Category: Italy Serie A

Internazionale still top the table after draw but leveller restores belief that Antonio Conte’s side can reel in leaders

Billy Gilmour or Philip Billing? That was the dilemma facing Antonio Conte for a season-defining fixture: his second-placed Napoli taking on the Inter side who had just overtaken them with 12 rounds to go. Should he trust in a midfielder who had started only five Serie A games since arriving from Brighton last summer, or one who spent the first half of this season as a backup at Bournemouth?

“I’ve been thinking about it all week,” Conte said with a chuckle at his pre-game press conference, “and I still have 24 more hours to decide.”

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• Robert Lewandowski scores final goal in 4-0 victory
• 10-man Milan lose to 98th-minute Lazio penalty

Barcelona returned to the top of the La Liga table with a comfortable 4-0 home victory over 10-man Real Sociedad on Sunday.

Barça’s sixth straight league win moved them into first place with 57 points from 26 games, one ahead of Atlético Madrid. Real Madrid are third with 54 points after a 2-1 defeat at Real Betis on Saturday.

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• Atlético 1-0 Athletic Bilbao | Real Betis 2-1 Real Madrid
• Napoli 1-1 Inter | Mourinho’s Turkish suspension halved

Real Madrid stumbled in the three-way race for the La Liga title as Isco guided Real Betis to a 2-1 comeback win over the defending champions on Saturday, enabling Atlético Madrid to overtake their neighbours by winning the late kick-off against Real Betis.

Atlético won thanks to a second-half strike from the substitute Julián Álvarez. Atletico came close to taking the lead in the first half through Alexander Sørloth, who missed a header from Antoine Griezmann’s pass. Álvarez, who came on for Sørloth just before the hour mark, gave Atlético the winner in the 66th minute with a precise left-foot shot after being played through by Marcos Llorente.

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• Bayern now 11 points clear of second-placed Leverkusen
• Robin Gosens’ winner moves Fiorentina up to sixth

Bayern Munich fought back from a goal down to maintain their place at the top of the Bundesliga with a 3-1 victory at Stuttgart. The win keeps Bayern comfortably atop the Bundesliga with 61 points, 11 more than Bayer Leverkusen, though they have played one match more.

Stuttgart took the lead in the 34th minute through Angelo Stiller, who struck a left-footed shot into the top corner from the edge of the box. In first-half stoppage time, Bayern equalised as Michael Olise made a perfectly timed run and finished with ease.

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After Ademola Lookman’s miss in midweek, Lorenzo Lucca invited further criticism in ignoring his Udinese teammates

This was the week of the undesignated penalty taker in Italian football. On Tuesday, Ademola Lookman missed a spot-kick against Club Brugge and then listened to his manager, Gian Piero Gasperini, tear him to shreds for having the audacity to step up when teammates encouraged him to. The responsibility was supposed to fall to Charles De Ketelaere, but Lookman claimed the Belgian had told him to go for it.

Gasperini used his post-game press conference to roast Lookman, calling him “one of the worst penalty takers I’ve ever seen,” and adding that: “even in training he has a very low conversion rate. He shoots them really badly.” Four days later, Gasperini claimed surprise that his words had caused the striker to feel disrespected.

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• Italy striker suffered blow to head on pitch
• Napoli’s loss at Como lets Atalanta back into title race

Moise Kean has been discharged from hospital less than 24 hours after he collapsed during Fiorentina’s defeat by Hellas Verona on Sunday. The former Everton and Juventus forward appeared to pass out following an earlier blow to his head.

Italy international Kean had been involved in an accidental collision with Pawel Dawidowicz and Diego Coppola midway through the second half, taking a knee in the face which left him with a cut above his eye. Although Kean returned to the pitch following treatment with his head bandaged, the 24-year-old soon fell, initially appearing unresponsive, before being taken off on a stretcher in the 67th minute.

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• Barça beat Las Palmas 2-0 and Atléti stay on their heels
• Inter move top of Serie A with Napoli to play on Sunday

Dani Olmo and Ferran Torres came off the bench to rescue a 2-0 win for Barcelona at Las Palmas on Saturday that sent them back to the top of the La Liga table after a game that is unlikely to live long in the memory.

Barcelona now lead on 54 points, one ahead of Atlético Madrid. Real Madrid are third on 51 but have a game in hand and will host Girona on Sunday.

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Might we eventually look back on Francisco Conceição’s winning goal as one of the pivotal moments of this season?

Francisco Conceição was dead, as he recalls it, but the chance wasn’t, the cross from his teammate Andrea Cambiaso only cleared to the edge of the box. Randal Kolo Muani tamed the ball and retained it as he was assailed by five Inter defenders who arrived one at a time like henchmen in a Hollywood movie: allowing him to overcome each of them in turn.

