Category: Italy Serie A

Inspired by the legendary Milan sides of his youth, the manager gave his side a lift with a tactical victory over Inter

Ruben Amorim had waited a lifetime for his first Milan derby. As a kid growing up in Lisbon, he supported two football teams. There was the local one, Benfica, whose games he attended so early in life that his father has recalled changing nappies in the stands of the old Estádio da Luz. And the other one that captivated him from overseas.

“I remember watching tapes of that Milan team with [Paolo] Maldini, [Franco] Baresi, [Ruud] Gullit, [Frank] Rijkaard, [Dejan] Savicevic,” Amorim told Portuguese newspaper Expresso back in 2017. “My childhood dreams were to play for Benfica and Milan. I’ve fulfilled one. Now I suppose I’ll have to become a coach for the other!”

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• Bellingham and Diomandé complete 3-0 win over Racing

• Lazio top Serie A after fighting back to beat Cagliari

Kylian Mbappé moved on from a tumultuous week by scoring a penalty to help Real Madrid win 3-0 at Racing Santander on Sunday.

The French forward narrowly lost out on the Ballon d’Or to Bayern Munich’s Harry Kane on Monday and then had to apologise after a social media storm following a video in which he joked about the former Chinese leader Mao Zedong.

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• Bayern Munich held to 2-2 draw after Silva equaliser

• Barcelona on top of La Liga after thrashng Alaves

The Ballon d’Or winner Harry Kane missed a penalty and hit the post for ⁠Bayern Munich as Borussia Dortmund snatched a last-gasp equaliser through Fabio Silva for a 2-2 draw ⁠in Der Klassiker on ⁠Saturday ​that kept the teams level on points at the top.

Kane, who collected his prize in a ceremony ⁠in London on Monday, was an unused substitute in the 6-1 German Cup second-round demolition of Magdeburg on Wednesday ⁠but returned to the starting lineup on Saturday, missing from the spot with Bayern 1-0 up. He also hit ​the post, one of four ‌times Bayern struck ‌the woodwork. Silva snatched the equaliser in the 89th minute to leave both ‌teams on 18 points, with Bayern top on goal difference.

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Home crowds have plummeted amid a dispute with the owner, but 10,000 travelled 300km to see Tuesday’s 6-2 win

Serie A had its second scoreless draw of the season on Wednesday evening. Parma and Udinese were the culprits, though perhaps they can be allowed some grace. The game was not short on incident, Maduka Okoye saving a penalty for the Friulians, who had been on a six-game losing streak, midway through the second half. Mariano Troilo made a goalline clearance for Parma soon after.

An open, end-to-end game was made to look drab in the context of this bonkers campaign. While Parma and Udinese stymied one another at the Tardini, Milan came from behind to lead Bologna at San Siro. And then collapsing to a 4-2 defeat.

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• Kane gets guard of honour before 6-1 win over Magdeburg

• Serie A: Inter sink Venezia, Milan lose at home to Bologna

Bayern Munich sailed to a 6-1 win over second-tier Magdeburg in the DFB-Pokal after their head coach, Vincent Kompany, was discharged from hospital earlier on Wednesday.

Kompany’s assistant, Aaron Danks, was in the dugout for Bayern for the last-32 tie, while Harry Kane was rested. The Ballon d’Or winner received a guard of honour from his teammates before kick-off in front of 75,000 fans at the Allianz Arena.

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Gli Azzurri show positive signs of improvement in seesaw 3-3 draw against a Roma side inspired by Messi-like Matías Soulé

Scott McTominay was leaving nothing to doubt. He appeared to have scored with a close-range header early in the second half of Napoli’s game at home to Roma, but Pierluigi Gollini clawed the ball out from inside the goal. McTominay got his noggin to the rebound, nudging it back across the line. Roma’s keeper pushed away again, so the Napoli midfielder got to his feet and smashed a shot into the back of the net.

Just typical. You wait two months for your first goal of the Serie A season, then three show up at once. They only counted for one, of course, but McTominay looked happy enough with that as he ran to thank Matteo Politano for the assist.

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Manager’s latest setback exposed growing doubts about his squad and his approach as Davide Nicola began his Venezia tenure with a remarkable win

“I’ll love you even if you win,” promised the Venezia supporter’s banner. More gallows humour from a fanbase that proved long ago that its relationship with the club could survive a defeat. They had endured six already in the first six rounds of this Serie A season: the only team in the division without a winor even a single point.

The last time they were in Serie A, in 2024-25, Venezia finished 19th. The time before that, in 2021-22, they finished bottom. Deja vu all over again? A 3-1 defeat to Atalanta in the first game back after this month’s international break pushed Venezia to a breaking point. The club fired the manager Giovanni Stroppa, who had led them to the Serie B title and promotion the previous season.

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• Lamine Yamal opens scoring in ninth straight win

• Luis Díaz hat-trick helps Bayern thump RB Leipzig 6-1

Barcelona’s La Liga juggernaut rolled into Seville on Saturday and left with the scoreboard smoking, as the leaders beat Real Betis 5-2 to make it ⁠nine wins from nine, ⁠stretching their blistering league ​goal tally to 39.

