Soccer Made in Italy

Inter–Napoli was exactly the match Italian football needed at a time when the game desperately needs stories and heroes. Football is going through a major transition, one in which its very future as a mass-market spectacle is under discussion. In the era of reels and shorts, with attention spans and interest eroded by habits shaped […]

While Chivu comes into the head-to-head clash with a +4 cushion and a full-strength squad at his disposal, Conte’s Napoli are ravaged by injuries and are putting all their faith in Højlund. Antonio Conte was harshly criticized a few days ago for pointing out the structural differences between his Napoli and Italy’s historic top clubs—Juventus,

Matchday 19 of Serie A completely wiped out home advantage: no home wins at all—something that had happened only three other times before. It was supposed to be a “quiet” transitional round for the teams at the top of the table, with eyes already on Sunday’s blockbuster at San Siro between Inter and Napoli and

Inter, Milan and Napoli: a brutal run of three matches in seven days starts today, due to the rescheduled Matchday 16, which could already prove decisive. It’s only early January, yet the feeling is that the season is about to enter a potentially decisive phase in the Scudetto race. Matchday 19, the final round of

Matchday 18 of Serie A goes into the books by consolidating established certainties, confirming trends and sidestepping surprises. It’s no longer news that Allegri’s Milan grind out another “short snout” win, unbeaten in 16 straight league matches and now fully reshaped—especially in their solidity—in the image and likeness of their coach. It’s no longer news—and

After De Rossi’s return to Rome last week, which closed out 2025, Matchday 18 opens 2026 with the evocative return of Gasperini to Bergamo, where he changed the history of La Dea. Before Gasp, Atalanta were used to fighting and suffering, bouncing back and forth between Serie A and Serie B. A decade with the

Højlund and Nkunku carry Napoli and Milan with their braces, Lautaro fires Inter to the top. There was a time in football when the No. 9 seemed obsolete. It was the late 2000s, Guardiola’s Barça were setting the standard, winning everything under the mantra “our No. 9 is space,” and his most loyal followers were

The cover story of Serie A Matchday 17 is just one: Daniele De Rossi comes home as an opponent. With Genoa. With wounded pride. With a heart that, for the first time, must learn to stay silent. There are matches that don’t need introductions, because they speak for themselves. And then there are others that

Just a month and a half after the defeat at the Dall’Ara, which had looked like it could become an unhealable wound for the Partenopei, Napoli get their revenge on Bologna and lift the Supercoppa in Riyadh. Less than six weeks have passed, yet it feels like a lifetime ago. It was November 9 when,

Good morning, happy Monday, and happy Smith coffee to everyone.While we wait for tonight’s Supercoppa final between Napoli and Bologna in Riyadh, this Monday column is dedicated to Gian Piero Gasperini’s Roma — still attractive to watch, but unable to truly dance when it matters most. Against Juventus in Turin, Roma suffered yet another defeat