The exciting energy and good spirits that come with opening day of the season were soured by a group of Lazio fans on Saturday. Before the Serie A opener, a group of Lazio loyals distributed flyers to those on their way into the Stadio Olimpico telling female fans to steer clear of their “sacred space” within the stadium known as the Curva Nord.
It's hard to imagine narrowing the shortlist from a field that also included the likes of Kylian Mbappé, Lionel Messi and Antoine Griezmann, but a jury comprised of coaches and journalists have spoken and named their top three: Today, UEFA announced that one of Luka Modrić, Cristiano Ronaldo or Mohamed Salah will be named the 2018 UEFA Player of the Year, an award given to the best footballer “irrespective of nationality, playing for a club within the territory of a UEFA member association during the past season” for their “performances in all competition — domestic, continental and interna
Serie A made its TV debut on ESPN this weekend with AS Roma traveling to Turin to take on Torino FC. The match was broadcast ESPNews with Mark Donaldson and Matteo Bonetti (who used to call Serie A action for beIN SPORTS) commentating.
The Cristiano Ronaldo Juventus debut ended with the expected three points — eventually.
The Bianconeri scored early, went behind in the second half and then needed a wild ending to see off Chievo 3-2 on Saturday in the opening match of Serie A.
Ronaldo made his debut for the Old Lady and was at the center of some late controversy before Federico Bernardeschi scored a stoppage time winner.
VAR and goal-line technology were both used in the closing minutes of the 90 with the match even at 2-2.
For the price of $5 per month or $50 per year, ESPN+ was already a no-brainer for those who watch MLS, the USL, the UEFA Nations League and lower league English football. However, the broadcast package has significantly upped its offerings with this bit of news: ESPN+ will now stream 340 Italian Serie A matches over the course of the season as part of an exclusive, multi-year agreement in the United States.
You thought Cristiano Ronaldo to Juventus would be the biggest transfer of the summer? You were wrong.
Two of Italy’s biggest clubs have been busy cooking up something far more interesting and — because this is Serie A — something infinitely more complicated. Juventus and Milan have decided to lock themselves into a three-player exchange deal involving loans, buy-outs and big, big wages. So, what’s actually happening?
The AS Roma Malcom transfer failed miserably as Barcelona FC hijacked the Brazilian for $48 million. Adding insult to injury, Swedish furniture company IKEA trolled Roma with a subtle kick to the Italian club’s fallen body.
Roma announced Swedish goalkeeper Robin Olsen’s signing via an IKEA-inspired tweet:
Cristiano Ronaldo reported for his first day of preseason training with Juventus yesterday, and although the Portuguese legend looked pretty chummy in photographs with fellow striker Gonzalo Higuain, the arrival of The 120 Million Dollar Man obviously spelled the end of the Argentine’s two-year stay in Turin.
For those who grew up watching the Champions League in the early 2000s, the extended absence of 2009-10 champions Inter Milan has certainly been felt. Between 2002 and 2012 there was a 10-season period in which Inter always had a seat at club football’s most prestigious banquet, but the 2018-19 campaign will mark Inter's first appearance in seven years.
With a squad comprised largely of players that led Portugal to glory at the 2016 European U-17 Championship, Portugal has now ridden what’s quickly becoming a golden generation to more international glory, this time at the 2018 European U-19 Championship in Finland. Portugal defeated Italy 4-3 in a madcap final that saw three goals scored in quick succession during the first period of extra time.
Joao Filipe opened the scoring just before halftime for Portugal. The Benfica youngster fired in a low drive after a brilliant piece of control at the top of the box.