⚽️🇮🇹 A huge Milan Derby awaits!
In this week’s Italian soccer digest, we're reviewing the end of the UEFA Champions League's League Phase, we're looking ahead to Transfer Deadline Day, and much more!
🇪🇺 Four Serie A sides book Champions League knockout places
There was a chaotic climax to the League Phase of the Champions League on Wednesday night when 18 matches took place simultaneously for the first time, with Inter, Atalanta, Milan and Juventus progressing in the competition.
👏 Inter was the only Serie A side to automatically book a spot in the Round of 16 by finishing inside the top eight. They defeated Monaco 3-0 at San Siro thanks to a sublime Lautaro Martínez hat-trick to clinch fourth place.
🤏 Atalanta agonizingly finished in ninth, just one point outside the top eight, after twice coming from behind to earn an impressive 2-2 draw against Spanish giants Barcelona.
😲 Milan finished 13th after a shock 2-1 defeat to Dinamo Zagreb, where there were contrasting fortunes for the two Americans involved: Christian Pulisic was on the scoresheet again, but Yunus Musah was sent off in the first half for a double booking.
©️ Weston McKennie became the first-ever American to captain Juventus, playing in left-back position as they lost 2-0 to Benfica. His countryman Tim Weah played at right-back. However, the Bianconeri safely finished inside the top 24 to book a place in the playoffs along with Atalanta and Milan.
💪 Bologna’s maiden Champions League campaign was already guaranteed to be over before their final game away to Sporting CP kicked off, but they finished with their heads held high by claiming a 1-1 draw in Portugal.
🦅 The League Phase of the Europa League concludes tonight, with Lazio almost certain to finish in the top spot ahead of their trip to Braga (3pm ET, CBS Sports). Roma’s top-eight chances are over, but they know a win at home to Eintracht Frankfurt will guarantee a place in the play-off round (3pm ET, CBS Sports).
💜 Fiorentina were not in Europa Conference League action this week as they have already secured a place in the Round of 16, after finishing third in the standings. You can check out La Viola’s potential opponents here.
🎩 The draw for the Champions League and Europa League play-off round is on Friday, featuring the teams that finished between 9th and 24th in the league phase standings - find out all the details and who each team could face here.
🔥 Milan giants set to lock horns
On Sunday, one of the biggest games on the Serie A calendar returns when Inter and Milan do battle for Derby della Madonnina bragging rights once more (12pm ET, CBS Sports, FOX Deportes, and SiriusXM).
🤯 In its most recent league match, Milan earned an extraordinary late comeback win against Parma, scoring twice in stoppage time to somehow snatch three points.
🎯 Christian Pulisic was back on the team and back in the goals, converting a penalty to draw the Rossoneri level at 1-1. It continued a remarkable run from the spot for the USMNT star, who has converted all 12 of his career penalties.
👏 That took Pulisic’s overall goal contributions in Serie A to 12 (six goals and six assists), the best record on Milan’s roster. “It’s our job to score. We want to help the team in any way, through goals or assists. We have to keep going like this,” Pulisic said to DAZN (via Goal).
🇺🇸 Fellow American Yunus Musah also made his mark, coming off the bench to provide a superb through-ball assist for Tijjani Reijnder’s 92nd-minute equalizer.
🐂 Inter, meanwhile, thrashed Lecce 4-0 as striker Lautaro Martínez continued his hot streak with his fourth goal and second assist in his last five league games.
🇦🇷 The World Cup-winning Argentina forward’s strike, a powerful smash into the top corner, saw him become Inter’s second-top foreign scorer of all time in Serie A with 112 goals. He is 21 short of record holder Stefano Nyers of Hungary.
⚖️ This will be the third Milan Derby of the season, and Milan has so far been on top. Pulisic scored the opener in a 2-1 Serie A win in September before netting again in a memorable 3-2 EA Sports FC Supercup final comeback earlier this month!
🤝 Transfer Deadline Day is approaching!
This week will see the January transfer window close, and the final few days could bring a flurry of business as clubs look to seal last-minute deals.
⌛ The mid-season window for signing players opened on January 2 and will close at 2pm ET on Monday, February 3.
🗓️ Although the Serie A window is aligned with other major European leagues, there are different transfer windows in non-European leagues like Major League Soccer. You can read all about how it works on ESPN here.
🙌 Arguably, the biggest move of the window so far was Milan’s capture of England international defender Kyle Walker from Manchester City, who could reportedly make his full debut in Sunday’s Milan Derby.
🏴 The 34-year-old had a hugely successful spell with the Premier League champions, winning six league titles and the Champions League, and joins a growing English core in Milan alongside Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Fikayo Tomori, and Tammy Abraham.
