Inter have made slow and steady progress under Pioli and Juventus would be unwise to underestimate Serie A’s form team when they meet on SundayYou could hardly blame Stefano Pioli for rolling his eyes at the question. Can Internazionale qualify for next season’s Champions League? Fielding that inquiry – or subtle variations upon it – has become as much a part of the manager’s daily routine as brushing his teeth in the morning.The answer never really changes. Pioli is always focused on the next game, controlling what he can control. On Thursday he cited an article published in that morning’s Gazzetta dello Sport to illustrate the futility of any other approach. Related: The 50 best young footballers in Italy Related:...
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...
The 28-year-old captain sported another unusual armband and led his younger team-mates to a big win at Chievo after a week of off-field upheavalNot for the first time, Papu Gómez’s biceps stole the show. The Atalanta captain has made headlines all season with his unconventional armband designs. First there was the Mother’s Day tribute, then the Spiderman logo, the Holly & Benji cartoon and, most famously, a celebration of Pro Evolution Soccer’s original Master League XI. As Serie A returned to action on Sunday, he unveiled a new design, inspired by the movie Frozen.It was chosen to mark his daughter Constantina’s second birthday, with her face appearing alongside those of Anna, Elsa and Olaf. But he might unintentionally have also...
The gap between the champions and chasing pack in Serie A looks as wide as it has ever done after Gonzalo Higuaín bulldozed Juve to a win over RomaThe numbers alone tell a story. Following a 1-0 victory over Roma, Juventus sit seven points clear at the top of Serie A. The Bianconeri have won 25 consecutive home matches, equaling a club record, and collected 100 points in this calendar year. They have been crowned as Serie A’s ‘winter champions’ – the unofficial title given to the team that leads the table at the season’s midway stage – with two games to spare.And yet, an even more vivid picture of their domestic domination had been painted on the pitch at...
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...