Lamine Yamal lit the fuse with a dazzling opener before Rodri, Gabriel Jesus, Eric García and the substitute Dani Olmo joined the party, while Valentín Gómez and Ez Abde replied ⁠for Betis, who played much of the second half with 10 men after Facundo Bernal was sent off for head-butting Lamine Yamal.

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Son of Paolo and grandson of Cesare struggled to establish himself at Milan but Fabio Pisacane is beginning to unlock his potential in Sardinia

The abundance could not last for ever. Serie A’s first goalless draw of this season arrived in its 54th match, ironically between two of its more prolific teams. Perhaps things might have ended differently between Como and Roma if the division’s leading scorer, Donyell Malen, had not earned a red card at the start of the second half.

A missed opportunity for both sides? Roma started brighter and hit the post through Lorenzo Pellegrini. Como dominated absolutely after the red card, with 80% of possession, but could not make pressure count.

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• Goto seals late 2-1 win over Schalke for 10-man Freiburg

• Lazio join Inter at top of Serie A as Roma held at Como

Ten-man Freiburg scored an 85th-minute winner ⁠through Keisuke Goto to snatch a 2-1 home victory over ⁠Schalke 04 ⁠on ​Sunday and move top of the Bundesliga.

Freiburg, who had ⁠already made a club-record start with 10 points from their opening ⁠four matches, climbed to 13 points, ​ahead of Borussia ‌Dortmund on ‌goal difference. The champions, Bayern Munich, who drew 2-2 ‌against Augsburg on Saturday, are third on 11.

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• Gordon scores first goal for club as Getafe are beaten 3-0

• Bayern draw despite conceding fastest Bundesliga goal

Anthony Gordon scored his first goal for Barcelona as the Spanish champions extended their perfect start in La Liga with a 3-0 home win over Getafe. The England international opened the scoring in the second minute and Gabriel Jesus added another after half an hour for the league leaders, who have won every match they have played this season.

Jules Koundé tucked home the third from Lamine Yamal’s cross to cap Barça’s solid win at the Camp Nou. Barça moved five points clear of second-placed Atlético Madrid, who won 2-1 at Alavés earlier, and lead Real Madrid, fourth, by nine points before Los Blancos host Villarreal later on.

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Striker’s double rescued a 2-2 draw and extend his unbeaten record against sides coached by Gian Piero Gasperini

Gian Piero Gasperini could not keep himself from smiling. His Roma team had just squandered a two-goal lead at home to Inter but as he crossed the Stadio Olimpico pitch to greet the man who had led the visitors’ comeback, his lips formed into a grin.

“He always scores against me”, explained a laughing Gasperini when he was asked what he had said to Lautaro Martínez a short while after. “I told him to stop it! He does it to everyone, though. He’s a great champion, everyone thinks very highly of him, even if he makes all of us suffer.”

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• Inter and Roma lead Serie A, Como move up to third

• Real Betis beat struggling Villarreal in La Liga

Inter fought back ⁠from two goals down ​to beat Udinese 5-3 on Monday, maintaining their perfect Serie A start alongside Roma, who won 2-0 at Torino before Saturday’s match between ⁠the joint leaders. Both sides have 12 points from four matches and share top spot before their encounter at the Stadio Olimpico, while Como are third on 10 points ⁠after beating Parma 2-1.

Udinese stunned Inter with two goals in the opening 16 minutes, as James Abankwah headed home ​unmarked after nine minutes before Jurgen Ekkelenkamp doubled ‌the visitors’ lead with a ‌close-range finish seven minutes later. Inter hit back through Carlos Augusto, whose long-range effort flew into the bottom corner, ‌before Nicolò Barella levelled 10 minutes before half-time.

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Despite an impressive start under Gennaro Gattuso, supporters are boycotting the Stadio Olimpico to wage war against Claudio Lotito

Gennaro Gattuso has given some memorable post-game interviews down the years. Who could forget his “sometimes maybe good, sometimes maybe shit” rant at OFI Crete, or the face of the beleaguered interpreter tasked with translating it? Last year, not long before taking charge of the Italian national team, Gattuso got into a finger-jabbing, language-swapping, almost-nose-to-nose shouting match with Josko Jelicic on Croatian television.

And yet there was something more affecting about the soft way he spoke this Saturday, in Calabrian-accented Italian. Without anger, but with an air of melancholy. “For me, football without fans is shit,” he said. “What do you think? I’d say it’s better to stay home. Better to go for a walk with the dogs.”

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• Elversberg 1-2 Bayern; Sassuolo 3-2 Juventus

• Barcelona see off Levante, PSG end winless run

Harry Kane scored his first Bundesliga goal of the season to help Bayern Munich edge to a 2-1 win at promoted Elversberg on Sunday. Handed the captain’s armband with skipper Manuel Neuer rested, Kane scored with 18 minutes remaining to break a 1-1 deadlock and put the defending champions on track for victory.

Bayern had taken the lead through teenage Germany winger Lennart Karl, but Elversberg – who had won their opening two matches in their maiden top-flight campaign – levelled things up just after the hour mark thanks to a stunning curling effort from Maurice Krattenmacher.

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