Explore Business Standard
Serie A
Inter Milan midfielder Piotr Zielinski could be out for a few weeks with a calf strain. Zielinski is set to miss Tuesday's return game against Feyenoord in the Champions League round of 16 after he was injured on Saturday in a 3-2 win over Monza in Serie A. Zielinski came on as a substitute in the 70th minute but had to be helped off the field just three minutes later. The Polish midfielder strained the medial gastrocnemius muscle, part of his right calf, the club said on Monday. Zielinski has played 33 times for Inter in all competitions this season, scoring twice. However, Inter will be boosted by the return of first-choice goalkeeper Yann Sommer after he missed the past three matches with a broken thumb. Nerazzurri coach Simone Inzaghi confirmed on Monday that Sommer will start in goal against Feyenoord.
Napoli kept up the pressure on Serie A leader Inter Milan as it finally got back to winning ways with a 2-1 victory over Fiorentina. Romelu Lukaku on Sunday scored one and set up the other for Giacomo Raspadori to help Napoli move back to within a point of Inter, which fought back from two goals down to beat Monza 3-2 on Saturday. Atalanta proved it is very much among the fray with a statement 4-0 win at fourth-placed Juventus to close the gap back to three points to Inter. According to statistics provider Opta, it was the first time Juventus had lost a league match at home by four goals in nearly 60 years since a loss by the same score to Torino in October 1967. Atalanta's title credentials will be truly tested next weekend when it hosts Inter. Fiorentina's hopes of making it into the top four diminished after its fourth loss in five league matches. Napoli also came into the match on a mediocre run, having drawn four of its past five matches and losing the other. But the hosts
New AC Milan coach Sergio Conceio dropped down to his knees on the San Siro sideline, unleashed a loud scream and then wrapped his arms around an assistant in an emotional embrace when Samuel Chukwueze bundled in the winner five minutes into stoppage time. Conceio has struggled at times to transmit his desire and grit to a team that has been inconsistent in Serie A. He was clearly moved by Milan's ability to stay focused this time, though, as the Rossoneri scored two late goals to secure a 3-2 victory against promoted Parma on Sunday. Conceio's grit was also evident after the final whistle when he had to be restrained during a heated exchange with Milan captain Davide Calabria. It's like with your kids when you go to a restaurant and they misbehave and you yell at them. That's how I am, Conceio said. Maybe we said a bit too much. But we're creating a strong bond with the players. Conceio also guided Milan to comeback wins over Juventus and Inter Milan en route to the Italian Super
Inter Milan's goals are coming from an unusual source. Defender Denzel Dumfries was again on target on Sunday as Inter beat lowly Empoli 3-1 to keep pace with Serie A leader Napoli. Inter captain Lautaro Martnez netted the opener to help the Nerazzurri move to within three points of Napoli, which won 3-2 at third-placed Atalanta on Saturday. Inter has a match in hand. Inter found it hard to get past a resolute Empoli defense but Lautaro broke the deadlock in stunning fashion 10 minutes into the second half when he curled a powerful shot into the top right corner from 20 yards (metres). Dumfries headed in Inter's second in the 79th for his fourth goal in five matches. Sebastiano Esposito held up his hands in apology after pulling one back for Empoli four minutes later. The 22-year-old who has been in prolific form with 10 goals this season is on loan at Empoli from Inter. Marcus Thuram sealed the result with one minute remaining. Empoli remained a point above the drop zone. La
It took exactly one week on the job for Sergio Conceicao to earn his first trophy as AC Milan's coach with two comeback wins no less. Milan came back from two goals down to beat city rival Inter Milan 3-2 and win the Italian Super Cup on Monday. Rafael Leao came off the bench and played a part in all three of Milan's goals from Theo Hernandez, Christian Pulisic and Tammy Abraham. Conceicao was hired to replace the fired Paulo Fonseca last Monday and also led the Rossoneri to a comeback win over Juventus in the semifinals. So what changed with Conceicao? We played with confidence, courage and hunger, Abraham said. We're a strong team. Added Pulisic, He told us we need to have more hunger and that that's more important than tactics. After the semifinals, Conceicao was asked if he embraced his players. I'm not so nice and I'm not someone who hugs, he said. I'm not here to make friends. I'm here to win. But after the final, Conceicao was seen dancing with his players and smoking
Forget about the Tinkerman. Claudio Ranieri is the Derbyman now. Ranieri extended his perfect record in the capital derby as Roma beat Lazio 2-0 in Serie A on Sunday to give the Giallorossi a much-needed boost in what has been a difficult season. Roma captain Lorenzo Pellegrini scored the opener with a curling shot from the edge of the area and Alexis Saelemaekers finished off a counterattack to give Roma a two-goal advantage after 18 minutes. Ranieri improved his record to five wins in five derbies as Roma's coach. He's the team's third manager this season after Daniele De Rossi and Ivan Juric were both fired. His other derby wins came during his first stint as Roma's coach from 2009-11. He also coached his hometown club briefly in 2019. The coach is a legend of Rome. We all know it and we're all happy for him, Saelemaekers said. He took over the team in a tough moment, reset the entire group and improved the mentality. Ranieri has also won the three other big derbies in Italy i
