The last two unbeaten sides both lost as Serie A returned with subplots and shocks everywhereIf one image could sum up Serie A’s return from the international break then it was Luciano Spalletti, 62 years old, throwing himself face-first down on to the San Siro turf. The Napoli manager had nothing left, his emotions spent after seeing Dries Mertens flash a volley over the bar from six yards out in the 97th minute of his team’s game at Inter.Spalletti was floored, and so were the rest of us, on a weekend of dizzying drama. Two days in which the last two undefeated sides in Italy’s top league – in all of Europe’s top leagues – scored five goals between them...
Striker hit six goals in seven days including two against Juventus to leave Max Allegri’s side 16 points off the topGiovanni Simeone gets tired of every conversation coming back to his father. All through his development as a youth player, he had to put up with the suspicions of strangers. People who might have never seen him play, yet chose to believe he was having certain opportunities because his dad, Diego, had been a superstar player and was on the path to becoming one as a manager.Even now, 26 years old and enjoying his sixth season as a starter in Serie A, Giovanni knows every success will come with a predictable line of questioning. After scoring twice to bury Juventus...
Maurizio Sarri has made a slower start to life in Rome than Mourinho but his team’s fast start left Roma unable to catch upMaurizio Sarri looked at the eagle perched on his wrist and started to laugh. Olimpia, Lazio’s club mascot of the past 11 years, is quite a presence up close: a 12kg bird of prey with a two-and-a-half-metre wingspan. He realised quickly that one arm wasn’t going to manage it, bringing across the other one to support her weight and glancing up toward the Curva. Thousands of fans were packed in there, lost in delirious celebration.OK, so maybe the Rome derby was a bigger deal than Sangiovannese v Montevarchi after all. Continue reading...
The striker returns to Chelsea a better and more experienced player in his prime – and with the title in his sightsWhen Sir Alex Ferguson signed Robin van Persie he knew the Dutchman could score the goals needed to take Manchester United to the title, and he proved his manager right in his first season. Thomas Tuchel is hoping Romelu Lukaku will do the same for Chelsea, as the £97.5m final piece in the jigsaw at Stamford Bridge.The Belgian has proven his capabilities everywhere he has been throughout his career, rarely experiencing a barren spell despite sometimes not being first choice. Lukaku’s form at Internazionale helped to lead them to their first Serie A title in 11 years, ending the...
Success at the Euros and Olympics has created a feelgood factor but high-profile departures have damaged the league’s statusItaly has never known a sporting summer like it. After Roberto Mancini’s Azzurri delivered on his vow to win Euro 2020, the Olympians followed up with a record 40 medals and 10 golds in Tokyo. Fabio Capello spoke for many: “I have never felt so Italian as I do right now.”Will the feelgood factor carry over into a new Serie A season? Or has Italy’s top football league been diminished by the departures of too many leading lights? The Internazionale team who ended Juventus’s nine-year reign as champions have since bid farewell to Antonio Conte, Romelu Lukaku and Achraf Hakimi. Their city...