⚽️🇮🇹 De Bruyne's Dream Debut!
In this week’s Italian soccer digest, we're looking at the teams who have started strong, a hockey-soccer crossover, and a player who predicted his own debut goal!
🎯 Kevin De Bruyne’s perfect start at Napoli
Napoli began its scudetto defense with a 2-0 win at newly promoted Sassuolo, with goals from star signing Kevin De Bruyne and reigning Serie A MVP Scott McTominay.
🔥 De Bruyne curled in a free kick shortly after the break, following McTominay’s first-half opener.
😲 There was some pleasing symmetry to McTominay’s opener: it was converted from the same spot - and with an assist from the same player, Matteo Politano - as his title-winning goal from last season:
Tiktok failed to load.
Enable 3rd party cookies or use another browser🗣️ De Bruyne praised his new Mister, and discussed the high level that Conte expects of his players:
“He demands a lot from the group, and if you don’t work for the team, you are out. His demands are very clear; the more you play with him, the more you understand what it takes to stay at the top level. Everyone knows they have to work hard here and do their job; otherwise, someone else will take their place. This raises the intensity and the overall level.”
👉 Up next for Napoli: De Bruyne should make his Serie A home debut on Saturday, when Napoli hosts Cagliari (2.45pm ET, CBS Sports and DAZN). The Partenopei scored six unanswered goals against Cagliari across two league games last season.
🇨🇦 Jonathan David scores in Juventus league debut
The latest North American superstar to arrive in Italy is off to a great start: Canadian forward Jonathan David scored the opener in Juventus’ 2-0 win over Parma.
👏 David became the first-ever Canadian to score for Juventus before being replaced by Dušan Vlahović. The Serbian doubled the Bianconeri’s advantage a few minutes later.
🗣️ "It was the first game of the season and the fans brought an amazing atmosphere and you could feel them pushing us forward,” said the 25-year-old, who received a standing ovation when he was substituted. "I'm happy to score in my first game but the most important thing is the three points."
👉 Up next for Juve: Igor Tudor’s side head to Genoa on Sunday (12.30pm ET, CBS Sports and DAZN). Vlahović scored a brace in Juve’s last visit to the Luigi Ferraris Stadium, a 3-0 win back in March.
🏒 NHL stars enjoy Serie A opening weekend
Some of the NHL’s biggest stars were in Italy last weekend - and took the opportunity to soak in the culture and atmosphere of calcio in Milan and Como.
🏟️ On Saturday evening, Nico Hischier (New Jersey Devils) and William Nylander (Toronto Maple Leafs) met with Rafael Leão on the San Siro pitch ahead of Milan’s opener against newly promoted Cremonese.
👉 Moritz Seider and Lucas Raymond (Detroit Red Wings) and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (Buffalo Sabres) also enjoyed the game, in which Cremonese’s Federico Bonazzoli scored an exceptional acrobatic goal for the win.
👏 Incidentally, Cremonese’s win at San Siro was historic: per Tribuna, it marked their first-ever opening match victory in the Italian top flight, breaking a run of eight straight defeats in the first round.
😲 Earlier in the day, the NHL stars visited Inter’s training ground, where they were welcomed by Nerazzurri players and head coach Cristian Chivu.
👉 On Sunday, Arizona Coyotes defenseman JJ Moser traveled north to Como, to see Cesc Fabregas’ side record a 2-0 victory over Lazio.
🤝 The NHL has partnered with Serie A ahead of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games. The collaboration is designed to bring the two leagues closer together through shared content, storytelling, and cultural exchange.
🔥 Inter fire five past Torino in statement opener
Last season’s Serie A runners-up have a new coach in Cristian Chivu, and a new level of confidence following their emphatic 5-0 win over Torino on Monday.
5️⃣ Goals from Alessandro Bastoni, Marcus Thuram, and Lautaro Martínez were followed by a debut strike from Ange-Yoan Bonny.
👍 One of Thuram’s goals was assisted by debutant defensive midfielder Petar Sučić, who arrived from Dinamo Zagreb in June.
🗣️ "This victory means we started well without conceding a goal, and that was important. We're not 100% yet, but we're working towards that. It was a good match," said Thuram. "What happened last season is in the past, this is a new campaign and we have learned from that experience."
💪 The win marks Inter's first victory by at least five goals in a season opener since 1961. (For the record, in that season, Inter opened with a 6-0 win over Atalanta.)
💙 On Wednesday, Inter’s legendary former Chairman Massimo Moratti was taken into intensive care in a Milan hospital. Calcio Weekly wishes Mr Moratti a speedy recovery.
