The Coppa Italia round of 16 match between AC Milan and Torino was interesting but not overly so until early in the second half when Torino keeper Joe Hart got kicked in the face.
Here's the video:
Loan Watch: Joe Hart gets a scrape of the opposition's studs on his face vs AC Milan... ouch! pic.twitter.com/W2ENxWtgjV
— MCFC Info (@MCFClnfo) January 12, 2017
Last week, social media erupted amid news that Premier League side Arsenal had attempted to spend a huge amount of money on Serie A’s latest striking sensation, Andrea Belotti. Figures in the tens of millions were bandied about, converted from euros to pounds and back again until it seemed as though Arsenal’s penny-pinching ways had prevented their transfer business yet again.
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.
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.
The Derby della Capitale was drenched in narrative. In a sporting context, the word narrative might well be overused to the point of meaninglessness, but there’s not many other ways in which to focus on the 90-minute battle between Lazio and Roma that took place on Sunday.
In purely sporting terms, it was a fascinating game. Roma, second in the league and easily fulfilling their role as perpetual also-rans, came up against arch-rivals Lazio, who were themselves only a point behind.
Following every weekend, when discussing Serie A, there's a temptation to focus on Juventus. As the long-time reigning champions, it's clear why the Turin side garners a huge amount of attention. But the best stories are not always found at the top of the table.
Down a goal and with only 10 men on the pitch, Fiorentina looked to their promising American youngster Josh Perez to help level the score against Inter Milan on Monday. The USA youth international made his Serie A debut for the Viola in the 75th minute. He almost made an immediate impact.
For some, this moment would get the best of them; youngsters often look skittish and lack confidence in their club debuts. However, this was not the case for the young American, who skillfully collected the ball on the top of the box and cut onto his left foot as he shaped to shoot.
If you played any sport while you were young, you most likely heard the speech that you need to practice hard in order to play well when it counts.
Well, apparently Udinese’s captain Danilo Larangeira took that message a little bit too seriously.The central defender has reportedly injured three of his teammates during a practice session.
Serie A had an exciting time this past weekend. Fiorentina managed to flip from atrocious attrition into smooth ruthlessness. Teacher’s pets Sassuolo dirtied their report card yet again by letting another two goal lead slip. Joe Hart’s Torino™ (and Andrea Belotti in particular) continue to raise expectations purely so they can shoot them down a week later.
Juventus managed to extend their lead to seven points. but lost another striker in the process, Gonzalo Higuain now out and set to miss important games. But, truth be told, everyone’s attention was always in Milan.
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.