The crowd sang Totti’s name in a veiled jab at the man who phased out their hero but Mauro Icardi’s sharp-shooting fired Spalletti’s side to a scarcely-deserved winAt the Stadio Olimpico on Saturday, the 46th president of the United States paused to grab a selfie with the eighth King of Rome. Frank Underwood and Francesco Totti: two characters stripped of the jobs that defined them. Netflix are yet to confirm whether House of Cards will be renewed for a sixth season, but for Roma the show must go on, even with their greatest star now relegated to a supporting role.The crowd sang Totti’s name before kick-off against Inter, louder than that of any player who would take to the pitch....
Milan, now owned by a China-backed holding company, need to qualify for next year’s Champions League to pay back huge debts, some at 11.5% interest, to a US private equity fundWhen Marco Fassone was contacted last summer by someone claiming to represent the latest Chinese businessman looking to invest in one of Europe’s most successful clubs, the likable 53-year-old, who has held senior posts at Juventus, Napoli and Internazionale, was unsure what to make of the approach. “I came into the project with some doubts at the beginning because I wanted to understand exactly what their vision was and why they wanted to make such a huge investment,” Milan’s chief executive explains to the Observer. “It was important for me...
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...
Some think Juventus are vulnerable but can Milan, Napoli or any of the other contenders really prevent them from winning a seventh straight Serie A title?If you can’t beat them, join them. But what if they can’t beat you? Leonardo Bonucci turned the old adage on its head this summer, swapping the Juventus team where he had won six consecutive Serie A titles for a Milan side that haven’t finished higher than sixth for four years.Can one transfer transform a division? Just ask Juventus, whose signing of Andrea Pirlo after he was discarded by Milan in 2011 was arguably the most crucial factor in launching them back to the pinnacle of Italian football after their post-Calciopoli wilderness years. Bonucci is...
From another Scudetto triumph for Juventus to Crotone’s miraculous escape, we revisit Papu Gómez’s armbands, Joe Hart’s gaffes and the grace of TottiThis might have been another year of European heartbreak for Juventus, but domestically it was the same old story. The Bianconeri won Serie A for the sixth consecutive season, and collected their third straight Coppa Italia as well. No team had ever won either trophy so many times in succession. They have made the unprecedented look routine.And yet, this season was not lacking in drama. To the contrary, there was something wild about this campaign right from the start. There were 32 goals scored (not to mention three red cards) on the opening weekend alone. The final tally...