⚽️🇮🇹 Can Inter claim European glory?
In this week’s Italian soccer digest, we're looking ahead to this weekend's Champions League final, we're looking at an action-packed final round of the 2024-25 Serie A season, and much more!
🏆 Napoli celebrates its fourth scudetto!
As you are no doubt aware by now, Napoli dramatically clinched the 2024-25 Serie A title on Friday with a 2-0 home win over Cagliari, sparking wild celebrations in Naples - and around the world.
🎉 Napoli, who finished 10th last season, sealed the scudetto after finishing a single point ahead of Inter, whose 2-0 win at Como wasn’t enough to leapfrog their Neapolitan rivals.
👏 Antonio Conte is now the first coach to have officially won Serie A with three different teams. He won three times as a coach with Juventus and once with Inter, adding to the five scudetti he won in his playing career.
🍾 No wonder the players felt the need to interrupt Conte’s post-match press conference with a champagne shower!
🏟️ The scenes of celebration weren’t just spectacular at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium - the atmosphere was incredible at the Piazza del Plebiscito. Destination Calcio tells the story with some excellent pictures.
🎇 As this video shows, it was definitely standing room only in the piazza last Friday night!
🏴 A weekend-long party featured a spectacular open-top bus parade on Monday, where Scottish star Scott McTominay was offered a tipple from his homeland by a fan!
💪 McTominay scored a spectacular scissor kick to put Napoli on course for glory, bringing his season tally to 12 goals and six assists. The midfielder was duly named Serie A MVP - more on that shortly.
🇺🇸 Napoli fans around the world rejoiced after securing the title for the fourth time, including those in New York City:
⛪️ On Tuesday, the squad traveled to the Vatican, where they presented a signed jersey to Pope Leo XIV.
🇪🇺 Inter’s bid for European supremacy
Inter may have been pipped to the league title, but this Saturday, Simone Inzaghi’s side will face Paris Saint-Germain in the biggest game in domestic soccer: The Champions League Final (1pm ET, CBS and Paramount+).
💫 Inter has reached the Champions League Final for the second time in three years, after facing Manchester City in the 2022-23 edition.
👉 The Nerazzurri won the Champions League in 2009-10 under Jose Mourinho, in a season where they became the only Italian team to date to win the treble (Serie A, the Coppa Italia, and the Champions League).
🗣️ “We arrive with a little more experience compared to the game in Istanbul, as two years ago we played the Final against a strong team. We lost but also matured a great deal since then,” said striker Lautaro Martínez in an interview with Sky Italia.
🗣️ “We showed our mentality in several matches, above all in the Champions League, to eliminate Barcelona and Bayern Munich, two fantastic teams,” added Hakan Çalhanoğlu. “We poured our whole heart onto the pitch, and I think that is our secret.”
🏟️ The Final is taking place in Munich, but thousands of Inter fans will be cheering from San Siro, where a big screen has been set up to show the match.
🇪🇺 Juventus wins final-day race for Champions League qualification
Going into the final round, Juventus, Roma, and Lazio were all competing to secure fourth place in Serie A, with the Bianconeri earning the all-important Champions League qualification spot via a 3-2 win at Venezia.
😲 Two points separated Juventus (67 points), Roma (66), and Lazio (65) before play on Sunday.
👉 During their 2-0 win at Torino, Roma were twice ahead of Juve in the standings, but Manuel Locatelli’s 73rd-minute penalty eventually handed fourth place to Juve.
🐺 Roma’s win was coach Claudio Ranieri’s final game at the helm before moving into a Special Advisor role next season. “Claudio Ranieri led the last dance as only he could, dictating the tempo, creating the steps, hearing the music when Rome had sunk into silence,” said an emotional video released by the club.
👉 Juventus’ win came at the expense of their opponents’ league status, as the result relegated them to Serie B (more on that shortly).
👉 Lazio fell out of European contention with a 1-0 home defeat to Lecce - which ended up saving the visitors from relegation (more on that shortly, too!).
👉 Lecce survive as Empoli and Venezia drop to Serie B
As noted above, Lecce lived to fight another day in Serie A with a superb victory at Champions League-chasing Lazio on Sunday. Empoli and Venezia, however, joined Monza in relegation to Serie B.
