Hellas Verona continues to surprise under Ivan Juric

Since returning to the top flight in 2019, Hellas Verona has established itself as one of Italy’s most compact sides, surprising Italy’s giants at every turn. Ivan Juric has done a wonderful job in Verona, leading the side to unprecedented heights. Just last season, Hellas Verona was in an unlikely race for Europa League football, up until the latter stages of the year. They still managed to finish in the top half of the table in their first season back in the top flight – an impressive feat on its own.

Many expected them to take a step back this season after the departures of key men, but Juric’s side has shown no signs of slowing down. After all, Marash Kumbulla joined Roma while Sofyan Amrabat returned to Fiorentina – two of the side’s most important players last season.

Despite their departures, Hellas Verona has picked up from where exactly they left off last year, attempting to consolidate itself in the top half of the table. What is perhaps most remarkable is their record against Italy’s top six. Hellas Verona has demonstrated they can compete with Italy’s best clubs, holding Roma, Milan, and Juventus to a draw, all-while beating Atalanta and Lazio.

Hellas Verona’s success largely lies in their tactical discipline and overall commitment to Juric’s system. The Croatian tactician deploys his men in a 3-4-2-1 of sorts, with both wingbacks playing a crucial role both in and out of possession. Hellas Verona has proven to be incredibly difficult to break down thus far, conceding a mere 14 goals on the season.

Marco Silvestri plays a large part in this, organizing Hellas Verona’s rearguard from between the posts. The Italian shot-stopper remains one of Italy’s most underrated goalkeepers, offering Juric a safe pair of hands. Silvestri has often proved to be the difference for Hellas Verona in tight games, making sensational saves to keep them in it.

Koray Gunter is another integral piece to Juric’s puzzle, occupying the central position of the back three. The German has stepped up since Kumbulla’s departure, excelling at the heart of the defense. Summer arrival Mert Cetin has also impressed in his four appearances this season, but it is Matteo Lovato that has established himself as a starter.

The 20-year-old spent last season on loan with Padova and has made the step up to the top flight look a seamless one. Lovato has since been linked with a number of Italy’s giants, including Juventus and Inter. Despite his inexperience, the former Padova man exudes calmness in possession and can go toe-to-toe with imposing strikers. Between Gunter, Lovato, and Silvestri, Hellas Verona’s defense is as resolute as they come.

In many ways, however, it is Juric’s ability to keep them motivated week in, week out, that makes the difference. The Croatian international is Hellas Verona’s X Factor and will be eager to continue leading them into new territory. Atalanta and Sassuolo may steal the headlines and acclaim from calcio’s neutrals, but make no mistake about it, Hellas Verona’s rise has been just as compelling.

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Serie A Fantasy Player of the Week: Gaetano Castrovilli

Fiorentina has been a talent hub in recent seasons, producing a number of top quality players from its youth academy. La Viola has not shied away from giving young players a platform to shine and have reaped the rewards, selling their stars for significant transfer fees. Most recently, Federico Chiesa made the move to Juventus for a reported fee of 50 million euros, leaving a gaping hole in the final third for Beppe Iachini’s men. Gaetano Castrovilli has since stepped up wonderfully in Chiesa’s absence leading Fiorentina to a narrow win over Udinese.

As a result of his man-of-the-match performance, Castrovilli is our Serie A fantasy player of the week.

Gaetano Castrovilli vs. Udinese: 

Goals: 2

Assists: 1

Fantacalcio points: 15

Castrovilli was deployed on the left-hand side of the midfield three, alongside Sofyan Amrabat and Giacomo Bonaventura. The Italian international excelled from this role and got forward to devastating effect against Udinese. Castrovilli opened up the scoring shortly after the ten-minute mark, connecting wonderfully with Cristiano Biraghi. The Viola midfielder made a late, unmarked run into the box and quickly pounced on Biraghi’s cut-back into the box.

Castrovilli’s impressive passing range was on display for Fiorentina’s second goal when the midfielder found himself in space with the ball at his feet. The 23-year-old scanned his options and delivered an inch-perfect cross to a welcoming Nikola Milenkovic. The towering defender headed home with ease into an empty net, doubling Fiorentina’s lead.

Castrovilli would not be done there and was once again at the heart of the action after Udinese pulled one back via Stefano Okaka. This time around, Castrovilli picked up possession deep into midfield and drove forward at the Udinese rearguard at will. The 24-year-old spread possession wide to Biraghi and unmarked himself at the top of the box. Castrovilli wasted no time with the ball at his feet and fired a curling effort into the top corner, and put the tie to bed. Once again, the midfielder demonstrated he is capable of adding end product to his repertoire and he can take the game to the opposition.

Last season, Castrovilli showed glimpses of his potential and dazzled with the ball at his feet, but often left a lot to be desired at the final step. This season has been a completely different story for the young midfielder. In fact, Castrovilli has already surpassed last season’s tally of three goals, already registering four on the season. In addition, the 24-year-old has demonstrated he is ready for a new challenge and is ready to emerge as a crucial piece to Iachini’s setup, even in Chiesa’s absence.

The Juventus man played an integral role in Fiorentina’s attack last season, but Castrovilli’s recent emergence is encouraging. While the two players occupy very different positions, Castrovilli has shown he can contribute significantly to the side’s attack and is ready to become a creative force in the final third.

Fiorentina will now shift their attention to Padova in the third round of the Coppa Italia before taking on Roma next weekend. For now, Castrovilli is your Serie A fantasy player of the week for matchday five.