🗣️ “I hope to contribute with my experience and leadership and to help Milan return to where it wants to be…winning the Champions League would be a dream come true,” said Walker at his introductory press conference.
🦓 Juventus has also been busy, signing versatile defender Renato Veiga on loan from Chelsea and striker Randal Kolo Muani on loan from Paris Saint-Germain - who made an immediate impact by scoring against Napoli.
🐺 Roma has reinforced its squad, with goalkeeper Pierluigi Gollini and right-back Devyne Rensch arriving from Genoa and Ajax, respectively.
😂 But perhaps the winners of the January window so far have been Genoa, thanks to their hilarious themed social posts. So far, the club has used Corn Flakes, Toy Story, and the Big Bang Theory as inspiration for its announcements!
⚔️ Battle at the bottom heats up!
Another huge weekend awaits in the battle to stay in Serie A, with four of the bottom five teams set to face off this weekend.
😬 As things stand after Game Week 22, two points separate Como in 13th on 22 points from Lecce in 18th on 20 points.
🤞 That makes it crucial for Venezia (16 points) and Monza (13 points) to get wins this weekend to avoid being cut adrift in the bottom two spots.
👀 Lecce travel to Parma for a huge Friday night game, as they are currently level on points with the Crociati, as well as Hellas Verona, and therefore know a win will pull them out of the relegation zone.
😫 Last-place Monza are at home to Verona on Saturday, a game they go into on the back of one win and seven defeats in their last eight games.
🔜 The other sides involved in the battle, Como, Empoli, and Cagliari, all have tough assignments; they are up against Bologna, Juventus, and Lazio respectively.
💬 Calcio Conversations
Ahead of this weekend’s blockbuster Milan Derby, you might be wondering why you will sometimes hear their shared stadium referred to as San Siro and other times as the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza.
🤔 Which one is correct? Officially, it’s the latter. The stadium is named after the great Italian striker Meazza, who won the World Cup twice with the Azzurri, in 1934 and 1938, and represented both Milan clubs. That said, he’s more associated with Inter, where he won three Serie A titles and spent most of his playing career.
🏟️ Why is it called San Siro, then? San Siro is the name of the district of Milan in which the stadium is located, so it was originally called the ‘Stadio San Siro’ or just ‘San Siro’ for short. Although the stadium was renamed in 1980, the name has stuck.
⚽ Retegui romps clear in top scorer race
Italy international Mateo Retegui is having the season of his life with Atalanta, and La Dea had their star man to thank for their weekend win over Como.
🫶 Trailing 1-0 in the second half after the latest piece of magic from Como star Nico Paz, Retegui struck twice in the space of 14 minutes to turn the game on its head.
👏 The former Genoa striker’s debut season in Bergamo has been sensational so far, and his brace earned him some breathing room in the top-scorer race.
👑 Retegui is up to 16 goals for the season, with Inter’s Marcus Thuram (13) and Fiorentina’s Moise Kean (12) his closest rivals for the capocannoniere crown.
🗣️ It was a bitter pill for Como to swallow in their survival bid, but head coach Cesc Fabregas showed his leadership after the game, as we explain below…
Up next for Atalanta 👉 La Dea welcome a Torino side unbeaten in five to the Gewiss Stadium on Saturday (12pm ET, CBS Sports and FOX Deportes). Toro claimed the three points in their first meeting of the season, winning 2-1 in Turin - despite a goal from Retegui!
👏 Social Post of the Week: Fabregas’s rousing speech
Como head coach Cesc Fabregas was proud of his players despite their defeat to Atalanta, and his rousing team talk to the team was caught on camera after the game.
📺 This weekend on CBS Sports, Paramount+, FOX Deportes, and SiriusXM
Friday, January 31st
Parma v Lecce (2.45pm ET)
Saturday, February 1st
Monza v Hellas Verona (9am ET)
Udinese v Venezia (9am ET)
Atalanta v Torino (12pm ET, also on FOX Deportes)
Bologna v Como (2.45pm ET, also on SiriusXM)
Sunday, February 2nd
Juventus v Empoli (6.30am ET)
Fiorentina v Genoa (9am ET)
Milan v Inter (12pm ET, also on FOX Deportes and SiriusXM)
Roma v Napoli (2.45pm ET, also on FOX Deportes and SiriusXM)
Monday, February 3rd
Cagliari v Lazio (2.45pm ET)
🇨🇦 Watch ALL Serie A games live on Fubo and select games with Italian-language commentary on TLN 🇨🇦
🇺🇸 Watch select games with Spanish-language commentary on FOX Deportes and English-language commentary on SiriusXM 🇺🇸
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