👉 Up next for Inter: Civu’s charges entertain Udinese on Sunday (2.45pm ET, CBS Sports, DAZN and FOX Deportes). Inter has won its last 10 matches against the Friulani in all competitions.
🔮 Did Roma star Wesley have a crystal ball ahead of opening win?
The Gian Piero Gasperini era is officially underway at the Stadio Olimpico, and the Giallorossi got out of the blocks with a 1-0 win over Bologna. The goal came from new signing Wesley, who appears to have predicted his decisive moment…
📲 The Brazilian fullback posted an Instagram story containing an excerpt from a message he sent before the game, which read: “Today I will score.” And that he did!
Suffice to say, Wesley’s debut went down well with the Giallorossi faithful, in a match which also saw a league debut for Irish forward Evan Ferguson.
Sadly, fellow new signing Leon Bailey missed the game after picking up an injury in his first training session.
👉 Up next for Roma: Gasp will look to make it two wins from two this Saturday when Roma heads to face Pisa (2.45pm ET, CBS Sports and DAZN). The newly promoted side held their own against Lombardy opposition in round one with a 1-1 draw at Atalanta.
👕 Become a Calcio Weekly Capitano and win a Serie A jersey!
In our third season, we’re looking for some help in spreading the word about calcio in North America!
Share this newsletter with 15 friends using the button above, and we’ll send you a new Serie A jersey of your choice!
✍️ Mercato round-up: Fiorentina brings in a striker
With the European transfer window closing on Monday, many Serie A sides are adding to their squads for the season. On Monday, Fiorentina confirmed the signing of Roberto Piccoli from Cagliari.
👉 The 24-year-old scored 11 goals and provided four assists last season.
😲 On Tuesday, Sassuolo unveiled the signing of one of the most experienced midfielders in the game: Nemanja Matić.
🇷🇸 The 37-year-old Serbian has signed a one-year contract with the newly promoted side.
🏴 Bologna, meanwhile, has strengthened its wide options with the signing of Jonathan Rowe.
👋 The winger joins from Marseille and is the club’s third-ever English player. (In case it ever comes up in trivia, the other two were defender Luis Binks and winger Samuel Iling-Junior.)
🤝 Just before Torino met with Inter, Kristjan Asllani made a loan move from the Milanese side to Turin.
👉 And speaking of Inter, you may have noticed a new face coming off the bench in the Torino game: midfielder Andy Diouf made the move from Ligue 1 side Lens.
🫡 Social Post of the Week: Alessandro Gabrielloni honored with his own statue
After scoring in Como’s victory over Roma back in December, coach Cesc Fabregas said that Alessandro Gabrielloni deserved his own statue. Well, Cesc has come good on that post-match statement…
👏 Gabrielloni is entering his ninth season with Como, and there is good cause to celebrate his goal against Roma in statue form: it allowed him to become just the fifth player in Serie A history to score in all four top divisions for the same team.
📺 This weekend on CBS Sports, Paramount+, DAZN, and FOX Deportes
All matches are broadcast on CBS Sports, and on DAZN with Spanish-language commentary, with select matches on FOX Deportes
Friday, August 29th
Cremonese v Sassuolo (12.30pm ET)
Lecce v Milan (2.45pm ET, also on Fox Deportes)
Saturday, August 30th
Bologna v Como (12.30pm ET)
Parma v Atalanta (12.30pm ET, also on Fox Deportes)
Napoli v Cagliari (2.45pm ET)
Pisa v Roma (2.45pm ET)
Sunday, August 31st
Torino v Fiorentina (12.30pm ET)
Genoa v Juventus (12.30pm ET, also on Fox Deportes)
Inter v Udinese (2.45pm ET, also on Fox Deportes)
Lazio v Verona (2.45pm ET)
🇨🇦 Watch ALL Serie A games live on Fubo and select games with Italian-language commentary on TLN 🇨🇦
🙏 Thank you for supporting Calcio Weekly
If you like this newsletter, please spread the word! There’s a Serie A jersey in it for you when you share with 15 friends.
You may also enjoy the great work of our friends at Total Italian Football, who bring you daily calcio content, podcasts from Serie A stadiums, Women’s Serie A coverage, and much more.
We’d also like to spotlight Destination Calcio, an essential hub for English-language Serie A news and exclusives, which is now streaming live Serie B games, too.
And be sure to send us any feedback at calcioweekly@legaseriea.it.
Ciao ciao!