Michel Sakr, Author at The Cult of Calcio

Atalanta Open UCL Campaign with 4-0 Midtjylland Win

October 21, 2020 Michel Sakr Atalanta, Champions League, Italian Football, Serie A

Gianpiero Gasperini's Atalanta made their long northern trip to Scandinavia to meet Danish champions Midtjylland in the opening round of the UEFA Champions League group stage. Thanks to a solid ending of the first half, La Dea were able to safely cruise to a comfortable 4-0 victory, with 4 different attackers participating in the goal fest.

The Top 5 Stories from Serie A Round 4: A 41-Goal Parade!

October 20, 2020 Michel Sakr Italian Football, Serie A, Serie A 2020-2021, Top 5

Last weekend, Serie A returned with a Bang! Saturday night featured an awaited Milan derby, as well as a top level encounter between Napoli and Atalanta, while Juventus found some unexpected trouble in their southern trip to Crotone. The action continued for the following two days, so here are the top 5 stories from Serie A round 4.

Verona and Genoa End Serie A Round Four in Boring Stalemate

October 19, 2020 Michel Sakr Genoa, Hellas Verona, Italian Football, Serie A, Serie A 2020-2021

At the Stadio Marcantonio Bentegodi in Verona, Genoa returned to the pitch for the first time after their recent Covid-19 outbreak, as they traveled to meet their former coach and captain Ivan Juric, now at the helm of Verona. After the craziness of the last two days, Verona and Genoa gave calcio fans an anti-climatic ending to an otherwise thrilling round 4.

Champions League Round 1 Preview For Italian Clubs

October 19, 2020 Michel Sakr Champions League, Italian Football, Serie A

This Tuesday, fans of European football will rejoice with the return of the UEFA Champions League. This season, the Serie A will be represented by Juventus, Inter, Atalanta, and Lazio. And Whilst these four teams endured a terrible weekend, where they all culminated a single point from their four encounters, they will be hoping to make up for it in round one of the Group Stage.

Inter – Milan Player Ratings: The Derby of Ibrahimovic

October 18, 2020 Michel Sakr AC Milan, Inter Milan, Italian Football, Player Ratings, Serie A, Serie A 2020-2021 One comment

After a thrilling start that saw three goals in the first half hour, Stefano Pioli's Milan beat Antonio Conte's Inter in a closely contested affair which saw the Rossoneri finally ending the Nerazzurri's dominance on the Derby della Madonnina, thanks to a brace by Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Here are the player ratings for Milan's derby win over Inter.

Ranking The 10 Most Famous Player Returns In Serie A

October 16, 2020 Michel Sakr Italian Football, Italy, Serie A

Few things are more exciting in sports as an athlete gloriously returning to his former team. But for every LeBron James comeback to Cleveland, there are several botched returns that left the disappointing fans wishing it never took place. Italian football is no exception, so we picked the 10 most famous player comebacks in Serie A and decided to rank them.

Italy – Netherlands Player Ratings: Barella Brilliance in Bergamo

October 14, 2020 Michel Sakr Italy, Nations League, Netherlands, Player Ratings

In Bergamo, Italy and the Netherlands gifted Poland the lead in Group A, as they played out a fair 1-1 draw. Lorenzo Pellegrini gave the Azzurri the lead in the 16th minute, but Donny Van De Beek replied with the equalizer for the visitors in the 25th minute. So here are the player ratings for Italy against the Netherlands, including a brilliant performance by Nicolo Barella.

Serie A Transfer Market Session Ratings – Part Three

October 13, 2020 Michel Sakr Benevento, Calciomercato, Crotone, Genoa, Italian Football, Italy, Sampdoria, Serie A, Serie A 2020-2021, Spezia, Torino, Transfer Market

After analyzing the transfer market of the top Italian clubs (based on last season's results) in Part One, followed by the mid-table teams in Part Two, it's now time for the third and last part of The Cult of Calcio's Transfer ratings, as we'll take a look at the sides who just avoided relegation last season, as well as the three newly promoted clubs - Benevento, Crotone, and Spezia.

Marco Verratti created the most chances for Italy during their 0-0 draw with Poland: He gets the man of the match award in our player ratings

Poland – Italy Player Ratings: Verratti Delivers for The Azzurri

October 12, 2020 Michel Sakr FIGC, Italian Football, Italy, Nations League, Player Ratings, Poland, The Azzurre, The Azzurri

A wasteful Italy side dropped another attainable two points as they drew against their Polish hosts in the third round of Group A from the UEFA Nations League. The Azzurri dominated most of the encounter - especially in the first half - but only managed 2 shots on target from 17 attempts, as the final whistle signaled a 0-0 draw. Here are the player ratings for Italy against Poland.

Serie A Transfer Market Session Ratings – Part Two

October 11, 2020 Michel Sakr Bologna, Cagliari, Calciomercato, Fiorentina, Hellas Verona, Italian Football, Italy, Parma, Sassuolo, Serie A, Serie A 2020-2021, Transfer Market, Udinese

It's the second part of our The Cult of Calcio's transfer ratings, where we rate the summer transfer campaign of every Serie A club in the 2020-2021 season. After analyzing the transfer market of the top 7 clubs in Part one, it's time to take a look at the mid-table clubs, from ambitious Sassuolo to disappointed Cagliari, without forgetting Chiesa's departure from Fiorentina.

The fans of Italian football got to know how their favorite teams will look in 2020-2021. So here's Part One of our Serie A Transfer Ratings

Serie A Transfer Market Session Ratings – Part One

October 9, 2020 Michel Sakr AC Milan, Atalanta, Calciomercato, Inter, Inter Milan, Italian Football, Italy, Juventus, Napoli, Roma, Serie A, Serie A 2020-2021, Transfer Market One comment

The Italian transfer market has just shut its doors. Although this was an unusual transfer session sandwiched between two awkward seasons, some things remain the same, as some clubs were able to successfully strengthen their squads, others spent the last two months chasing unlikely targets. So here's Part One of our Serie A Transfer Ratings.

The new Serie A season has kicked off to an exciting start and today we’ll take a look at the most underrated players in each of the Top 7 Italian clubs

The Most Underrated Players from The Top Seven Serie A Clubs

October 8, 2020 Michel Sakr AC Milan, Atalanta, FIGC, Inter, Inter Milan, Italian Football, Italy, Juventus, Lazio, Napoli, Roma, Serie A, Serie A 2020-2021

The new Serie A season kicked off as the old familiar names returned to our screens along with some new fresh ones. And although we’ve already listed the 10 top players to look out for, some less prestigious names deserve a certain recognition as well. Today we’ll take a look at the most underrated players from each of the Top 7 Italian clubs basing on the last season's table.

Author: Michel Sakr