⚽️🇮🇹 Is Rafael Leão launching a music career?
👋 Ciao a tutti!
Welcome to Calcio Weekly, your comprehensive weekly digest of Italian soccer. This week, we’re talking about:
🔥 Napoli’s hot form under Francesco Calzona
🇪🇺 Bologna’s Champions League prospects
🎤 Rafael Leão’s love of making music
…and much more!
⏰ Remember: Daylight savings time starts on Sunday, which will shift the typical Serie A start times back by an hour.
👏 Francesco Calzona’s impressive start at Napoli continues
Napoli’s undefeated streak under coach Francesco Calzona continued in the most-recent game week with a dramatic 2-1 home win over Juventus.
👋 Calzona took the reins at Napoli last month, just two days before a crucial Champions League clash with Barcelona. The 55-year-old is the Partenopei’s third coach of the season.
💫 After drawing with the defending Spanish champions, Napoli registered a 1-1 draw at Cagliari before a barnstorming 6-1 win at Sassuolo and the aforementioned win over Juve.
📈 Calzona, who is simultaneously coaching the Slovakia national team, feels his side are on the right track, with more work to be done: “In winning this match, the team sent a signal that it wants to achieve important targets. I am pleased to see such a united side that wants to keep getting stronger.”
👉 Up next for Napoli: The Naples side host Torino on Friday (2.45pm ET on Paramount+). Torino won the reverse fixture 3-0 in January, but Napoli have won their last two meetings at the Diego Armando Maradona stadium.
🗣️ Rafael Leão discusses commitment to Milan, meeting Kanye, and a music career
In a lengthy interview with Il Corriere della Sera to coincide with the launch of his new book, Smile, Milan star Rafael Leão tackled a wide-range of topic
🛑 The 24-year-old iterated his desire to stay at the San Siro for the duration of his four-year contract: “Milan helped me when I was in a very difficult situation, they were close to me. I don’t forget, I’m loyal. I arrived as a boy and here I grew up as a man and as a footballer. My head is here.”
❤️ The Portuguese forward discussed racism in soccer and the inspiration for his tattoos of Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King Jr.: “To us black people, they are two great men who fought until the end to make everyone understand that we are all the same. I wanted to have their messages on me forever. I have many dreams, one of which is a world without racism.”
🎵 Leão also spoke about meeting controversial musician Kanye West at the San Siro, and hinted at a post-career move into music: “I became a rap fan by listening to songs on my mobile. I was crazy for Eminem as a kid. Then I started writing songs. I knew Kanye West before Genoa-Milan. Now there is football; in the future, we’ll see.”
🤓 And in a brutal blow for stats nerds, the Milan star spoke out against the increasing reliance on data in the game: ”Football today is just statistics. And I don’t like it. Football is magic, joy. It makes me angry that people only think about numbers.”
👉 Read more at World Soccer Talk and Football Italia
👀 Thiago Motta insists Bologna isn’t thinking about Champions League
Belief is growing that Bologna can qualify for the Champions League for the first time this season, but coach Thiago Motta isn’t thinking about dining on Europe’s top table just yet.
🗣️ “I am not even thinking about the Champions League,” said Motta after Bologna’s impressive comeback win at Atalanta on Sunday. “I am focused only on our performances, our training, and being ready to face every match to the best of our abilities.”
😮 Bologna has registered six league wins in a row and sit in fourth place, which would put them in the Champions League if the season ended today. They are four points clear of fifth-place Roma.
🎉 Thousands of Bologna fans welcomed the team back from their trip to Bergamo on Sunday evening, which forward Riccardo Orsolini certainly seemed to enjoy…
🇨🇦 Bologna is the sister club of Major League Soccer’s CF Montreal, as both are owned by Canadian businessman Joey Saputo.
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💔 Sassuolo and Italy national team suffer blow with Berardi achilles injury
Domenico Berardi will miss the remainder of Sassuolo’s season—and the European Championship this summer—after tearing his achilles in his side’s 1-0 loss at Verona on Sunday.
⚽️ Berardi is Sassuolo’s joint-top goalscorer this season, with nine goals and three assists across 17 games.
🇮🇹 The 29-year-old forward was expected to be on Italy’s Euro 2024 squad as the national team defend their European title. He notched two assists at Euro 2020 and converted his spot kick in the fateful Final shootout at Wembley.
😰 Sassuolo are three points shy of safety in 19th position, with eleven games left to play in their quest to stay in the top flight for the twelfth consecutive season.
🇮🇹 How Rome captivated Paulo Dybala
“Rome is magical,” says Paulo Dybala as he explores The Eternal City and discusses his ongoing success with Roma, in the latest episode of our Champions of Made in Italy series.
🇮🇹 Serie A is partnering with the Italian government for the Champions of Made in Italy documentary series, which is bringing insight into the cities and cultures that surround every club in the league. More episodes below…
🚀 ICYMI: Johan Vasquez launches one against Inter!
Inter increased their lead at the top of Serie A to 15 points with a 2-1 victory over Genoa. The highlight of the game, for the neutral fan, was the perfectly executed volley from Johan Vásquez for Genoa’s consolation…
💬 Calcio Conversations
Italian soccer fans often talk about the experience of being on the curva.
🤷♂️ What does it mean? The curva is the section of the stadium directly behind the goal, and literally translates as the “curve.”
This is typically the part of the stadium where the “Ultras” groups, the loudest and most organized sections of a club’s support, tend to congregate. Most often, when you see large, elaborate pre-match choreographies (or “tifos”) they will be in the curva.
⚥ Serie A’s first female referee praises gender equality
Maria Sole Ferrieri Caputi became Serie A’s first female referee last season and has officiated six games this season.
🗣️ Ferrieri Caputi spoke with Calcio Mercato about her experiences since earning her FIFA refereeing qualifications in 2019. The 33-year-old believes Italian soccer is aligned with other European leagues in terms of gender equality:
“In Italy we have caught up. My emotion is the same as that of anyone else who has followed my step, man or woman. The media resonance then remained very special. I represent a path of girls who preceded me; if I’m here it’s for them too.”
🇺🇸 Serie A Elite camps searching for American soccer talent
Serie A Elite is the official North American talent ID platform of Serie A and Rome City Institute, with the goal of identifying young US and Canadian players to compete in a professional academy setup in Italy.
At Serie A Elite’s 2024 camps, players attending the regional events across North America will be evaluated by professional coaches and presented with opportunities to play in Italy.
In the last two years, Serie A Elite has selected more than 50 North American players, who are now playing and studying in Italy.
Find out more information here and stay tuned for the announcement of additional dates and locations.
📺 This weekend on CBS Sports and Paramount+
Friday March 8th
Napoli v Torino (2.45pm ET)
Saturday March 9th
Cagliari v Salernitana (9am ET)
Sassuolo v Frosinone (9am ET)
Bologna v Inter (12pm ET)
Genoa v Monza (2.45pm ET)
Sunday March 10th
Lecce v Verona (7.30am ET)
Milan v Empoli (10am ET)
Juventus v Atalanta (1pm ET)
Fiorentina v Roma (3.45pm ET)
Monday March 11th
Lazio v Udinese (3.45pm ET)
🇨🇦 Reading this in Canada? Watch ALL Serie A games LIVE on Fubo - and try it for free! 🇨🇦
Grazie e arrivederci!
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