⚽️🇮🇹 Who will earn bragging rights in the Rome Derby?
In this week’s Italian soccer digest, we bring you updates from the Supercoppa Italiana, we celebrate Antonio Conte's latest milestone, and much more!
🏆 Milan and Juventus battle to face Inter in the EA SPORTS FC Supercup Final
The EA SPORTS FC Supercup is underway in Saudi Arabia, with Juventus and Milan facing each other in Riyadh today for the chance to take on reigning Serie A champions Inter in Monday’s Final.
👉 The EA SPORTS FC Supercup, also known as the Supercoppa Italiana, is a four-team knockout competition between the winners and runners-up of last season’s Serie A and Coppa Italia competitions.
👏 On Thursday, Inter defeated league leaders Atalanta 2-0 in the first semifinal, to earn their place in the Final on Monday (2pm ET, CBS Sports).
😮 The win marked Inter’s seventh consecutive win over Atalanta in all competitions and the club’s fourth consecutive berth in the Supercoppa Italiana Final.
🔜 At 2pm ET today, Juventus take on Milan in the second semifinal (watch on CBS Sports). The game will be Milan coach Sérgio Conceição’s first game in charge.
😲 In an added twist, Juve boasts Francisco Conceição among their ranks — the new Rossoneri manager’s son. Read more about Milan’s new boss later in the newsletter.
🇺🇸 Christian Pulisic is in line for a return to action in this game, following around a month on the sidelines with an ankle injury.
🤓 A treasure trove of EA SPORTS FC Supercup stats can be found here. Inter fans, for example, will be pleased to learn that the reigning scudetto winners have won the competition 66% of the time (24 times out of 36).
🍿 Lazio and Roma look to conquer Rome in the Derby della Capitale
Game week 19 marks the end of the first half of the Serie A season, where all eyes will be on the Stadio Olimpico for one of the highlights of the Serie A calendar: the Derby della Capitale (Sunday, 2.45pm ET, CBS Sports, SiriusXM FC, and FOX Deportes).
🥊 Lazio and Roma are separated by 15 points and six league places going into one of Italy’s biggest rivalry matches, with the Biancocelesti riding high in fourth place.
📈 Both sides are in similarly good form right now: in their last five respective matches in all competitions, they each have three wins, a loss, and a draw.
🦅 Lazio sits in fourth, having ended league leaders Atalanta’s 11-game winning run with a 1-1 draw on Saturday.
🐺 Roma also comes into the game on the back of a 1-1 draw, which proved to be Paulo Fonseca’s final outing at the helm of Milan.
💫 Lazio’s biggest attacking threat this season has been former NYCFC striker Valentín Castellanos, who has scored seven league goals this season.
🙌 Roma’s top scorers, meanwhile, are Artem Dovbyk and Paulo Dybala, who have both posted five goals in the league.
🇦🇷 Dybala is in a terrific vein of form, with three goals in his last two outings (including a sensational volley at the San Siro last weekend). Coach Claudio Ranieri says the Argentine is worth the price of admission alone!
👉 Lazio may be having a better season so far, but Roma won the most recent edition of the Derby della Capitale, with Gianluca Mancini deciding the affair back in April.
🆕 Sérgio Conceição takes charge at Milan
As noted above, Sérgio Conceição has replaced fellow Portuguese coach Paulo Fonseca in the hot seat at Milan.
👉 Milan announced they had parted ways with Fonseca following the aforementioned tie with Roma. The club thanked him for his professionalism and wished him the best for the future.
👋 Conceição, who won three Portuguese league titles in his most recent job at Porto, has been awarded a contract through the 2025-26 season.
🗣️ "We all want one thing: for Milan to return to the Champions League. We are Milan," said the 50-year-old in his first press conference with the team.
🇮🇹 The Portuguese coach is very familiar with Serie A, having represented Lazio, Parma, and Inter during his playing days.
🇺🇸 How will the appointment affect Christian Pulisic? The Athletic has put together some in-depth analysis here.
👏 Antonio Conte joins the ‘500 Club’!
Sunday’s 1-0 win over Venezia saw Napoli draw even with Atalanta at the summit of the league on 41 points. It also saw the coach reach a significant milestone, earning 500 Serie A points as a coach.
✊ Conte has won four scudetti as a coach (three with Juventus, one with Inter) and has also coached across the Italian league pyramid at Atalanta, Siena, Bari, and Arezzo.
🧐 What’s the secret to Conte’s long-term success? Well, he’s very competitive in any game he plays: "Even when I play cards with my daughter, I want to win," he said after the Venezia win.
