Stickers Swapping: Juve Win Kulusevski Battle Against Inter

The Cult of Calcio’s Stickers Swapping column brings you the best of the calciomercato trends and rumors, looking at who’s set to close the next big deal in the transfer market and who has already done it. Here's how Juventus managed to sign forward Dejan Kulusevski, a 19-old-sensation who already tallied 4 goals and 7 assist in 17 appearances with Parma.

Throwback Thursday: The Lecce-Udinese Coppa Italia Goalfest

Lecce-Udinese was an iconic battle in the 2004-2005 campaign. The Salentini and the Friuliani faced each other four times that season, twice in Campionato and twice in Coppa Italia. The match of November 20th, 2004, in particular, lived up to the craziest show-time expectations, featuring 9 goals and a dramatic last-minute penalty saved by Udinese’s David Di Michele.

New Year, New Roma: Billionaire Friedkin Set to Take Wolves Over

“Out with the old and in with the new.” This is Roma’s new year’s resolution. The Italian capital-based club is on the verge of a change of ownership as American billionaire Dan Friedkin is set to buy it from his fellow countryman James Pallotta. The Wolves issued a statement on Monday confirming that they are in talks with The Friedkin Group.

Is Ibrahimovic’s Second Coming What Milan Really Need?

And so, Milan it is. Zlatan Ibrahimovic decided to continue his seemingly-endless career with another stop in the red-and-black side of Milano. But while Ibra’s Second Coming is surely a hit for Serie A, the signing of a 38-year-old looks more like a temporary Band-Aid than the fruit of some calculated planning on the part of the Rossoneri management.

Serie A Round Recap: Atalanta Shame Milan, Lazio Grab Supercup

While Serie A was in full force during the weekend, Juventus and Lazio faced off in Saudi Arabia for the Italian Supercup. The Bianconeri received another footballing lesson as they lost 1-3 to the Eagles for the second time in 15 days. Gian Piero Gasperini's Atalanta inflicted a shameful 5-0 defeat to Stefano Pioli's Milan, while Inter dominantly burst through Genoa.

We Bring You This Winter Soap Opera: Zlatan, Where To?

The year is 1999. In the South of Sweden, Malmo FF prepare for a new season, and looking to bring more firepower to their attack they choose to give a chance to a young Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Fast forward 20 years, and the same man is still making headlines: After terminating his contract with Los Angeles Galaxy, Zlatan seems to be looking for a new challenge.

Rifinitura: Roma Thrash Fiorentina as Juve, Lazio Play Super Cup

After having played earlier this week due to their Super Cup commitment, Juventus travel to Riyadh to face Lazio, the only team to have inflicted defeat upon them so far this season. Meanwhile, Roma were generous guests on Friday night as they showered Fiorentina with four goals in Florence, in a match that has been dubbed in recent years as the "Batistuta Derby."

Serie A Round Recap: Fiorentina Hold Inter, Lazio Send Message

In a week where Aurelio De Laurentiis outdid himself, Inter managed to fall out of the Champions League despite playing Barcelona’s combined, almost B-Team, and Lazio managed to keep up with the leading pack, it’s been an entertaining seven days in Belpaese. Let's take a look at what happened in last weekend's Serie A match-ups.

Rifinitura: Milan Celebrate Birthday as Genoa Host Derby

After some bitter-sweet results by Italian clubs in the mid-week European competitions, we turn our focus to this weekend’s Round 16 of Serie A, which includes some exciting match-ups in the week of Milan's celebration of their 120th anniversary. The famously-dubbed Derby della Lanterna between Genoa and Sampdoria will be the main course of the program.

Assi di Coppe: Inter Miss UCL Knockout Stages Train

This weeks’ Champions League roundup sees three Italian sides through the knockout stages but perhaps not exactly the teams you’d expected. Inter went into the game against Barcelona knowing that only a win would aid them in their attempts to progress, but a weakened Spanish eleven offered no solace to the Nerazzurri's hopes of European qualification.

Throwback Thursday: Kazu Miura’s Stamp on the Genoa Derby

The first Japanese player to ever set foot in Serie A was Kazuyoshi “Kazu” Miura. Before Hideyoshi Nakata and Shunsuke Nakamura, before Takayuki Morimoto and Yuto Nagatomo, there was this little-known son of the Rising Sun who played for the Rossoblu side of Genoa in the 1994-95 season. Miura tallied 21 presences and 1 goal only - but oh, what a goal that was.

Assi di Coppe: Atalanta’s Champions League Masterpiece

Two infinite minutes. That’s how long it took for the referee to check Alejandro Gomez’s position on a pass by Robin Gosens, before ruling that El Papu was not in offside when he served Timothy Castagne an assist for the goal that propelled Atalanta into history. La Dea qualified to the Champions League knockout stage after trailing Shakhtar Donetsk 3-0.