The organization that represents European soccer leagues rejected latest proposals for a breakaway super league. Detailed plans for a new rival to the Champions League the Unify League were released this week by Madrid-based A22 Sports Management. It was not clear what support there was for the proposed competition, but A22 said it had held discussions with clubs, leagues and other parties." The European Leagues, which represents 39 leagues and associations, said in a statement that it rejects any suggestion that a consultation took place with our organization. It reaffirmed leagues' commitment to the current system by which teams qualify for UEFA competitions like the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League. The A22's competition model, which is not requested and unsubstantiated, would increase the number of international matches in an already congested calendar, it said. Supporters and stakeholders across the game have consistently made it clear that any attempt
A much-changed Inter Milan side eased to a 2-0 victory over Udinese in the Italian Cup. Marko Arnautovic and Kristjan Asllani netted in the first half to help Inter set up a quarterfinal match against Lazio the team it routed 6-0 in the league on Monday. Inter coach Simone Inzaghi made eight changes to that side. The match was briefly halted shortly before halftime when a spectator collapsed in the stands. The fan was immediately treated as the stadium fell into silence and the players looked on, clearly concerned. A defibrillator had to be used before the fan was carried out on a stretcher to the applause of the San Siro crowd. The fan was reportedly stable in the hospital. When play resumed after a delay of more than five minutes, the Udinese players still seemed distracted as Asllani's corner from the left evaded everyone and went in off the far post. That put Inter 2-0 up as it had broken the deadlock in the 30th minute following an Udinese error. A hideous pass from visiting
AC Milan and Bologna advanced to the Italian Cup quarterfinals with convincing victories. Milan thrashed Serie B leader Sassuolo 6-1, while Bologna routed Serie A struggler Monza 4-0. The Rossoneri will face either Roma or Sampdoria in the last eight. Bologna will play the winners of Atalanta's match against Cesena. Both those round of 16 matches take place next week. Tuesday's match at San Siro was all but over after less than 23 minutes as Sassuolo was swept away by a double from Samuel Chukwueze and other goals by Tijjani Reijnders and Rafael Leo. It had been a much-changed starting lineup for Milan ahead of a tough Serie A trip to Atalanta on Friday and the Rossoneri made four further changes at halftime. Milan nevertheless extended its advantage through Davide Calabria and Tammy Abraham, either side of a consolation goal for Sassuolo from Samuele Mulattieri. Bologna scored two goals in each half, with Tommaso Pobega and Riccardo Orsolini netting in the first period and Benj
Juventus got back to winning ways but needed a lot of help from the post. The Bianconeri on Saturday won 2-0 at Udinese following an own-goal from home goalkeeper Maduka Okoye and Nicol Savona's strike, with the ball bouncing off the right post immediately before both goals. It was only Juve's second win in six matches in all competitions and lifted it up to third, ahead of the rest of the weekend's fixtures. It was four points behind Serie A leader Napoli, which hosts fourth-place Atalanta on Sunday. Udinese slipped to eighth after it was leapfrogged by AC Milan, which won 1-0 at Monza. Only two points separated Udinese and Juventus coming into the match. Juventus took the lead in the 20th minute with a wonderful piece of play from Khphren Thuram, who ran into the box and nutmegged a defender before taking a shot from a tight angle. The ball bounced off the inside of the far right post and in off the back of Okoye. It would have been a first goal in Italy for Thuram, the younger
Paul Pogba says he's ready to give up money to play for Juventus again. The Serie A club may not want him, though, or need him. Pogba recently had his four-year ban for doping reduced to 18 months after appealing to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, meaning the France World Cup winner will be free to resume his career in March 2025. Juventus has not been overly enthusiastic about welcoming him back but Pogba says that is the only club he is thinking about playing for. I am ready to even give up money so that I can still play for Juve, he said in an interview with Italian sports daily Gazzetta dello Sport. I want to return. Juventus sporting director Cristiano Giuntoli and new coach Thiago Motta are dubious about whether Pogba can return to the top level after being out for so long since testing positive for testosterone in August last year. But the 31-year-old Pogba, who said he felt like a caged lion for the past year, has been training hard on his own and is ready to prove the
It was a night for goalkeepers to shine as Fiorentina's David de Gea and AC Milan's Mike Maignan combined to save three penalty kicks during Fiorentina's 2-1 win. Maignan started things off on Sunday when he smothered a poor effort from Moise Kean. Then in first-half injury time, De Gea leaped to his right to push away a spot kick from Theo Hernandez. After the break, De Gea was at it again, this time denying Tammy Abraham. Yacine Adli, who is on loan from Milan, put Fiorentina ahead in the 35th. Christian Pulisic equalized for Milan in the 60th with an acrobatic volley his fourth consecutive league match with a goal and then Albert Gudmundsson won it for Fiorentina with a long-range strike to finish off a counterattack. De Gea, the longtime starter at Manchester United who didn't play anywhere last season, also played a role in Gudmundsson's goal, providing a long ball that Kean knocked down to leave for the Iceland striker. Juventus concedes its first goal of the ...