He evaded Hakan Calhanoglu with a half-step backwards, leaving the Turkey captain to fall under his own momentum, held off Nicolò Barella, dragged the ball back under his boot to spin away from Henrikh Mkhitaryan, flicked it across Francesco Acerbi with the outside of his boot and then poked it with a toe beyond Carlos Augusto and into the path of Conceição.

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• Inter lose 1-0 at Juventus to a Francisco Conceição goal
• Referee stops match at Espanyol after player complaints

Inter missed the chance to go top of Serie A as they lost 1-0 at Juventus on Sunday with Francisco Conceição scoring the decisive late goal in an action packed match.

The Portuguese winger sparked jubilation in the stadium after 74 minutes following some clever footwork in the box by Randal Kolo Muani before he found Conceição, who fired home.

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• Carlo Ancelotti also unhappy after Osasuna claim point
• Napoli and Atalanta held, Milan win, PSG march on

Jude Bellingham said that he was wrongly sent off and Carlo Ancelotti was left fuming over several refereeing decisions after Real Madrid drew 1-1 at Osasuna, extending the visitors’ winless La Liga run to three games.

Bellingham said of the 39th-minute incident: “I do not want to go into the details of what was said, but I didn’t insult the referee and I hope they review the footage because it was a misunderstanding, but I am here to apologise to the team anyways.”

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Mateo Retegui and Moise Kean are firing Atalanta and Fiorentina up the table and themselves into Spalletti’s plans

It feels like only yesterday that Roberto Mancini was lamenting the scarce selection of centre-forwards available to him as Italy manager. He returned to the theme repeatedly through his final few months in the job, highlighting how few domestic players were even starting up front for the nation’s top clubs. “It makes things difficult for us,” he said. “Let’s hope it’s not an irreversible phenomenon.”

Luciano Spalletti has not dwelled on this subject since he succeeded Mancini in the role, but plenty of others were ready to say it for him as Italy crashed out early from Euro 2024. Starting up front in their last-16 defeat to Switzerland was Gianluca Scamacca, making his 20th appearance for Italy and yet to score his second goal. The only other recognised No 9 in the squad was Mateo Retegui, who had struck a modest seven times in his first Serie A season with Genoa.

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• Three goals and red card for Barça in second half
• McTominay scores but Napoli held 1-1 at home

Barcelona earned a hard-fought 4-1 win at struggling Sevilla on Sunday thanks to goals by Robert Lewandowski, Fermín López, Raphinha and Eric García to edge them closer to the top of the table.

The win lifted third-placed Barça to 48 points, one behind Atlético Madrid and two adrift of leaders Real Madrid after the capital rivals drew 1-1 on Saturday.
Lewandowski gave Barça the lead from close range in the seventh minute but Rubén Vargas hit right back to equalise for the home side from a quick counter one minute later.

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• Bayern go nine points clear at top of Bundesliga with win
• Kolo Muani seals late Juventus victory against Como

Bayern Munich eased past Werder Bremen 3-0 on Friday with two goals from Harry Kane for their seventh league win in succession, to move nine points clear at the top of the Bundesliga.

The Bavarians, who face Celtic in their Champions League playoff first leg next week for a spot in the round of 16, had their best chance of the first half through Kane but his stoppage-time header narrowly missed the target.

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• Inter beaten 3-0 and miss chance to go top of Serie A
• Ferran Torres hit hat-trick in 5-0 Copa del Rey victory

Internazionale missed their chance to go top of Serie A , the defending champions suffering a 3-0 defeat at Fiorentina as Moise Kean scored twice for the hosts. The defeat left Inter in second place on 51 points, three behind the leaders, Napoli, and Fiorentina moved up to fourth on 42 points, above Lazio on goal difference.

The original match on 1 December was suspended when Fiorentina’s Edoardo Bove collapsed on the pitch and was taken to hospital, and the game restarted at 0-0 in the 17th minute with a Fiorentina throw-in.

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Draw in Milan derby suited nobody but the English duo showed they may be the answer to defensive frailties

Sérgio Conceição said last week that he was sick and tired of this transfer window. “A month is far too long,” he argued. “It has not been positive on an emotional level for many of our players.”

The counter-point arrived in the Milan derby on Sunday night. Starting at right-back for the Rossoneri was Kyle Walker, signed on loan from Manchester City a fortnight after he had informed the Premier League champions of his desire for a move. He was outshone on his debut by the man inside him at centre-back, Fikayo Tomori, who has spent this entire window being linked with transfers elsewhere.

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