For anyone wondering, let’s get the essentials out of the way: Fiorentina versus Juventus is a big match. This is truer for one side than the other, however. Before Sunday’s game, Juventus defender Leonardo Bonucci told the press that while the fixture was the most important date in most Florentines’ football calendar, it was just another game for the reigning champions.
It’s been a rough six months for Italian international Simone Zaza. His infamous penalty miss against Germany at Euro 2016, when he approached the ball like a duck at a discotech, has become a burden that he says he’ll carry forever.
Some weeks, there is nothing to write about. As much as the constant churn of the news cycle demands fresh content, the available information turns up nothing much. Then, hours are spent trying to find a new angle on why Atalanta are doing pretty well or why Sassuolo are struggling. If there’s really nothing, then just write about the latest stupid thing Inter have done. But this week is different.
There’s no escaping the fact that the draws for the Champions League and the Europa League are ridiculous. These hugely overdone gala affairs take three hours to achieve what could be done in ten minutes. The saving graces - scowling club directors, getting to see Clarence Seedorf again - are vastly overshadowed by the ludicrous complexity of everything and UEFA’s willingness to blow their own trumpet at every conceivable opportunity. The entire event is comical, but it doesn’t really matter.
Generation Z has officially landed in the UEFA Champions League, and Moise Kean displayed an attention span lasting much longer than a few seconds during his six minutes on the pitch.
The 16-year-old came out sans a mobile device, belying his status as a young consumer and digital native. While some might claim that, in accordance with the desires of his fellow post-millennials, Kean’s debut was just a bit of instant gratification following his Serie A debut on Saturday, the forward is actually a pretty special and unique individual, just like everyone else in the iGeneration.
With 167 caps, Gianluigi Buffon has matched Spain’s Iker Casillas as Europe’s most capped international player of all time. This marks a major milestone for the Italian legend, but it isn’t necessarily unexpected.
Buffon, affectionately nicknamed Gigi, began his professional career with Parma in 1995 at the tender age of 17 and almost immediately became a household name. He was called up to the national team in 1997 and went to his first of many World Cups just a year later, in 1998 at the age of 20.
Written a few days ago, this article would've been very different. In the cold light of Monday morning, many people were welcoming the revived glories of AC Milan. A young, exciting squad packed with home grown Italian talent, led by one of Serie A’s most promising and intriguing managers, had taken on the champions of the last five years and won. 'Milan beat Juventus — they’re back!' came the shouts. A new era was upon us.
Loaning players is a practice as common in soccer today as Jose Mourinho blaming the refs for losing a game.
Powerhouses all over the world make use of this practice to give their young players a chance to play regular soccer somewhere else if they currently don’t have space on the first team. Sometimes, even established players are sent out on loan for various reasons.
Regardless of why they are away, here are a few players who have been making the most of their opportunities to play regular soccer.
Joe Hart | Torino
There was a time during Patrice Evra’s heyday at Manchester United when he was considered the best left back in the word. At 35-years-old, the Frenchman is no longer undroppable — he’s only made two appearances for Juventus this season — but he has managed to lay claim to a new title: soccer’s best Instagrammer.
Evra’s profile isn’t even six months old yet, but it already has a cool one million followers.
It's no secret that Serie A’s UEFA coefficient has been in decline for over 15 years. The UEFA coefficient, used to determine how many teams from each domestic league are entered into competitions such as the Champions League and Europa League, is based on the European success of a club within the last five years.