Category: Italy Serie A

• His 15th league goal of season keeps Bayern clear at top
• In Serie A, Atalanta miss chance to go level with Napoli

Harry Kane netted a penalty to give Bayern Munich a 1-0 victory at Borussia Mönchengladbach in their first Bundesliga match after the winter break, keeping them four points clear of second-placed Bayer Leverkusen.

The England captain sent Gladbach keeper Moritz Nicolas the wrong way in the 68th minute to break the deadlock and bag his 15th league goal this season to maintain his status as the Bundesliga’s top scorer.

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• Milan want United to foot much of Rashford’s salary
• Juventus interested in loan deal for Netherlands forward

Marcus Rashford is being targeted by Milan regarding a potential loan, with any deal dependent on Manchester United paying a sizeable portion of the forward’s salary of about £365,000 a week.

Whether United are willing to do so is yet to be decided. It is not their preference to provide a considerable percentage of Rashford’s wage, which makes him United’s highest-paid player. But Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who controls football policy, may decide Rashford departing for the rest of the season is in the best interests of all parties, particularly the head coach, Ruben Amorim.

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The midfielder has been linked with a move away from boyhood club Roma but answered his critics against Lazio

Claudio Ranieri does not have all the answers. It can seem as if he does: the man who steered Leicester to a Premier League title and who long before that built a reputation in Italy as the first person to call when a top team was failing. In case of emergency, do not break the glass, just dial Claudio instead.

He had retired after leading Cagliari to an improbable escape from relegation last season, but Roma lured him back. The club – his club, the one he grew up supporting – was in shambles: 12th in the table despite an almost €100m summer transfer splurge and now seeking a third manager of this season. How could he say no, even at 73 years old, to his first footballing love?

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• Under-fire captain helps extend Ranieri’s perfect record
• Dembélé’s last-gasp strike wins French Super Cup for PSG

Claudio Ranieri extended his perfect record in the Italian capital derby as Roma beat Lazio 2-0 in Serie A to give the Giallorossi a much-needed boost in what has been a difficult season.

Roma’s captain and lifelong club fan, Lorenzo Pellegrini, scored a superb opener with a curling shot from the edge of the area to end his long wait for a goal. Then Alexis Saelemaekers finished off a counterattack to give Roma a two-goal advantage after 18 minutes.

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Paulo Fonseca failed to meet his own expectations but was treated poorly by Milan, who have appointed Sérgio Conceição

It was Paulo Fonseca who announced his own sacking shortly after midnight. Driving out of the parking lot at San Siro, he stopped briefly to answer questions from a reporter. “Yes, it’s true, I’ve exited Milan,” he said. “That’s life. Life goes like this. My conscience is calm, because I did everything I could.”

Such phrasing might make it sound like Fonseca took the decision himself. He did not. Milan eventually confirmed they had relieved the head coach of his duties in an official statement published on Monday morning.

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• Raspadori scores after Romelu Lukuku has penalty saved
• Fiorentina’s Sottil pegs back Juventus in 2-2 draw

Giacomo Raspadori came off the bench to score the only goal in Napoli’s 1-0 home win over relegation-battling Venezia, a result which moves them to second in the Serie A standings and level on points with leaders Atalanta.

Antonio Conte’s hosts were on the attack from the off, with Filip Stankovic twice denying the home side with close-range saves from Amir Rrahmani and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia. Venezia began to find a footing in the game, almost taking the lead but Alex Meret pulled off a reflex save with his leg to keep out John Yeboah’s effort.

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• Marco Brescianini scores in 88th minute to earn 1-1 draw
• Martínez ends drought in Inter’s 3-0 win at Cagliari

Atalanta’s 11-match winning streak in Serie A ended with a 1-1 draw at Lazio, but Marco Brescianini’s 88th-minute equaliser kept them top of the table.

Fourth-placed Lazio dominated the first half in Rome and were rewarded in the 27th minute when Nicolò Rovella played a high through ball to Fisayo Dele-Bashiru, who cut inside the box and sent a bouncing volley into the net to break.

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Gian Piero Gasperini’s project embodies a mentality that echoes an NFL legend after 11-game winning run

The game had not even kicked off and it was starting to feel like a prize ceremony. Ademola Lookman held up the trophy he won as the African men’s footballer of the year. Atalanta’s president, Antonio Percassi, beamed as he handed over Serie A’s coach of the month award to Gian Piero Gasperini.