👏 Lecce secured Serie A survival on the final day for the third consecutive season.
👉 Venezia, whose squad includes American midfielder Gianluca Busio, could only survive with a win against Juventus. They took the lead and pulled back to 2-2 after going behind, but eventually succumbed to defeat.
👉 Verona knew they would survive with a win against fellow relegation candidates Empoli. The Gialloblù earned a 2-1 win that also sealed Empoli’s fate.
👉 Parma knew they would be safe on the final day with a point at Atalanta, who had already sealed Champions League qualification. Cristian Chivu’s side went one better, with a 3-2 win sealed by a 90th-minute winner from Swedish forward Jacob Ondrejka.
⬆️ Cremonese and Spezia battle for promotion in Serie B playoffs
The first leg of the Serie B promotion playoff finals starts today (2.30pm ET, Destination Calcio), with Cremonese and Spezia both battling for a return to the top flight.
👏 Cremonese won its semifinal against Juve Stabia by a 4-2 aggregate scoreline, while Spezia beat Catanzaro 4-1 over two legs.
👏 It’s the second consecutive season that Cremonese are in the promotion playoff final, having suffered defeat to Venezia last season.
🇺🇸 Spezia, who were most recently promoted to Serie A in 2019-20 under coach Vincenzo Italiano, have an American connection: their President is sports executive and SiriusXM FC host Charlie Stillitano.
🗓️ The first legs take place today, while the second legs will be played on Sunday (2.30pm ET, Destination Calcio).
🏴 Scott McTominay named Best Overall Player at Serie A MVP awards
Not only did Scott McTominay end his debut Serie A season with a league title, but he also picked up the top prize in the Serie A MVP awards.
🗣️ “For me to come here and experience this, it's just a dream,” said McTominay after Friday’s match, which clearly meant a lot to him.
👏 McTominay scooped the Best Overall player award, while Alessandro Bastoni was named Best Defender, Mile Svilar was Best Goalkeeper, Tijjani Reijnders was Best Midfielder, Mateo Retegui was Best Striker, and Nico Paz was the Best U23 player.
⚽️ Retegui was also crowned capocannoniere (Serie A top scorer) with 25 goals - a record goal tally for any Atalanta player in a single season.
🫡 Unsurprisingly, Antonio Conte was named Philadelphia Coach of the Season.
💬 Calcio Conversations
After scooping the Serie A ‘Best Overall’ MVP prize, Scott McTominay was lauded across the Italian media as the uomo scudetto.
🤷♂️ What does that mean? Translating literally as the ‘scudetto man’, it’s the term given to the player seen as most crucial in determining the Serie A title over the course of the season.
🧐 Why McTominay? Not only did his spectacular goal against Cagliari set Napoli on course for their fourth title, but it was, as noted, his 12th goal of a stunning individual season. That’s a personal best for the former Manchester United man.
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🥳 Bologna celebrates Coppa Italia win with epic street parade
A few weeks ago, Bologna lifted its first major domestic trophy since 1974 with an incredible victory over Milan in the Coppa Italia Final. On Sunday, the Rossoblù staged an open-top bus parade through the Emilian city, where thousands of fans turned out to celebrate.
🎊 The parade led to the city’s iconic Piazza Maggiore, where players and fans celebrated in the sunshine. See more pictures of the festivities at Sky Sport Italia.
🤝 This morning, Bologna announced they have extended coach Vincenzo Italiano’s contract through to 2027.
🇺🇸 Christian Pulisic plays his 100th Milan match
Milan closed out its season with a 2-0 home win over Monza, which was Christian Pulisic’s 100th game for the club.
💪 With 11 goals and 11 assists in the league, his campaign is regarded as the best-ever season for an American in Europe.
💫 The Guardian’s Alex Abnos notes that Pulisic “can claim to be one of the best all-around attacking players in Serie A, leading the league in chances created, according to Opta.”
👉 Elsewhere in Milan news, the club has confirmed their new Sporting Director is Igli Tare, who will lead recruitment for next season.
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