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Serie A Injury and Suspension Report – Round One

Bologna: Gary Medel is suspended and is also recovering from a grade one strain in the semimembranosus muscle on the right thigh, therefore he could miss week two as well.

Cagliari: Luca Ceppitelli, Filip Bradaric and Kiril Despodov are quarantining after catching COVID-19 in late August. Gaston Pereiro suffered a fifth metatarsal fracture in the right foot about two weeks ago and he has a 45-day timetable. Alessandro Deiola is recovering from a clean-up surgery on the right knee he had during his time at Lecce. Continue reading

Serie A Fantasy Recap – Round 36

Standings implications: Juventus did not squander the second chance to wrap up the title race and took home the ninth Scudetto in a row with a two-nil win against Sampdoria. Inter leapfrogged Atalanta in second position with a comfortable win over Genoa, while the Goddess shared the spoils with Milan. Roma gained two points over the Rossoneri in the race to the fifth spot as they topped Fiorentina. Napoli helped those two team out by defeating Sassuolo in a bizarro game and there are no longer doubts regarding who will qualify to Europa League, it is just a matter of positioning. Parma eked out one in Brescia. With Lecce losing to Bologna in heart-breaking fashion, everybody is safe besides Genoa, even tough Torino could not beat SPAL, while Udinese bested Cagliari.

Continue reading

Serie A Injuries and Suspensions Report – Round 35

Atalanta: Hans Hateboer is suspended, while Josip Ilicic again was left out to work on his conditioning.

Bologna: Mitchell Dijks is disqualified, Jerdy Schouten (thigh) remains sidelined.

Brescia: Nikolas Spalek is out due to yellow-card accumulation, Simon Skrabb is questionable with a bruised ankle. Jesse Joronen returned in the last game. Time is running out for Andrea Cistana. Continue reading

Serie A Injury and Supension Report – Round 31

Atalanta: José Palomino is suspended.

Bologna: Roberto Soriano was red-carded in the last game and has been suspended for two matches. Gary Medel was a late scratch for the last game due to back spasm, but he is in the squad list. Ibrahima Mbaye and Andreas Skov Olsen (thigh) recovered enough to be called up. Andrea Poli and Federico Santander are nursing thigh strains.

Brescia: Andrea Cistana (lower leg surgery), Jhon Chancellor (thigh) and Dimitri Bisoli (patellar tendon) remain sidelined, Emanuele Ndoj and Enrico Alfonso are questionable.  Continue reading

Serie A Final Weekly Transfer Market Recap

Fiorentina was the most active team over the last few days and signed a quality fivesome: Alfred Duncan from Sassuolo, Igor from SPAL, Christian Kouame and Kevin Agudelo from Genoa and Sofyan Amrabat from Verona. Duncan, purchased for €15M, has been pretty steady over the last four years at Sassuolo, but his playing time has been limited recently due to a tactical switch that did not suit his traits. He is known commodity and can contribute at both ends. Agudelo had a hot stretch under Thiago Motta, flashing very intriguing playmaking and potential, but fell on the wayside with Davide Nicola. He can play all over the formation offensively and probably projects as very offensive box-to-box. He joined on an 18-month loan with conditioned obligation to buy. They will add some much-needed dynamism to the Viola’s midfield, who had nobody behind Gaetano Castrovilli and Marco Benassi. Igor has been a day-one starter with the Estensi after coming over RB Salzburg in the summer, has had some ups-and-down but is still young. The Gigliati lacked a left-footed centre-back for their three-man line, so Igor could challenge Martin Caceres to play there. Continue reading

Serie A Injury and Suspension Report – Round 18

Atalanta: Duvan Zapata has resumed practicing fully after his complicate thigh injury and he is fully expected to be available against Parma, but the capacity remains to be determined. Pierluigi Gollini is dealing with the flu.

Bologna: Blerin Dzemaili is under the weather and is out, Federico Santander has recovered from a tibia bruise, while Ladislav Krejci will likely miss another one with a sore knee.

Brescia: Alfredo Donnarumma and Emanuele Ndoj are on the wrong side of questionable due to muscular problems. Bruno Martella joined the long list of sick players this week.  Continue reading

Serie A Fantasy Preview – Round 14

Juventus-Sassuolo: Cristiano Ronaldo came back midweek and now it will be interesting to see whether or not he will be load managed in Serie A player after the knee injury. Nevertheless, Gonzalo Higuain and Paulo Dybala have been excellent in relief and have been able to contribute also when coming off the bench in their standard configuration. Douglas Costa got hurt again, which takes away their most explosive option at no.10, so it will Federico Bernardeschi and Aaron Ramsey running the show there for a while, but they both have not done damage in a while. Ramsey has the most upside in the duo. Khedira is fading and, while Rodrigo Bentancur and Blaise Matuidi are serviceable contributors, they are not strong fantasy options. It could be instead the right kind of match-up for Miralem Pjanic to have a meaningful offensive role, while Juan Cuadrado has been a pretty good fullback for a while now. Continue reading

Serie A Weekly Transfer Market Recap

A tranquil week on the transfer market, as the team gear up for their Serie A debut and for the final torrid days of the session, but it still included some meaningful transfers especially among the minnows. The biggest signings were made of by Fiorentina, which convinced Franck Ribery, and Napoli that found their new offensive weapon in Hirving Lozano.

Roma instead added Davide Zappacosta on an initial six-month loan from Chelsea, with an option to extend it until the end of the season. Continue reading