⚽️🇮🇹 Can Lautaro break the Serie A goalscoring record?
⚽️🇮🇹 Can Lautaro break the Serie A goalscoring record?
👋 Ciao a tutti!
Welcome to Calcio Weekly, your comprehensive weekly digest of Italian soccer. This week, we’re talking about:
👏 Weston McKennie’s excellent contributions at Juve
🏈 An NFL superstar guest at the San Siro
⚽️ Whether Lautaro Martinez can break the Serie A scoring record
…and much more!
⚽️ Can Lautaro Martinez break the Serie A goalscoring record?
Lautaro Martinez brought his total Serie A goal tally to 102 with his superb goal in Inter’s 4-0 victory over Atalanta on Wednesday.
😮 The Argentine striker now has 23 goals on the season, and is leading Dušan Vlahović in the Capocannoniere (top scorer) race by seven goals.
🫨 The current record for goals in a single Serie A season stands at 36, and is held by Ciro Immobile and Gonzalo Higuain.
⚽️ Lautaro, therefore, has 12 games remaining to score a further 13 goals to equal the record, and 14 to break it. “I will go for the record, but the important thing is that Inter must win,” he said.
🇺🇸 McKennie assists and picks up injury in dramatic Juventus win
Juventus’ 3-2 win over Frosinone—secured via a 96th-minute winner from Daniele Rugani—proved to be a game of mixed fortunes for Weston McKennie.
😎 The USMNT star assisted both of Dušan Vlahović’s goals, further showcasing the symbiotic relationship he is enjoying with the Serbian forward. McKennie now has five assists on the season.
🤕 However, the 25-year-old suffered a dislocated shoulder shortly before the 90-minute mark. It’s not known how long he will be out for, but The Athletic notes that a similar injury in July 2020 kept him out for only two weeks.
👏 It was a crucial win for Massimiliano Allegri, who made history as the first-ever coach to reach 1,000 career Serie A points. The game marked Juve’s first win in five league matches.
The aforementioned winning goalscorer Daniele Rugani said the game was a starting point for a return to form, and his last-gasp goal left him short of breath: “I couldn’t breathe for 30 seconds, but I am so happy to have helped the team win and end this difficult moment, which we must leave behind now.”
👉 Up next for Juve: The Old Lady heads to Naples to face the reigning champions in this weekend’s “prime time” Sunday game (2.45pm ET on Paramount+). Juve won the reverse fixture in Turin back in December, but did not win any of the four encounters with Napoli prior to this.
🏈 Stefon Diggs meets Pulisic and Leão at the San Siro
Calcio met football at the San Siro on Sunday, when Buffalo Bills wide receiver Stefon Diggs took in Milan’s 1-1 draw with local rivals Atalanta.
🤝 At full time, Diggs chatted with Christian Pulisic and Rafael Leão, the latter of whom scored the sensational opener.
🇺🇸 Pulisic also came up in Stefano Pioli’s pre-match press conference, when the coach asked winger Samuel Chukwueze to be more like the American: “Pulisic and Chukwueze have the same characteristics. Pulisic scores goals, assists and works. Chukwueze has to score goals, he has to get assists and has to work.”
🏟️ Elsewhere in Rossoneri news, Gerry Cardinale, the founder of the U.S. investment firm that owns the team, recently spoke at length with Calcio e Finanza (“Soccer and Finance”). In the interview, Cardinale discussed the club’s oft-cited plans to move to a new stadium:
“I am totally ready to build the AC Milan stadium on my own, but I am also open to evaluating other options, without excluding a potential collaboration with Inter.”
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🪄 Serie A’s ‘Houdini’ is working his magic at Empoli
Juve weren’t the only team to pull off a critical 3-2 win in the last game week: Empoli got the better of a five-goal thriller at Sassuolo, which could prove critical to their survival hopes.
🆙 In its third consecutive Serie A season, Empoli now sits five points above the relegation zone.
🤫 The secret to their success? Coach Davide Nicola.
⛓️ Nicola is known as Serie A’s “Houdini” for his skills in keeping struggling teams away from the drop.
👏 Previously, he has used his escapology routine to great success with Crotone and Salernitana, despite survival looking to be against the odds in all cases.
😎 As noted by The Athletic, Nicola has won no managerial silverware, but his record makes him invaluable for teams looking to maintain their top flight status.
🤓 Want to learn more about Empoli, the beautiful town within the Florence metropolitan area? You’re in luck…
🇮🇹 Răzvan Marin explores Empoli
In the latest episode of our Champions of Made in Italy series, Romanian midfielder Răzvan Marin describes the happiness he has found in the Florentine city of Empoli, where he is currently on loan from Cagliari.
💯 ICYMI: Mateo Retegui’s outrageous overhead kick!
Genoa picked up all three points in their clash with Udinese in the most recent game week, with the opener coming courtesy of a stunner from Mateo Retegui.
🇮🇹 Retegui was born in Argentina, but represents the Italy national team. He has two goals in his four appearances for the Azzurri.
🐯 The 24-year-old is known as "il Re tigre" (“The Tiger King”). Before you ask: no, this isn’t a reference to any Florida-based exotic animal owners, but rather because of his breakthrough spell with Argentine side Tigre.
💬 Calcio Conversations
The “pagelle” is a big part of any Italian media outlet’s match coverage.
🤷♂️ What does it mean? The pagelle are player ratings, which every major media publication produces, and they are always a much-discussed topic among fans and pundits. The standard system is to rate each player, substitute and coach from 1-10, with 10 being the highest.
As a general rule, any player that gets under 6 has had a forgettable day, while anything 7.5 or above was pretty special.
One man who scored universally high marks in the most recent pagelle was Paulo Dybala…
🐺 Paulo Dybala nets first Roma hat-trick in style
Yet another 3-2 result came in the most recent game week, when Roma’s win over Torino kept their foot firmly on the gas in their quest for European contention.
⓷ Paulo Dybala was a hat-trick hero, bringing his season tally to 12 goals in 25 games.
📰 In the pagelle of Rome-based outlet CorSport, Dybala was compared to Roma legend Francesco Totti: “With those feet, he invented football and, like a playmaker, he dictated the tempo.”
🕵️ According to the Italian press, a member of the Torino coaching staff was reportedly caught spying on a Roma training session in the buildup to the game. Evidently, any advantage gained was nullified by Dybala’s brilliant display.
📺 This weekend on CBS Sports and Paramount+
Friday March 1st
Lazio v Milan (2.45pm ET)
Saturday March 2nd
Udinese v Salernitana (9am ET)
Monza v Roma (12pm ET)
Torino v Fiorentina (2.45pm ET)
Sunday March 3rd
Verona v Sassuolo (6.30am ET)
Empoli v Cagliari (9am ET)
Frosinone v Lecce (9am ET)
Atalanta v Bologna (12pm ET)
Napoli v Juventus (2.45pm ET)
Monday March 4th
Inter v Genoa (2.45pm ET)
🇨🇦 Reading this in Canada? Watch ALL Serie A games LIVE on Fubo - and try it for free! 🇨🇦
Grazie e arrivederci!
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