Percassi’s son, Luca, the club’s CEO, spoke for the TV cameras about the recent quality of life survey conducted by the newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore. It had ranked Bergamo, where Atalanta are based, as the best place to reside in all of Italy. “As a Bergamasco, I can confirm those statistics,” he replied with a laugh.

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• French striker scores and assists in 4-2 win over Sevilla
• Atalanta beat Empoli to top Serie A; Roma rout Parma

Kylian Mbappé scored the opener and set up another goal as Real Madrid beat mid-table Sevilla 4-2 to move up to second place in La Liga and close the gap on Atlético Madrid to one point going into the winter break.

Mbappé scored with a thunderbolt from outside the box in the 10th minute before Federico Valverde put the reigning champions two goals ahead from long range 10 minutes later. Rodrygo fired in the third in the 34th minute from a cross by Lucas Vázquez.

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American father and son began positively at the Stadio Olimpico but botched managerial decisions soured mood

A banner raised by Roma supporters before their Coppa Italia game at home to Sampdoria on Wednesday spoke to the prevailing mood. “Club and players: all a bunch of frauds,” it read. By recent standards, that was rather tame.

The Friedkin Group, which completed its takeover of Everton on Thursday, has owned Roma since 2020 and enjoyed notable successes: hiring José Mourinho as manager and delivering him the squad he needed to win the first Europa Conference League, as well as finishing as Europa League runners-up a year later. However, the decision to fire the Portuguese in January divided opinion among the fanbase, and the sacking of his successor, Daniele De Rossi, in September sparked open revolt.

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• Kane returns from injury in Bundesliga thrashing
• Milan beat Verona 1-0; Girona sink Real Valladolid

Bayern Munich stamped their authority on the Bundesliga by hammering fourth-placed RB Leipzig 5-1 in a game that featured two goals in the opening two minutes for the first time in the league’s history.

Having lost their first league match of the season to Mainz last week, Bayern delivered a commanding performance against a Leipzig side who struggled to build any attacking momentum.

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Thiago Motta’s reboot of the Turin giants is stalling even if they are yet to suffer a Serie A defeat

Sir Alex Ferguson diminished Arsenal’s Invincibles of 2003-04, who went an entire Premier League season without defeat, by accusing them of “too many draws”. What, then, would he make of this year’s Juventus? They are the only unbeaten team in Serie A, yet they have won just six out of 16 games.

Saturday’s match at home to Venezia was expected to provide the seventh. Juventus had broken a run of four consecutive draws by beating Manchester City in the Champions League. Sure, Pep Guardiola’s team have been in a tailspin, but they are not the only ones. Venezia sat dead last in the Serie A table, without a win since October.

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• Leganés defender Sergio González scores early winner
• Sørloth moves Atlético above Real Madrid into second

Barcelona lost 1-0 to Leganés, allowing Atlético Madrid to pull level with them at the top of La Liga. Sergio González’s fourth-minute header for Leganés proved enough to stun the wasteful hosts, who lost their second consecutive league game in front of their own fans. The defender rose unmarked at the near post to fire an unstoppable header past Iñaki Peña.

Despite dominating with over 80% possession, Barça were clueless as they sought to overcome a disciplined and well organised five-man defence, spurning a handful of opportunities.

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• Leverkusen four points behind after win at Augsburg
• Real Madrid drop points despite Jude Bellingham goal

Lee Jae-sung scored either side of the break as Mainz stunned Bayern Munich 2-1 on Saturday to end the league leaders’ unbeaten start as their advantage at the top was cut to four points.

Lee struck four minutes before the break, the South Korea international pouncing on a defensive blunder by the lacklustre visitors. The 32-year-old then doubled the hosts’ lead on the hour, turning beautifully in the box to finish a superb attacking move that left the Bayern defence frozen to the spot.

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Marco Baroni’s team have been a surprise package this season: shaking off a wobbly start to win 11 of 12 games

Less than 72 hours after kicking off a Coppa Italia game at home to Napoli, Lazio lined up to face a different team dressed as the same one. Their opponents on Sunday wore the club badge of the opponents they had beaten 3-1 on Thursday, yet none of the faces were familiar.

That was because Napoli’s manager, Antonio Conte, had made a full 11 changes to his starting team. He would not say outright that he had deprioritised the cup, but it was clear he viewed the players used on Thursday as his second string.

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