Serie A Injury and Suspension Report – Round Six

Atalanta: Marten De Roon strained the adductor in his left thigh and will sit out the next two matches. Cristiano Piccini picked up a similar issue while trying to gain some shape. Robin Gosens is out with a late calf problem. 

Benevento: Iago Falque and Federico Barba will stay on the mend with their physical issues, while Gabriel Moncini returned midweek. 

Bologna: Federico Santander underwent reconstructive surgery on the right knee after spraining it midweek and will return in the Spring. Among their injured players, Gary Medel (calf) is the closest to recovering, but he might need another week. Andreas Skov Olsen (back) and Andrea Poli (fibula) could return after the second international break. Ibrahima Mbaye (thigh) and Nicola Sansone (hip) are late scratches.  Continue reading

Serie A Best Fantasy XI – Round 31

Alessio Cragno (7 points): offenses generally bested defenses in the last matchday, so the clean sheets were numbered. It took him a minute, but the Cagliari goalie is finally looking like his old self and saved the day late with a great leap on a Christian Kouame header that was destined to the top corner.

Rafael Toloi (9 points): he often picked up assists this season and he has become an integral part of the Atalanta offense, but he had to go the extra mile against Sampdoria, as he bagged a perfectly executed thumping header to finally make the opponents late. Continue reading

Serie A Injury and Suspension Report – Round 25

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Juventus: Sami Khedira underwent a heart ablation with an arrhythmogenic atrial focus and will miss a minimum of one month. Emre Can is suspended. Douglas Costa remains questionable with the quad injury that has forced to skip the last few games.

Napoli: Lorenzo Insigne is disqualified, while Mario Rui has slim chances to return from a thigh pull.

Inter: Mauro Icardi took some tests this week, which revealed no structural damage on his achy knee, but he is still poised to be unavailable this week amid the standoff with the managament. Balde Keita is having a hard time shaking off a thigh strain. Continue reading

Serie A Weekly News Recap

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The transfer market rages on and few deals were completed this week: none this summer will be bigger than the blockbuster transfer of Cristiano Ronaldo to Juventus. Jorginho and Maurizio Sarri reunites at Chelsea. Lazio acquired Francesco Acerbi from Sassuolo and sent Felipe Anderson to West Ham, while Atalanta signed Duvan Zapata from Sampdoria. The Blucerchiati also sold Lucas Torreira to Arsenal.

A new chapter in the Milan’s ownership saga: Yonghong Li did not re-pay the latest €32M loan by Elliott, the negotiations for a last-minute sale have collapsed and the hedge fund has officially taken over and is assembling the new management. Continue reading

Serie A Game of the Week – Round 27: Crotone vs Lazio

Soccer: Serie A; Crotone-Lazio

Rather unsurprisingly, the best match of the last round was one of the few were both teams had something to fight for: Crotone-Lazio, which was exhilarating up until the final whistle.

The Sharks came into the game looking to atone for last week’s tough loss to a direct rival, Chievo Verona. On the other hand, the Biancocelesti had not lost since late February and were coming off a draw with Atalanta.  Continue reading

Serie A Fantasy Recap – Round 37

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Welcome to the second edition of the Serie A recap.

Standings implications. Juventus are now mathematically champions, but there was no doubt about that following the previous weekend’s results. Roma had already locked up a Champions League berth before even playing thanks to Inter’s loss. The undermanned Lazio salvaged a point in Crotone and have now a three-point margin heading into next week’s showdown with the Nerazzurri. Milan qualified to Europa League, Atalanta almost certainly because they hold a three point and seven-score advantage in the goal difference over Fiorentina. Sampdoria are out of the running. Next week’s games will determine who will have to go through the exhausting playoffs starting in July. Continue reading