There was not much beautiful to hold on to in any sense, although the Giallorossi will be content to have extended the legacy of the departed Rudi García“You do not play a derby, you win it.” When Rudi García pronounced those words at the start of his first season as Roma manager, few could have imagined how prophetic they would turn out to be. The Giallorossi had lost to Lazio in the final of the Coppa Italia a few short months earlier. They have not done so again since. Related: Kevin Strootman strikes as Roma see off Lazio in heated Rome derby Related: Sport picture of the day: watching the Rome derby Continue reading...
Just the 6,084 days after his father scored to beat Juve, Giovanni Simeone inspired Genoa against the shambolic champions in Serie AIf you ask Diego Simeone, he will tell you that he does not often talk about football with his son. The Atlético Madrid manager is immensely proud of the success Giovanni has had in carving out a career in the sport but also anxious to avoid adding to the pressure that comes with following in his footsteps. “I’ve never liked to give him pointers about specific aspects of his game,” said Diego during a television interview two months back. He visits his son whenever he can during international breaks and the pair speak frequently by phone, “[But] we talk...
Napoli supporters were furious when they lost their talisman to Juventus in the summer but the Old Lady have benefited from Higuaín’s potency ever sinceIn the end, you never stop loving your own kid. Even when, technically speaking, you aren’t related. The Napoli manager Maurizio Sarri has a way with words, and his response to a TV host’s question about how he would greet Gonzalo Higuaín on Saturday was perfection. “Like a son who has pissed you off,” he explained.Higuaín enraged more than just Sarri when he joined Juventus in the summer. Napoli supporters variously set fire to his shirt, fitted it to public bins, or attempted to flush it down the toilet. “Core ‘ngrato” read the sign placed above...
On a night when most Serie A watchers were left contemplating acts of God, Roma supporters saw the restoration of their striker’s sight continueThere are no instructions in Fifa’s Laws of the Game for what to do when the ground starts to shift beneath your feet. The second of Wednesday night’s earthquakes in central Italy struck at 9.18pm, at a time when nine Serie A matches were in progress, and was felt inside several football grounds.Only one fixture – Pescara-Atalanta – was suspended as a result, and even then only briefly. Not all fans were pleased by referee Marco Guida’s decision to resume play after a two-minute pause, and a number abandoned the stadium. Although the tremors felt at the...
The Inter captain’s incendiary remarks provoked a mixed reaction among supporters against Cagliari but his penalty miss did little to help mattersPerhaps, with hindsight, we should have paid more attention to the title of Mauro Icardi’s new autobiography: Sempre Avanti – Always Ahead. For as long as he has been in the public consciousness, the striker has always carried an air of impatience, the manner of someone who is eager to skip forward to the next chapter.This is a man who joined Barcelona at 15, played his first Serie A game at 19 and was named Inter’s captain three years later. One who leapt eagerly – and very publicly – into a parental role when he took up with Wanda...