From Juventus and Spurs’ intriguing battle to Chelsea’s forbidding meeting with Barcelona and a likely stroll for Bayern, we look over all eight last-16 matchupsTuesday, St Jakob-Park and Wednesday 7 March, Etihad Related: New era edges closer as Tottenham seek to draw a line under austerity years | David Hytner Related: Antonio Conte will not resign as pressure builds on Chelsea manager Continue reading...
The Partenopei lead Juve by a point in Italy, where 10 of the last 11 Serie A winners were ‘winter champions’, but memories of that exception remainIt was fitting that Marek Hamsik should grab the winner on Friday night: a record-breaking player adding a final exclamation mark to his team’s record-breaking year. He had overtaken Diego Maradona as Napoli’s all-time leading scorer in Serie A with a strike against Sampdoria just before Christmas. Now he had sunk Crotone with a cool left-foot finish at the Stadio Ezio Scida.This was one of those nights when Napoli should have had a hatful, raining in 23 shots on Alex Cordaz’s goal. As it was, one would suffice to secure their 18th away win...
Still unbeaten in Serie A after the Derby d’Italia, leaders Internazionale are rightly starting to cause a little anxiety in TurinThe stage was set for a spectacle. A full house at the Allianz Stadium and the atmosphere crackling as Juventus fans put on their usual pre-game choreography: a sea of black and white placards broken only by a green, white and red tricolore to remind everyone this is where the reigning champions reside.Well, no, actually, that wouldn’t quite do it. Ultras also prepared their own banner, in which 1970s cartoon detective Nick Carter was seen, together with sidekicks Patsy and Ten, examining a map of Europe. Italy had been blocked out in black and white stripes. Above the picture was...
With no Italy in the World Cup draw Neapolitans were looking for a little joy and Friday night escapism but were again left feeling blue by their former strikerIf Italians were looking to be distracted from a World Cup draw taking place without them on Friday, they had no shortage of options. In fact, some were aggrieved at an excess of watchable TV. Napoli’s game against Juventus had been scheduled at the same time as new episodes of Gomorrah. Such was the outcry that Sky wound up making the latter available on-demand from breakfast time so viewers would not have to choose. In Naples, this was not truly a dilemma. As popular as Roberto Saviano’s crime drama has become, it...
Juventus’s Gonzalo Higuaín proved the difference at San Siro as the top five teams’ dominance continued, as did talk of reducing Serie A from 20 teamsThe debate about how many clubs should compete in Serie A never really went away. Italian football’s top division has expanded and contracted many times in almost 90 years of existence. At its smallest, it has contained only 16 teams, and at its largest, an awkward 21. Right now, we are back at 20 but there has been a growing clamour to reduce that figure. The Italian Football Federation’s own president, Carlo Tavecchio, has repeatedly stated his belief that 18 teams would be “perfect”. On the evidence of this season so far, you could make...