👉 On Saturday, Conte’s side has the chance to regain top spot, if they can get at least a point at Fiorentina (12pm ET, CBS Sports and FOX Deportes). Their last meeting in Florence, back in May, was a four-goal thriller that ended in a tie and featured a couple of incredible free kicks.
🏟️ Cagliari seals deal to build new stadium
The Mayor of Cagliari, Massimo Zedda, and the President of the Region, Alessandra Todde, have signed a deal to build a new home for the Sardinian side.
👉 Cagliari, which represents the capital city of the island of Sardinia, currently plays at the Unipol Domus, with a capacity of just over 16,000.
👍 Up until 2017, the club played at the Stadio Sant'Elia, which hosted three matches at the 1990 World Cup.
🇮🇹 The new stadium — which is part of a regeneration of the greater Sant'Elia neighborhood — will be a contender to host games at Euro 2032, to be co-hosted by Italy and Turkey.
⏭️ Cagliari ended 2024 with a run of five straight defeats in all competitions and sits in 18th spot in Serie A. The Isolani has the opportunity to kickstart 2025 on Sunday with a trip to Monza, which is bottom of the table and winless since October (6.30am ET, CBS Sports).
💬 Calcio Conversations
The Serie A action is coming thick and fast this year, in the absence of what was once an annual tradition: the sosta invernale.
🤷♂️ What was it? Translating to ‘winter break,’ it was a moment in the season when fixtures were put on hold for the festive period. The sosta would typically run from before Christmas until Epiphany on January 6th.
🧐 Do other leagues take breaks? They do! Although festive soccer is traditional in England’s Premier League, other top leagues across Europe such as Spain’s La Liga, Germany’s Bundesliga and France’s Ligue 1 have taken a pausa for the holidays. But we will continue to get our Serie A fix!
🙌 Nico Paz shines with Como
2024 was something of an Annus mirabilis for Argentine midfield prodigy Nico Paz, who earned a move to Como and made his debut for his national team - while holding the attention of legendary Italian coach Carlo Ancelotti.
💪 Paz has two goals and three assists for Como so far this season, including the opener in Monday’s win over Lecce.
👏 The 20-year-old also made his full Argentina debut in October, recording an assist for Lionel Messi in a rout win over Bolivia.
🗣️ Paz arrived at Como from Real Madrid, whose coach Carlo Ancelotti appeared on Italian radio this week to give praise: “We believe he is a player who can be the future of Real Madrid.”
👀 Ancelotti — who won two European Cups as a player and two as a coach with Milan — clearly sees Paz performing at the very highest echelons of the game: Real Madrid reportedly has a €12m buy-back clause on the player.
👉 Elsewhere at Como, English midfielder Dele Alli has started training with the team in a bid to return to top-flight soccer. “He’s a wonderful player,” said coach Cesc Fabregas.
Up next for Como 👉 I Lariani return to action on Monday, January 10th, when they travel to the Stadio Olimpico to take on high-flying Lazio (2.45pm ET, CBS Sports).
🗓️ Which Serie A team won the most points in 2024?
The folks at Transfermarkt have put together a ‘league table’ for the calendar year of 2024, which, perhaps unsurprisingly, shows that reigning champions Inter and current leaders Atalanta accrued the most points.
👏 Lazio’s excellent season under Marco Baroni has helped put them in third spot, while Milan - who had three coaches in 2024 - complete the top four, with a +24 goal differential.
📺 This weekend on CBS Sports, Paramount+, FOX Deportes, and SiriusXM
Friday, January 3rd
EA SPORTS FC Supercup semifinal: Juventus v Milan (2pm ET)
Saturday, January 4th
Venezia v Empoli (9am ET)
Fiorentina v Napoli (12pm ET, also on FOX Deportes)
Verona v Udinese (2.45pm ET, also on SiriusXM FC and FOX Deportes)
Sunday, January 5th
Monza v Cagliari (6.30am ET)
Lecce v Genoa (9am ET)
Torino v Parma (12pm ET, also on FOX Deportes)
Roma v Lazio (2.45pm ET, also on SiriusXM FC and FOX Deportes)
Monday, January 6th
🏆 EA SPORTS FC Supercup Final: Inter v Juventus or Milan (2pm ET)
🇨🇦 Watch ALL Serie A games live on Fubo and select games with Italian-language commentary on TLN 🇨🇦
🇺🇸 Watch select games with Spanish-language commentary on FOX Deportes and English-language commentary on SiriusXM 🇺🇸
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