Serie A

Much like the NBA sixth man who comes off the bench and drops straight buckets, Luis Muriel doesn't often find himself in the starting XI; but bring him off the bench in the second half and he can't help but score goals. 

Muriel started just 10 Serie A matches last season yet was still Atalanta's joint-leading scorer. The Colombian striker scored 11 of his 18 goals after coming off the bench, averaging goal at an astonishing rate of once every 69 minutes. 

Weston James Earl McKennie picked one helluva time to score his first Serie A goal. The 22-year-old Texan came on as a 71st-minute substitute and six minutes later headed home a much-needed equalizer as Juventus rallied to win the Derby della Mole 2-1 on Saturday. 

McKennie, a versatile box-to-box midfielder/fullback/forward had yet to score in nine appearances for Juventus since joining on loan over the summer. Though he started on the bench against rival Torino, he made his case to Andrea Pirlo for more playing time with a timely strike.

Cristiano Ronaldo wanted to kick off the Derby della Mole with a bang. Instead he kicked it off with a clang.

As Juventus hosted city rival Torino on Saturday, Ronaldo attempted an audacious shot from midfield straight from the opening kickoff. While you miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take, you also miss 100 percent of the shots that go 20 yards over the goal. 

Ronaldo tried to score straight from kick off pic.twitter.com/uPimBREn7E

Italian side Napoli's San Paolo stadium has been officially renamed the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium after the late Argentina striker who led them to their only two Serie A titles and the UEFA Cup, the city's council said on Friday.

Maradona died last week after suffering a heart attack at his home in the suburbs of Buenos Aires, less than a month after his 60th birthday.

| Welcome to the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona!

https://t.co/tYVAHdsvdr

Serie A champions Juventus on Friday said their sporting director Fabio Paratici had been placed under criminal investigation over the alleged attempt to speed up procedures to gain Italian citizenship for Uruguay striker Luis Suarez.

Suarez, whose wife is of Italian descent, passed the exam in September at the University for Foreigners in Perugia as part of the naturalisation process needed for his potential transfer to the Serie A champions.

Torino's Andrea Belotti was allowed to run on to the back post by Sampdoria's defense in the first half of the matchup between the two sides on Monday and promptly made his opponent's pay. 

Belotti tucked away his seventh league goal of the season after a lovely piece of skill by 19-year-old right back Wilfried Sango was followed by an inch-perfect cross to find the club captain in the six-yard box.

Born in 1991 in Frattamaggiore, Napoli captain Lorenzo Insigne is too young to have experienced the heyday of Diego Maradona in southwest Italy himself, but the Neapolitan bleeds the club’s colors — he's currently fifth all-time in appearances and ninth in goals — and has grown up immersed in the Argentine's legend.

AC Milan striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic will be out of action for at least ten days after picking up a muscle injury in the 3-1 league win against Napoli at the weekend, the Serie A club said on Monday.

The 39-year-old scored twice before suffering the injury as the Serie A leaders recorded their first league win in Naples for more than 10 years. A club spokesperson said it could take between two and three weeks for Ibrahimovic to recover.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored twice as Serie A leaders AC Milan beat 10-man Napoli 3-1 on Sunday to record their first league win in Naples for more than 10 years.

The 39-year-old powered a bullet header into the bottom corner in the first half before bundling in his second of the night after the break to take his league-high tally to 10 goals in six games this season.