Former Manchester United striker provides ‘Hollywood’ ending to dramatic Milan derby and leaves Inter joint top of Serie AWe ought to be talking about Verona. We ought to be talking about an astonishing week for the club with the lowest wage bill in Serie A, in which they drew with Milan and Lazio before beating the champions, and league leaders, Juventus. We ought to be talking about how a newly promoted side went from battling relegation to sixth place, via an eight-game unbeaten run, inspired by a manager with a passion for death metal.But then, Sunday night happened. A Milan derby played to a full house at San Siro. Flares, banners, and thousands of supporters lighting up their mobile phones...
Antonio Conte’s side won the Milan derby and while he still has much to work on at Inter the San Siro worry lines belong to his Milan counterpart Marco GiampaoloAntonio Conte never went home on Tuesday night. He was too angry – too “seriously pissed off”, in his own words – to imagine that he could get a good night’s sleep after Inter’s Champions League draw with Slavia Prague, so he went directly from San Siro back to his club’s training ground instead. The only way to work through his frustrations, was to work.“Head down and keep pedalling.” That was the mantra Conte gave at his introductory Inter press conference in July, and which he has returned to several times...
The champions may have landed De Ligt, Rabiot and Ramsey but all has not run smoothly for Maurizio Sarri this summerItalian football’s summer break began in much the same way as the season had ended: with Juventus way out in front. By 1 July they had concluded the free agent signings of Aaron Ramsey and Adrien Rabiot. Then they did something far more audacious: signing Matthijs de Ligt from Ajax for €75m.Even for a club that signed Cristiano Ronaldo one year previously, it felt like a landmark deal. When did an Italian side last win a bidding war for one of European football’s most coveted young talents? At 19 years old, De Ligt had already started in a Champions League...
It’s that time of the year when clubs bring out their strips for the coming season, so which ones do we look back on fondly?There’s history behind this one. It was the first ever fluorescent outfield shirt (according to Umbro, at least) and kicked off a trend that has never really gone away (no surprise given it was said at the time that it was the best selling shirt, other than England kits, that Umbro had ever produced). But more importantly, to me at least, it was a) the first away shirt I ever owned and b) the shirt Sheffield United wore as they stormed to promotion to the old First Division in 1990, which was achieved via a 5-2...
Gian Piero Gasperini’s great entertainers made club history, while Inter edged Milan to a top-four place tooIn Milan, Florence and Ferrara they waited. In Rome and Reggio Emilia, too. The final six games of the Serie A season had been scheduled to kick off simultaneously, to ensure a level playing field for teams chasing a Champions League berth, as well as those fighting against relegation. But somebody, somewhere, was late.Referees tutted and glared at their watches, waiting for the signal to commence. Ultras completed their planned choreographies and wondered what to do next. Players bounced and bellowed at one another in overwrought voices. It was not exactly quiet before the storm, yet there was a moment of exquisite tension shared...