Thiago Motta was supposed to bring flair and new ideas to Juventus in the wake of Massimiliano Allegri's old-school defensive tactics. Five rounds into Serie A, the Juventus defence has been perfect without a single goal conceded. The attack, however, is stalled following three straight 0-0 draws. Part of the problem is a slump for centre-forward Dusan Vlahovic, who has scored in only one match this season his brace at Hellas Verona a month ago combined with Federico Chiesa's departure to Liverpool. Juventus isn't conceding goals but it's not scoring them, either. And that's become a problem, Fabio Capello, who played and coached at Juventus, said in a Gazzetta dello Sport editorial on Thursday. Capello added that against Napoli last weekend when Juventus produced only one shot on goal the team was really boring. But, the Bianconeri could be poised for a breakout performance on Saturday at a tired Genoa side coming off a penalty-shootout loss to Sampdoria in an Italian Cup ...
Como got its first Serie A win in more than 21 years as Cesc Fabregas' team won 3-2 at Atalanta in a rescheduled match. Delightful second-half goals from Gabriel Strefezza and Alieu Fadera, as well as an own goal from Atalanta defender Sead Kolasinac saw newly promoted Como fight back for its first win in the Italian top flight since May 2003. It was a third defeat of the season for Atalanta, which drew 0-0 against Arsenal in the Champions League last week. The match which was a local derby was originally meant to take place on Monday night but had to be postponed by 24 hours due to heavy rains in Bergamo and a waterlogged pitch. Atalanta took the lead in the 18th minute when a corner was headed out but only as far as Davide Zappacosta, who volleyed into the bottom left corner from just outside the area. However, Como got more into the match and managed to level just 20 seconds into the second half with a well-worked move as Sergi Roberto backheeled a pass from Ignace Van der Br
New AC Milan coach Paulo Fonseca got his first Serie A win in style. It couldn't have come at a better time for the Rossoneri. A devastating opening half an hour set Milan on its way to a convincing 4-0 win over promoted Venezia on Saturday for its first victory of the season after two draws and a loss. The result and the manner of the victory are a timely confidence boost ahead of a crucial week. Fonseca's team hosts Liverpool in the Champions League on Tuesday followed by a Serie A derby match against defending champion Inter Milan. Also, Bologna remained winless but came from two goals down to salvage a 2-2 draw against Como. Juventus drew at Empoli 0-0. Rafael Leao and Theo Hernandez were benched for Milan's last match but were back in the starting lineup and the pair combined to score the opener after just 90 seconds. Hernandez won the ball in midfield and played it to Leao who gave it back to him with a delicious backheeled flick on the half turn. That sent the France ...
For Thiago Motta's Juventus, it was a well-earned point that kept the Bianconeri unbeaten. For Daniele De Rossi's Roma, it was a step in the right direction after a difficult start to the season. Juventus was held to a 0-0 draw at home by Roma in Serie A on Sunday with each side producing only one shot on goal. Roma dominated the possession early on before Juventus grew more dangerous through Dusan Vlahovic. De Rossi kept former Juventus forward Paulo Dybala on the bench at the start then sent the Argentina international, who recently turned down an offer from Saudi Arabia, on midway through the second half. But Dybala produced little with both sides slowing down by then on a warm evening in Turin. Juventus moved level on seven points with defending champion Inter Milan, Torino and Udinese in Motta's first season since coming over from Bologna. Winless Roma, which was coming off a dispiriting defeat at home to Empoli, has two points in De Rossi's second campaign after replacing