Italian Clubs

Cristiano Ronaldo Low On Confidence And Fitness, Says Manager Maurizio Sarri

Juventus coach Maurizio Sarri has rubbished suggestions of a falling out with midfielder Miralem Pjanic and is confident Cristiano Ronaldo will quickly bounce back from his disappointing restart to the season.

Sarri has quickly found himself under pressure after Juventus were beaten on penalties by Napoli in Wednesday's Coppa Italia final.

The only other game they have contested since the three-month stoppage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic was the Coppa semifinal at home to AC Milan five days earlier, which also ended 0-0 after Ronaldo missed a penalty.

Maurizio Sarri Feels The Heat After Coppa Italia Final Defeat

Serie A has not even restarted following the coronavirus stoppage, yet pressure is already mounting on Juventus coach Maurizio Sarri following his side's failure to win the Coppa Italia.

Napoli Upsets Juventus On Penalties To Lift Coppa Italia

Napoli stunned Juventus when they won 4-2 on penalties after a 0-0 draw to claim the Coppa Italia on Wednesday and bring their fiery coach Gennaro Gattuso the first major trophy of his coaching career.

Paulo Dybala and Danilo missed Juve's first two efforts in the shootout while Napoli converted all of their attempts to win the trophy for the sixth time while also ending Juve's hopes of winning the treble this season.

It was the first title to be settled in the Italian season which has just restarted after a three-month hiatus because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ante Rebic Just Channeled His Inner Nigel De Jong With Horrible Flying Kick To Danilo

Ante Rebic did his best Nigel de Jong impersonation, sending his cleat into the chest of Danilo immediately following a Cristiano Ronaldo penalty miss. The red card helped Juventus secure a 0-0 draw in the second leg of the Coppa Italia on Friday at Allianz Stadium. The first leg was a 1-1 draw back on Feb. 13 at the San Siro, allowing Juventus to advance on away goals in the first match in Italy in three months.

Did Fame Change Cristiano Ronaldo?

People love to hate on Cristiano Ronaldo, and according to him it’s because they're jealous of his success. 

So, with that confident statement in mind, it’s only fair to ask: Did fame change Ronaldo’s play? Or is he just getting older?

We can probably debunk the getting older argument — Ronaldo crushed his recent Juventus fitness tests.

Coppa Italia Semis And Final To Be Played Between June 12-17

The Coppa Italia semifinals will be played on June 12-13 while the final will be held on June 17, Italy's Sports Minister Vincenzo Spadafora confirmed on Thursday.

Juventus and AC Milan, who played out a 1-1 draw in the first leg, will play on June 12. Napoli host Inter Milan a day later at the San Paolo Stadium, leading 1-0 on aggregate.

Serie A said in a statement last week that the Italian season, which has been suspended since March due to the COVID-19 pandemic, would resume with the cup competition before the league restarts on June 20.

Serie A Restart Date Confirmed For Saturday, June 20

Italy's top-flight Serie A soccer league has been given the go-ahead to restart on June 20 following the novel coronavirus stoppage, sports minister Vincenzo Spadafora said on Thursday. He added that there was a possibility the resumption of the season, which was suspended on March 9, could be preceded by Italian Cup matches one week earlier. 

"Italy is starting up again and it's only right that football can also get going," he told reporters after a conference call with representatives from the Italian Football Federation (FIGC). 

Italy Set To Decide If And When Serie A Resumes On Thursday

After weeks of wrangling, with several U-turns on the way, Italy is due to decide on Thursday if and when its top-flight Serie A soccer league can resume after the coronavirus stoppage. 

Possibly encouraged by seeing how Germany's Bundesliga has restarted without problems so far, the Italian government appears to have relaxed its position recently. 

Zlatan Ibrahimovic's Career Safely Intact Despite Fears Of Torn Achilles

Reports flooded out of Milan on Monday about Zlatan Ibrahimovic picking up an injury during training with AC Milan. The Italian club said the injury was sustained to his calf and he'll undergo medical exams on Tuesday to discover its extent.

Several different outlets in Milan had reported that the situation was far more severe and that Ibrahimovic could be done not only for the season but for his career with a ruptured Achilles tendon, but that's not the case.

San Siro Edges Closer To Demolition After Heritage Authority Says It Has No Architectural Significance

MILAN — Italy's heritage authority raised no objections to tearing down Milan's 1920s-era San Siro arena, a document seen by Reuters showed, removing a major obstacle to the city's top-flight soccer clubs plans to replace it with a new stadium.

Serie A clubs AC Milan and Inter Milan, respectively owned by U.S. fund Elliott and Chinese electronic retailer Suning, last year filed a request to jointly build a new 60,000-seater stadium in the San Siro area.

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