Serie A matches were postponed after Davide Astori’s death on Sunday, casting Saturday’s dramatic results into insignificance It felt so all-consuming on Saturday night. A last-minute winner, a six-goal thriller, a title race turned on its head. Then a young man died, and suddenly it did not seem to matter at all.The passing of Davide Astori put all of Italian football into mourning. Genoa and Cagliari’s players were already on the pitch at Marassi, warming up for their lunchtime kickoff, when news filtered through. Several wept as they retreated to the changing rooms. An announcement that the match had been abandoned was met by the fans with applause. Related: Leader Davide Astori is fondly remembered as Serie A falls quiet...
The son of Enrico Chiesa shone in Fiorentina’s draw with Atalanta to further justify optimism in Italy about the young talent emerging thereThe bar has always been set high for Federico Chiesa. At 19 years old, he is a fixture of Fiorentina’s starting XI and has already played one unofficial friendly with the Italian national team. And yet, during an interview with La Repubblica, he suggested it may be some time before he considers himself a top-flight footballer. “My dad once told me: you become a Serie A player when you have made at least 300 appearances,” he observed.An outrageous standard, albeit one founded on personal experience. Federico’s father Enrico played 380 games in the domestic top-flight, representing Fiorentina but...
A penalty awarded against Juventus at home in the opening game was just what the VAR was supposed to pick up – but a referee whistling too soon at Bologna proved costly for TorinoIt used to be that a new Serie A season would provide us with a fresh round of discorsi da bar – football talking points to get worked up about over a beer or Monday morning espresso. This year, things went in a different direction. When the final whistles had blown and Giorgia Cardinaletti welcomed us back to Rai 2’s long-running highlights show, Domenica Sportiva, she and her studio guests instead dived straight into discorsi da VAR.Yes, this was the weekend when Italian football fans received their...
Fiorentina’s manager has been savaged by his own fans for his Juventus links and ill-conceived words but beating his old club may prove a turning point for himThey remember the wins over Juventus, down in Florence. They remember them for the goals: for Gabriel Batistuta’s header beyond Angelo Peruzzi and the Giuseppe Rossi hat-trick that helped convert a 2-0 deficit into a glorious 4-2 victory in 2013. They remember them because they hate Juventus, those entitled ‘thieves’ and ‘hunchbacks’ from Turin. Most of all, though, they remember the wins over Juventus for the simple reason that they don’t come along very often.Heading into Sunday’s showdown at the Stadio Artemio Franchi, Fiorentina had beaten the Bianconeri just once in their previous...