⚽️🇮🇹 Atalanta make history with European glory!
⚽️🇮🇹 Atalanta make history with European glory!
In this week’s Italian soccer digest, we're celebrating La Dea's magnificent continental victory and much more!
🏆 Atalanta defeat Bayer Leverkusen to win Europa League
Atalanta enjoyed the biggest night in their history on Wednesday, defeating German champions Bayer Leverkusen to lift their first-ever European trophy.
👏 Ademola Lookman scored his first career hat-trick at Dublin’s Aviva Stadium to deliver Atalanta’s first silverware of any kind in 61 years.
😮 Atalanta, who were also Coppa Italia finalists this season, came into the game as the underdogs: prior to the Europa League Final, Bayer Leverkusen was unbeaten in 51 matches in all competitions, having become the first German side to complete an undefeated Bundesliga season.
🇪🇺 As Europa League winners, Atalanta automatically qualify for next season’s expanded Champions League.
😎 Gian Piero Gasperini’s side currently sit in fifth place in Serie A. If they finish in fifth place, Italy will be granted an unprecedented six Champions League spots, which would put Roma in Europe’s top competition next season too.
🤓 However, if Atalanta finish in third or fourth place, Italy will have five teams in the Champions League, and the additional spot will be awarded to the highest-ranked team in the Champions League qualifiers, which is Portugal’s Benfica.
💜 Fiorentina will be looking to emulate Atalanta’s continental success next Wednesday, when they face Olympiacos in the Europa Conference League Final (3pm ET on Paramount+).
👏 Christian Pulisic makes Serie A midfield MVP of the Year shortlist
This week, Lega Serie A revealed the shortlists for the sixth annual edition of its MVP Awards. USMNT star Christian Pulisic features in the shortlist for best midfielder.
🇺🇸 Pulisic notched 12 goals and eight assists in his debut Serie A campaign, earning him a nomination alongside Inter’s Hakan Çalhanoğlu and Atalanta’s Teun Koopmeiners. Last season, the midfield MVP winner was Inter’s Nicolò Barella.
⚽️ Serie A has also released MVP award shortlists for goalkeepers, defenders, forwards and the best U23 player.
💫 Wondering why Lautaro Martínez isn’t among the shortlisted forwards? There is also an award for the league’s best overall MVP, which will be announced directly, without a shortlist, on Friday. One would suspect the the league’s Capocannoniere (top scorer) would be under consideration for the main MVP Award.
The MVP Awards are decided by several metrics, including a player rating system which measures in-game impact, movement and decision making.
This isn’t the only award recognition Pulisic has received in the past week: the 25-year-old was dressed in his finest over the weekend when he was presented with Milan’s ‘Gentleman Serie A’ Award.
📉 Serie A relegation battle to go down to the final day
Three clubs can still go down on the final day with one spot yet to be decided.
🙏 In order to survive, Empoli must get a result at home to Roma (who are guaranteed to finish sixth). Frosinone faces Udinese at home, with both earning safety if they win (both games on Sunday at 2.45pm ET on Paramount+) .
There’s a chance that Empoli and Udinese finish level on points, which would lead to a second consecutive relegation playoff to decide the final demoted team. (See Calcio Conversations below for more info on this.)
Our friends at IFTV have summarized the full permutations of the relegation fight here.
Sassuolo’s 11-year stretch in Serie A came to an end in game week 37, following a 2-0 defeat to Cagliari that kept Claudio Ranieri’s side safe for another season...
🫡 Claudio Ranieri leaves Cagliari
After guiding Cagliari to safety with the aforementioned win over Sassuolo on Sunday, manager Claudio Ranieri has departed the club by mutual agreement, with reports suggesting the 72-year-old will retire.
🗣️ “I have decided to leave now and it is the right thing to do,” said Ranieri after securing Cagliari’s safety. “I do it reluctantly because it was a hard and painful decision, but I think it is right.”
📈 Ranieri originally made his name at Cagliari during his first spell as coach in 1988, when he guided the Isolani from Serie C to Serie A with back-to-back promotions.
🇮🇹 The former Serie A defender has also managed Napoli, Fiorentina, Parma, Juventus, Roma, Inter and Sampdoria.
🦊 His incredibly unlikely English Premier League title win with Leicester in 2015-16 is regarded among the greatest achievements in sports history.
🙏 Cagliari’s survival sparked huge celebrations among fans who displayed a “Grazie Mister” banner for the coach. Ranieri will lead them out for the final time today at home to Fiorentina (2.45pm ET on Paramount+).
🏊♂️ Cagliari’s players, meanwhile, celebrated their survival with an impromptu night swim!
⭐️⭐️ ICYMI: Inter’s incredible choreography
Before their final home game of the season, a 1-1 draw with Lazio, champions Inter organized some truly stunning choreography that covered the entirety of the San Siro.
😂 During Inter’s post-match title celebrations, Marcus Thuram’s jubilation was cut short by his father….
🎾 Social Post of the Week: Marcus Thuram’s cheeky celebration
As Inter fans celebrated their historic 20th scudetto on Sunday, a popular chant rang around the San Siro: “Chi non salta è juventino” (“Whoever doesn’t jump is a Juventus fan”). When Inter’s Marcus Thuram started jumping, his father Lilian gave him a playful slap. Yes, that’s the same Lilian Thuram who won two league titles with Juventus!
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💬 Calcio Conversations
Heading into the final weekend of the season, there is still a chance that the final relegation spot will be decided by a spareggio.
🤷♂️ What does it mean? Spareggio is the Italian term for ‘playoff’ and in this case refers to the Serie A tiebreaker for the final relegation spot.
🤔 How does it work? If the teams that end the season in 17th and 18th place are level on points, the normal head-to-head or goal difference tiebreakers to determine ranking no longer apply. Instead, those teams go into a post-season playoff to decide who stays in Serie A and who is relegated to Serie B.
😮 Could it happen this year? Yes! If Empoli draw with Roma and Udinese lose to Frosinone (both on Sunday, 2.45am ET on Paramount+), Empoli and Udinese will face off in a spareggio.
It happened last year when the format was reintroduced, with Hellas Verona beating Spezia. However, this year would be different as the playoff would now be played over two legs, home and away, rather than as a one-off game at a neutral venue.
🎤 Zirkzee becomes Bologna’s stadium announcer!
Joshua Zirkzee missed out on Bologna’s 3-3 home draw with Juventus on Monday with an injury, but the Dutch forward assumed a new role on the stadium PA system!
😎 Zirkzee was clearly comfortable with a microphone in his hand, as Bologna’s top scorer transformed himself into a journalist for domestic broadcaster DAZN during the post-match celebrations.
🎉 Thiago Motta’s side used their final home match of the season to celebrate their historic Champions League qualification. Bologna last featured in Europe’s top domestic competition in 1959.
📺 This weekend on CBS Sports and Paramount+
Thursday, May 23rd
Cagliari v Fiorentina (2.45pm ET)
Friday, May 24th
Genoa v Bologna (2.45pm ET)
Saturday, May 25th
Juventus v Monza (12pm ET)
Milan v Salernitana (2.45pm ET)
Sunday, May 26th
Atalanta v Torino (12pm ET)
Napoli v Lecce (12pm ET)
Empoli v Roma (2.45pm ET)
Frosinone v Udinese (2.45pm ET)
Verona v Inter (2.45pm ET)
Lazio v Sassuolo (2.45pm ET)
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