The striker did not quite live up to the hype at Manchester City but is in prime form and helping Roma in their pursuit of a first Serie A title since 2001Edin Dzeko never did turn into Marco van Basten at Manchester City. That is what some predicted would happen when he joined from Wolfsburg for £27m in January 2011 having scored 66 goals in 111 appearances for the German club. Aged 24, he appeared to have the strength, speed and skill to become a world-class centre-forward. Van Basten’s image adorned Dzeko’s bedroom walls growing up in Sarajevo and, in the Bosnian’s own words, he was “very flattered” to be seen as a modern-day version of the Dutch legend upon...
It was billed as the battle between Juve’s nearest rivals and while Roma defeated Milan, Saturday’s trip to Turin will be a truer test of their credentialsThumbing through the newspaper previews for Roma’s match against Milan, one might have come away with the impression that Italy was preparing not for a football match but rather an assault on King’s Landing. Like the put-upon peasants in Game of Thrones, columnists yearned for a less oppressive form of leadership. It was time, as La Repubblica put it, for the “One, True, Anti-Juve” to emerge.In the standings, there was nothing to choose between these two pretenders to the Serie A throne. Joint second on 32 points, they each trailed Juventus by seven. But...
The departures of Dietmar Beiersdorfer and Klaus Allofs last weekend continue the pattern of extreme upheavals that have gripped the BundesligaA notoriously wonky table and frantic managerial change have long gone together like Blut and Grätsche in the Bundesliga. Each season, half a dozen unexpected overachievers put pressure on the remaining two-thirds of the league. Halfway through the campaign, roughly one half of the clubs will have replaced their coaches in hope of a bounce.This year, however, has produced extreme levels of upheaval. A tidal wave of disruption has cut through the league, sweeping away not just the poor blokes in shellsuits and roll-neck jumpers but many of the formerly bullet-proof powerbrokers. They stuck around for years, sometimes decades, unshiftable,...
Winger feels public fury after his first-minute free fall led to a penalty which he converted to put the Bundesliga’s top team ahead against SchalkeThrough on goal straight after kick-off, Timo Werner scuffed his shot, then instinctively took his second chance – albeit in less style. He arched his back, let out a cry and threw himself to the ground, creating the impression that the Schalke 04 keeper Ralf Fährmann, who had actually done well to pull out of the challenge, had brought him down. The referee Sebastian Dankert fell for the phantom foul and awarded a penalty. The irate Fährmann was booked. Werner himself stepped up to slot home the spot kick coolly to put RB Leipzig 1-0 ahead....
There was not much beautiful to hold on to in any sense, although the Giallorossi will be content to have extended the legacy of the departed Rudi García“You do not play a derby, you win it.” When Rudi García pronounced those words at the start of his first season as Roma manager, few could have imagined how prophetic they would turn out to be. The Giallorossi had lost to Lazio in the final of the Coppa Italia a few short months earlier. They have not done so again since. Related: Kevin Strootman strikes as Roma see off Lazio in heated Rome derby Related: Sport picture of the day: watching the Rome derby Continue reading...