Serie A Team of the Week – Round 1

papu

The first round had few surprises, let’s take a look at the best performers.

Andrea Consigli (7 points): four teams kept a clean sheet, only Roma among the top clubs but Robin Olsen did not have a great debut, then SPAL and Empoli, so Alfred Gomis and Pietro Terracciano, two back-up goalie on paper, earned the same amount of points as Sassuolo’s #1. Consigli gets the nod because he had the most difficult match-up and preserved the result late with an exceptional diving save on a close-range header.

Hans Hateboer (9 points): he joined the party in Bergamo scoring the second goal of the contest by sneaking behind the defence on the far post and punching in a perfect assist from the opposite flank.

Felipe (6 points): a solid first game for the SPAL’s back-line, which still had last year’s configuration since the newcomers Johan Djourou and Kevin Bonifazi were sidelined by injuries and Lorenco Simic was not fielded initially. The trio had no troubles controlling Bologna’s attackers and Felipe assisted Jasmin Kurtic’s superb strike, but the midfielder did most, if not all, of the work there.

Giovanni Di Lorenzo (5 points): several defenders garnered five points thanks to a clean sheet. Empoli’s right back performed in the top league with the same confidence he showed last year, powering down the flank at will and delivering a pair of interesting crosses.

Giangiacomo Magnani (5 points): a meteoric rise for the youngsters, who started last season at Siracusa in Serie C, moved to Perugia in Serie B in January, was signed by Juventus in the summer and then sent to Sassuolo. He will likely head to the bench once Marcelo Lemos recovers and Marlon is ready, in the meantime he held his own against Mauro Icardi and Lautaro Martinez.

Jasmin Kurtic (6 points): he was given way too much space considering he is a good shooter, but he bagged an absolute bomb on Sunday, where everything was spot on, from the preparation to the stroke to the trajectory. On top of that, it was the game-winning goal in a Derby.

Emanuele Giaccherini (6 points): a dazzling performance for the winger, who stood out on a pitch full of speedsters. He gave Joao Cancelo fits, but most importantly he made his touches count since Chievo did not have many chances to attack. He found Mariusz Stepinski with a beautiful right-footed delivery and then won a penalty fooling the Portuguese right back, which he coolly converted.

Rade Krunic (6 points): he seemed set to move to Torino this summer, but Empoli managed to keep him and he did not disappoint in the first outing, pouncing on a deflected square ball and beating Alessio Cragno from an angled position.

Alejandro Gomez (14 points): a dazzling performance by Papu, who dominated the game against Frosinone and basically single-handedly defeated the opponents since he scored a brace and assisted the other two goals.

Federico Bernardeschi (4 points): he had a sensational impact on Saturday’s game, proving to be way more effective than Juan Cuadrado. He sent in the corner kick that led to the 2-2 own goal by Mattia Bani and then tucked in Alex Sandro’s perfect delivery.

Domenico Berardi (4 points): a vintage performance for the winger, who once again stayed at Sassuolo. Inter had a tough time limiting his flurries, both on the right flank or cutting back. He looks rejuvenated by Roberto De Zerbi’s approach and scored a penalty with a little luck, but that can be challenging when Samir Handanovic is between the sticks.

Do you have what it takes to challenge the best Serie A Fantasy Managers? If you’re for it play seriea-fantasy.com now!

To leave a comment, you must be logged into www.eurofantasyleague.com