⚽️🇮🇹 Inter make major Scudetto statement
👋 Ciao a tutti!
Welcome to Calcio Weekly, your comprehensive weekly digest of Italian soccer.
This week, we reflect on a huge win for Inter over Juventus and look ahead to their next task: a trip to face Daniele De Rossi’s high-flying Roma! We’ll also pay tribute to Bologna’s “tasty” form and learn what it means for them to be challenging the “Seven Sisters” of calcio.
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🇮🇹 Inter takes big step towards Scudetto
Inter took a huge step towards winning their first Scudetto in three years by beating title rivals Juventus 1-0 in an enthralling Derby d’Italia on Sunday at a raucous Stadio Giuseppe Meazza.
👑 Inter’s victory - decided by an own goal from the unfortunate Federico Gatti - puts them four points clear of their age-old rivals, with a game in hand against Atalanta to come.
🗣️ However, Nerazzurri boss Simone Inzaghi played down the importance of the result after the game, insisting “it is only one step in a long journey.”
📅 “There are still four intense months to go with many games,” Inzaghi said to DAZN. “We won 18 out of 22 Serie A games, but despite that we are within reach of Juventus and AC Milan.”
🏆 Juve coach Massimiliano Allegri said after his side’s defeat that it is Inter’s title to lose. “I always said Inter were the favorites for the Scudetto and I stand by that,” he said.
🤯 Find a moment to grab a box of popcorn and admire this frankly ludicrous wonder-pass from Inter playmaker Hakan Calhanoglu…
🥉 Third-placed AC Milan came from behind to beat Frosinone 3-2 on Saturday and are eight points behind their league-leading rivals, having played an extra game.
📺 Next up for Juventus is a home clash with Udinese on Monday at 12pm ET, while Milan host reigning champions Napoli on Sunday at 2.45pm ET on Paramount+.
🐺 Inter, meanwhile, face an intriguing trip to the capital…
🐺 De Rossi set for biggest test yet
Daniele De Rossi couldn’t have hoped for a better start to life as Roma coach and made it three wins out of three in Serie A when his side put in their best performance yet, by thrashing Cagliari 4-0 on Monday night.
🙌 Roma sit fifth in Serie A, one point behind Atalanta in fourth, ahead of the visit of Inter for a mouth-watering clash on Sunday night, and star forward Paulo Dybala has hailed the new boss for “getting something out from within us that we have but weren’t showing.”
7️⃣ This will be De Rossi’s first test against a fellow “Seven Sisters” side (more on that later) and he will hope to improve on predecessor Jose Mourinho’s record in these fixtures: in seven big games against Inter, Milan, Juventus, Napoli, Lazio and Atalanta this season, Mourinho picked up just five points from a possible 21.
🏰 However, De Rossi will be buoyed by Roma’s formidable home form; the Giallorossi are unbeaten in 14 games in all competitions, a run stretching back to September 1st, at their Stadio OIimpico fortress.
😡 It’s not all smiles, though; De Rossi was critical of Romelu Lukaku and Leandro Paredes after the Cagliari win for picking up “truly stupid” yellow cards.
❤️ Tributes pour in for Fiorentina legend Hamrin
Italian soccer suffered another tragic loss this week when former Fiorentina, Juventus, AC Milan, Padova and Napoli forward Kurt Hamrin passed away aged 89.
🇸🇪 The Swedish sensation sits at number nine in the Serie A all-time scoring charts with an incredible 190 goals from 400 matches.
💜 He is best remembered for his spell in Florence, where he won the Coppa Italia in 1961 and 1966, the Cup Winners’ Cup in 1961, and became La Viola’s all-time top scorer in all competitions with 208 goals.
🏆 Hamrin, who helped Sweden finish as runners-up in their home World Cup of 1958, also won Serie A, Cup Winners’ Cup and European Cup titles during two seasons with Milan.
❤️ Zirkzee feeling the love in Bologna
Bologna’s remarkable season continued with a 4-2 win over Sassuolo on Saturday night that kept their hopes of European qualification well and truly alive.
👏 The result ended a four-match winless run and kept the Rossoblu in sixth place as they bid to qualify for Europe for the first time since the 2002 Intertoto Cup - when they lost to Fulham in the final.
🫶 Coach Thiago Motta has inevitably attracted admiring glances, but his agent ruled out a summer switch to Napoli - “not even if they bought [Joshua] Zirzkee and [Riccardo] Calafiori.”
🎂 Dutch striker Joshua Zirkzee has been one of the driving forces behind Bologna’s success, becoming so popular that a bakery in the city is selling Valentine’s Day cakes with the, erm, ‘romantic’ message: “I love you like I love Zirkzee, almost.”
🤩 McKennie named as one to watch by Saint West
Sunday’s Derby d’Italia may not have gone the way Juventus midfielder Weston McKennie would have liked, but the dynamic USMNT international has nevertheless earned some celebrity attention with his performances this season.
🛑 Kim Kardashian and Kanye West’s son Saint revealed that McKennie is the player he is most looking forward to seeing at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
📺 Saint and mom Kim joined FOX Soccer after the venue announcements were made for the next World Cup, which will be held across the United States, Mexico and Canada.
🇺🇸 Saint had no hesitation in name-checking McKennie as the man to watch. The Juve midfielder has been in strong form for the Serie A title contenders this season, with three assists in 22 appearances.
⚽️ The Azteca Stadium in Mexico City will host the opening game on June 11th 2026, while the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey was chosen to host the final on July 19th. Read more here.
😲 Pulisic shown how it’s done… by a child!
Milan star Christian Pulisic may be having a dream debut season in Serie A, but not everything has been plain sailing for the USMNT forward, who was shown a thing or two in a training drill this week!
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🇮🇹 Discovering Rome with Felipe Anderson
Felipe Anderson knows Rome inside out after spending eight years over two spells at Lazio in the Eternal City. The Brazilian winger showed us around the stunning Italian capital for our Champions of Made in Italy series.
💨 ICYMI: Materazzi trolls Juventus
As if losing to their biggest rivals wasn’t bad enough, Juventus then had to put up with a cheeky comment from former Inter defender Marco Materazzi - who mischievously listed Nerazzurri goalkeeper Yann Sommer among the ‘spectators’ present at San Siro!
💬 Calcio Conversations
You may have heard the term “Sette Sorelle” or “Seven Sisters” being used in relation to Italy’s biggest clubs… but where does it come from?
🤷♂️ What does it mean? The term is a catch-all for the seven clubs generally battling at the top of Serie A, like the ‘Big Six’ in the Premier League. But in this case, the identity of the seven clubs in question has changed over the years.
When it was first popularised in the 1990s, Parma and Fiorentina were more competitive and therefore considered among the “Sette Sorelle,” but they have since been replaced by Napoli and Atalanta in recent years.
😮 Social Post of the Week: Team work makes the dream work in Naples
You can’t accuse Napoli fans of not being resourceful! This week, a supporter at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona managed to regain possession of a mobile phone that had been dropped from the tier above by fashioning a pully out of a drink cup, with the help of their fellow fans. Clever!
📺 This weekend on CBS Sports and Paramount+
Friday February 9th
Salernitana v Empoli (2.45pm ET)
Saturday February 10th
Cagliari v Lazio (9am ET)
Roma v Inter (12pm ET)
Sassuolo v Torino (2.45pm ET)
Sunday February 11th
Fiorentina v Frosinone (6.30am ET)
Monza v Verona (9am ET)
Bologna v Lecce (9am ET)
Genoa v Atalanta (12pm ET)
Milan v Napoli (2.45pm ET)
Monday February 12th
Juventus v Udinese (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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