Race for the Scudetto

In the lead up until the end of the season, there is now eight games to go in the Serie A season. In what has been a tightly contested season between three teams, it looks to be coming down to the wire for the scudetto.

In first place, sit Milan on 66 points, second is Napoli on 63 points, and in third is Inter on 60 points with a game in hand on the others. Milan will want to bring home a first title since the 2010/11 season, while Inter are looking to retain their crown, this time under Simone Inzaghi. Napoli have not tasted scudetto success since the 1989/90 season.

For Milan, it is all about holding position and winning their remaining eight games, though that is easier said than done as they still need to face teams like Atalanta, Fiorentina and Sassuolo, who have proven tough tests for the Rossoneri recently. Both Fiorentina and Sassuolo beat them in their first meetings of the season, so may prove to be tricky games for Milan. But how they would love to be able to sit atop Italian Football once again and truly make a statement after so many years of struggle.

For Inter, beating Juventus this weekend is vital for their chances, but also so Juventus do not overtake them in the table. But ever since they lost the Milan derby, Inter seem to have struggled a little, slipping up in games you would not expect them to. With the international break over though, it may have given the players a good enough break to be rejuvenated towards the end of the season and make the one last push towards the title.

Napoli, their next three games against, Atalanta, Fiorentina and Roma will prove pivotal in the outcome of their title charge. Win all three, then they put themselves in a good position with the final five games being winnable from their point of view. However, drop points in these games, and they could see their title dream disappear and hope that both Milan clubs drop points as well.

Now a possible fourth contender has emerged late into the season, this being Juventus. After a slow start they seem to have found their feet under Allegri and have now got themselves a single point off Inter, and if they win, they could leapfrog Inter into third. Being only seven points behind league leaders Milan is thoroughly impressive after the rocky start they suffered. Inter vs Juventus will be a huge game with massive title implications embedded.

So, it will certainly be worth watching to see what eventuates out of this. The question becomes, will it become a four-horse race for the title? Will the Scudetto return to Milan? If so, which side of Milan? Or will we see Napoli win their first title in over 30 years?

Source: https://icdn.juvefc.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/scudetto2.jpg

EURO 2020 FINAL REVIEW

EUROPEAN FOOTBALL

10 JULY 2021 | Angelo Ziovas

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Italy v England

After a month-long tournament of 50 games being played, we are down to the final 2 of 24 teams of Euro 2020. The tournament has been brilliant but there can only one winner. Italy and England will face each other in the final for the right to be champions of Europe.

Italy, having only won one European Championship ever, all the way back in 1968, will be looking to break their European duck after 53 years, and 9 years after their last Euros final appearance where they were beaten heavily 4-0 by Spain, this Italian side has shown great qualities and looked hungry to win this year.

Roberto Mancini has managed to get Italy to this final only conceding 3 goals and continuing the amazing run of unbeaten games to 33 games, 28 of those games being wins and only 5 draws. Traditionally the Italian teams have been known to score a goal and then sit back and defend, this side is happy to score more should they need to and was certainly evident in their games in the tournament. They have also proved they can beat higher quality teams as that is something people had questioned after the group stage as they have beaten both Belgium and Spain en route to the final and looked good in both displays.

For the Italians, the injury of Leonardo Spinazzola did hurt them a little against Spain and will be interesting to see how they handle the loss of him in the final as he has been key up until his injury for Italy. Lorenzo Insigne will be key for Italy as he has been throughout the tournament, showing his quality scoring the goal that proved to be the winner against Belgium. Nicolo Barella has also been needed going forward as he has contributed well going forward while Bonucci and Chiellini will need to be prepared against the pacy attackers of the English.

In a similar vein to Italy, this could be England’s first European Championship win in history, however unlike Italy, the last time they won a major tournament was in 1966 when they lifted the world cup.

The English defence has been the talking point of their run to the final as they have only conceded 1 goal, which was from a free kick, meaning they still have yet to concede from open play. With that stat they will have confidence going into the final, believing that they can get through Italy who have yet to not score a goal in a Euros game this year. England will most certainly look to their attackers to try and outpace the Italian defence as they have shown to do so throughout the tournament.

Luke Shaw will prove crucial as he has been dangerous going down the left side of the pitch as he is joint 2nd on the assists chart, he will be looking to add to that and will be key to any attack England make. Harry Kane is another that has been quality throughout the tournament scoring 4 goals, where 2 more will take him into top scorer of Euro 2020.

Italy have never lost to England in a major tournament, with their last win coming in the group stage of the 2014 world cup. But, like Italy, England are unbeaten in their last 12 international matches, only drawing once and conceding just 2 goals. This game will most likely not see a lot of goals, possibly no goals and we see it go to penalties. The last time that happened was 2012 Euros where Italy went through on that occasion, however, as we have seen this year, the team who have won the previous game on penalties has not come out victorious in their next game. If the game goes to penalties, it may be advantage England as the Italians have come off the semi-final, winning that game on penalties.

Possible line up for Italy:

Donnarumma; Di Lorenzo, Bonucci, Chiellini, Emerson; Jorginho, Barella, Verratti; Chiesa, Immobile, Insigne

Possible line up for England:

Pickford; Walker, Stones, Maguire, Shaw; Rice, Phillips; Saka, Mount, Sterling; Kane

EURO 2020 SEMI FINAL GAME PREVIEW

EUROPEAN FOOTBALL

06 JULY 2021 | Angelo Ziovas

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Italy v Spain

With the semi finals almost here, a massive clash between two European heavyweights’ looms. Italy v Spain who both made it to the final of Euro 2012, which on that occasion Spain won by annihilating Italy 4-0 on their way to a back-to-back Euros triumph.

The roles however seem to have slightly changed with Italy having gone an incredible 32 games unbeaten, and have only conceded two goals in the tournament, one of which was a penalty. Spain have gone unbeaten in 13 games however, but in the tournament thus far have been hit or miss in front of goal, as they have been lethal against Croatia and Slovakia, but not so great against Sweden, Switzerland and Poland. They seem to struggle to break teams down, and that is something that they will have to do against Italy to stand a chance at going through to the final.

Italy gained a measure of revenge when they beat Spain in the round of 16 of the next Euro tournament, Euro 2016. Facing each other again in the knockout stages, they will both be keen to get a win over one another and advance to the final.

Italy were rather impressive in their win against Belgium and once again proved very difficult to break down, so while the Spanish may get most of the possession, Italy will be dangerous on the counter attack. But both teams have also scored the most goals at the tournament with 12 for Spain and 11 for Italy, but with Italy scoring in every game they’ve played of Euro 2020, Spain have been kept out once however, so will be interesting to see how both teams approach this game.