Bari-Foggia: When Teams Don’t Switch Sides

Bari, Foggia, Serie B, Sting Like a B
Some Italian regional derbies are even more fiery than the most renown city clashes. That is the case of Bari-Foggia, aka the Derby d’Apulia, where rivalry between the fan bases from the two biggest cities in the Southern Region of Apulia is so harsh, that it once prompted the referee to order teams not to switch sides at half time – to prevent supporters from both clubs from throwing objects at their rival goalies.
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Rifinitura: Chancy Away Tests for Inter and Napoli

AC Milan, Atalanta, Benevento, Bologna, Cagliari, Chievo Verona, Crotone, Fiorentina, Genoa, Hellas Verona, Inter Milan, Juventus, Lazio, Napoli, Parma, Rifinitura, Roma, Sampdoria, Sassuolo, Serie A, Spal, Torino, Udinese
Round 14 of Serie A will not feature any big match. Yet, top ranking Inter and Napoli should better not underestimate their away games in Cagliari and Udine. A recent coach change did bring some benefits to the Islanders, whereas Udinese will see their new trainer Massimo Oddo debut tomorrow. Juventus have good chances of reducing their gap with the lead as they face Crotone at home.
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Assi di Coppe: Atalanta Advances by Playing Pokerissimo

AC Milan, Assi di Coppe, Atalanta, Champions League, Europa League, European Cups, Juventus, Lazio, Napoli, Roma
We are running out of adjectives to describe Atalanta’s sensational European campaign: Gian Piero Gasperini’s Nerazzurri had started their run in Europa League Group E with a clear 3-0 home win against Everton. Last night, they secured their presence in the Round of 32 after humiliating again the Toffees with a fabulous pokerissimo – five goals scored at Wayne Rooney’s home.
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Bar Sport: Napoli Secures Lead for One More Week

AC Milan, Bar Sport, Napoli, Serie A, Uncategorized
Napoli won again, maintaining the leadership of Serie A for at least one more week. The Partenopei beat AC Milan 2-1, showing a less shining and sparkling football than usual, due to a courageous and well-trained opponent side. As claimed by coach Maurizio Sarri, Saturday night at San Paolo Napoli played a slightly atypical game for their standards: For the first time this season, his boys finished with a less ball possession than their opponents.
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Federchaos! Italian Football President Tavecchio Quits

FIGC, Italy, Tavecchio, The Azzurri
He grasped onto his position despite the shame of Italy failing to qualify for the next World Cup, but in the end he had to take the step back that most Italians were asking him to take. Carlo Tavecchio called it quit today and resigned as President of FIGC – The Italian Football Federation, aka Federcalcio, at the end of an urgent advisory board meeting where he had to acknowledge that he no longer had the majority of it on his side.
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Insigne Inspires, Zielinski Zaps: Napoli Tops Milan 2-1

AC Milan, Napoli, Serie A One comment
As soon as he stepped foot on the pitch again, Lorenzo Insigne didn’t wait a minute to spark more regrets at his missed deployment in the Italy-Sweden World Cup Playoff. The boy from Frattamaggiore scored the first goal last night, before Piotr Zielinksi doubled the lead to help Napoli top Milan 2-1 and retain their Serie A lead, regardless of the outcome of the remaining matches from Round 13.
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Rifinitura: Rome Derby, Napoli-Milan in Post-Apocalypse Weekend

AC Milan, Atalanta, Benevento, Bologna, Cagliari, Chievo Verona, Crotone, Fiorentina, Genoa, Hellas Verona, Inter Milan, Juventus, Lazio, Napoli, Rifinitura, Roma, Sampdoria, Sassuolo, Serie A, Spal, Torino, Udinese
Now that the worst has happened – to quote Federcalcio President Carlo Tavecchio, who a few weeks ago had prophetically cautioned that failing to qualify for the World Cup would be comparable to an apocalypse – it’s up to Serie A to alleviate the pain of a Country which suddenly woke up with the nightmare of having to make alternate plans for next Summer. Calcio lovers will have a rich program in Round 13 to drown their pain in.
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When Odds Are Beat: Two Historical Lazio-Roma Derby

Lazio, Roma, Serie A
The Derby della Capitale between Lazio and Roma is arguably the most hotly contested in Italian football. The fierce rivalry between the two banks of the Tiber river calls for no quarter, and the outcome of such a game is never an easy one to determine. In preparation for tonight’s match, The Cult of Calcio relives two famous editions of the stracittadina (“inter-city match”) when odds were beat, and the underdog unexpectedly came out as winner.
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Russian Roulette: Azzurri, It’s Over! Italy Misses World Cup Pass

Italy, Russian Roulette, The Azzurri, World Cup 2018
When preparing to deliver the very last corner kick in Italy-Sweden, just moments before referee Mateu Lahoz blew the final whistle, Alessandro Florenzi kissed the ball. He put all his hopes, as well as one nation’s hopes, into that ball. It didn’t work. The Swedish fort held a few seconds more, and the score remained set on 0-0. Italy failed to overturn their 0-1 loss from three days ago in Solna, and missed the last train to Russia.
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Bar Sport: What’s Going On, Mr. Ventura?

Bar Sport, Italy, The Azzurri, World Cup 2018
What’s going on, Mr. Ventura? We are talking about last night, of course, as we are not sure what happened. For the full time of our match against Sweden, the verve was missing among the Azzurri. We simply appeared weak, confused, and disorganized. Italy forgot they were Italy – and, what’s worse - it looked like they also forgot that chances to make it to World Cup 2018 were at stake.
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Russian Roulette: Azzurri Fate Hangs by Thread After 0-1 Loss

Italy, Russian Roulette, The Azzurri, World Cup 2018
Italy lost 0-1 to Sweden in the first leg of their World Cup playoff match, making their road to Russia extremely complicated. While the goal that put the Suedes ahead originated from a Daniele De Rossi’s unfortunate deflection on a shot by Jakob Johansson, the Azzurri never gave the impression of being able to pose any real threat to the opponents’ goal.
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