corradi and will be in action at next year’s U20 World Cup in Chile in September and October.
👏 Bonucci earned 121 caps for Italy and lifted the Euro 2020 trophy at Wembley. This will be his first coaching role.
📺 This weekend on CBS Sports, Paramount+, FOX Deportes, and SiriusXM
⏰ NOTE: The clocks go back in Europe this weekend, so Sunday’s games are an hour later than you may expect
Friday, October 25th
Udinese v Cagliari (12pm ET)
Torino v Como (2.45pm ET, also on FOX Deportes)
Saturday, October 26th
Napoli v Lecce (9am ET)
Bologna v Milan (12pm ET)
Atalanta v Verona (2.45pm ET, also on SiriusXM FC)
Sunday, October 27th
Parma v Empoli (7.30am ET)
Lazio v Genoa (10am ET)
Monza v Venezia (10am ET)
Inter v Juventus (1pm ET, also on FOX Deportes)
Fiorentina v Roma (3.45pm ET, also on FOX Deportes and SiriusXM FC)
🇨🇦 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 🇺🇸
👋 Grazie e arrivederci!
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