Italian football season 2023/24

[Tazmania]

AS Roma really suffered against Sassuolo and needed a wonderful individual goal by captain Lorenzo Pellegrini and some desperate defending to take the three points; the heavy recent schedule - two games a week during the last 5 weeks - has taken its toll.

[offside]

AS Roma really suffered against Sassuolo and needed a wonderful individual goal by captain Lorenzo Pellegrini and some desperate defending to take the three points;

True. I have seen a good part of the match, and I agree with your analysis.

Serie A

Internazionale - Napoli : 1 - 1
Internazionale winning streak ended, Napoli in 7th position in Serie A.

Ranking after 29 matches: Internazionale 76, AC Milan 62, Juventus 59, Bologna 54, AS Roma 51, Atalanta* 47, Napoli 45, Fiorentina* 43, Lazio 43, Monza 42, Torino 41, ...

* Atalanta - Fiorentina has been postponed.

The next giornata will be played March 30th and April 1st.

[matt]

There is no room available to play Atalanta - Fiorentina in April, because there is a double-leg semifinal among them in the Italian Cup, and also because both teams are still in European Cups.
If both teams are eliminated in the next EL/ECL round the match can be played in the first mid-week of May.

If at least one goes through there's no date available until May 22, after matchday 37, because on May 15 there's the Italian cup final with either Fiorentina or Atalanta.

The most extreme (but unlikely) scenario is Atalanta in the EL final: in that case the game Atalanta - Fiorentina can be played only after the end of the league!


So, to resume, the most probable scenario is to play the game on May 22, between matchday 37 and matchday 38.
Has this an effect on the regularity of the whole CL race? Yes, for sure.

This is an example of how fucked-up is the current schedule of club football, and how much International breaks are complicating it, because without the coming (mostly pointless) break there would the proper space in the calendar to play this game.

[matt]

Oh, and there is an even more extreme scenario. Both teams in an European final.

EL final - May 22
ECL final: May 29

So the match would be played in June the weekend after matchday 38.

[max tre]

My guess is they will wait until the 2nd leg of EL/ECL QFs and, if any of them goes through, make room for this match on May 15 (between MD 36 and 37) by postponing the Coppa Italia final:

• to May 23, if Atalanta gets eliminated in EL (most likely scenario) or in CI
• to May 30, if Fiorentina gets eliminated
• to June 2 (national day!) if both go through in Europe and (if needed) they manage to get some exemption for players supposed to reach their NTs

[Lyonnais]

if both teams go through in European Cups, an alternative solution is to play the Cup semi-final in one leg only.
It could provide an available date for the Serie A game.

[offside]

Igor Tudor is the new coach of Lazio.

[Lyonnais]

WS marks - Update after MD29 (3/4 of the season)


Top 10

8.11 Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (Napoli, FWL, 23, GEO)
8.08 Lautaro Martinez (Inter, FW, 26, ARG)
7.90 Hakan Calhanoglu (Inter, MC, 30, TUR)
7.80 Matias Soulé (Frosinone, FWR, 20, ARG)
7.75 Marcus Thuram (Inter, FW, 26, FRA)
7.72 Christian Pulisic (Milan, AMR, 25, USA)
7.67 Rafael Leao (Milan, AML, 24, POR)
7.66 Federico Dimarco (Inter, DML, 26, ITA)
7.62 Michele Di Gregorio (Monza, GK, 26, ITA)
7.58 Olivier Giroud (Milan, FW, 37, FRA)
etc.


Best XI

................................. L.Martinez (Inter) .........................................
.... K.Kvaratskhelia (Napoli) - T.Koopmeiers (Atalanta) - M.Soulé (Frosinone) ....
..................... A.Rabiot (Juventus) - H.Calhanoglu (Inter) ........................
F.Dimarco (Inter) - A.Bastoni (Inter) - A.Buongiorno (Torino) - R.Bellanova (Torino)
............................... M.Di Gregorio (Monza) ......................................


U21 players

7.80 Matias Soulé (Frosinone, FWR, 20, ARG)
7.41 Giorgio Scalvini (Atalanta, DC, 20, ITA)
7.06 Michael Kayode (Fiorentina, DR, 19, ITA)
etc.


Best per club

8.08 Lautaro Martinez (Inter, FW, 26, ARG)
7.72 Christian Pulisic (Milan, AMR, 25, USA)
7.55 Adrien Rabiot (Juventus, MC, 28, FRA)
7.53 Joshua Zirkzee (Bologna, FW, 22, NED)
7.57 Paulo Dybala (Roma, FW, 30, ARG)
7.58 Teun Koopmeiers (Atalanta, AMC, 26, NED)
8.11 Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (Napoli, FWL, 23, GEO)
7.36 Giacomo Bonaventura (Fiorentina, AMC, 34 , ITA)
7.40 Felipe Anderson (Lazio, FWR, 30, BRA)
7.62 Michele Di Gregorio (Monza, GK, 26, ITA)
7.52 Duvan Zapata (Torino, FW, 32, COL)
7.55 Albert Gudmundsson (Genoa, FW, 26, ISL)
7.36 Wladimiro Falcone (Lecce, GK, 28, ITA)
7.11 Lazar Samardzic (Udinese, MC, 22, GER)
7.08 Lorenzo Montipo (Verona, GK, 28, ITA)
7.32 Alberto Dossena (Cagliari, DC, 25, ITA)
7.01 Sebastiano Luperto (Empoli, DC, 27, ITA)
7.80 Matias Soulé (Frosinone, FWR, 20, ARG)
7.19 Domenico Berardi (Sassuolo, AMR, 29, ITA)
7.22 Antonio Candreva (Salernitana, AMC, 37, ITA)

[Lyonnais]

XG analysis


Xpts Table

Surprisngly Napoli look like much better than current table suggests, but they don't score the goals they are supposed to score and concede goals they are not suppose to concede.
Inter and to some extent Milan on top of the efficiency., whereas teams like Udinese, Sassuolo or Frosinone should do better.

Code: Select all

Xpts	Pts	Difference		
64,02	76	11,98 	-	Inter
60,06	59	-1,06 	-	Juventus
51,52	45	-6,52 	-	Napoli
50,78	62	11,22 	-	Milan
----------------------------------------------
48,17	51	2,83 	-	Roma
47,26	54	6,74 	-	Bologna
47,04	47	-0,04 	-	Atalanta
--------------------------------------------------
43,43	43	-0,43 	-	Lazio
43,16	41	-2,16 	-	Torino
41,57	43	1,43 	-	Fiorentina
36,64	27	-9,64 	-	Udinese
33,99	42	8,01 	-	Monza
32,58	24	-8,58 	-	Frosinone
32,41	25	-7,41 	-	Empoli
31,99	23	-8,99 	-	Sassuolo
31,84	34	2,16 	-	Genoa
30,11	26	-4,11 	-	Cagliari
------------------------------------------------
27,85	28	0,15 	-	Lecce 
27,02	26	-1,02 	-	Verona
18,42	14	-4,42 	-	Salernitana

Offensive efficiency (XG versus goals scored)

Roma on top, Juve and Napoli struggle

Code: Select all

XG	Goals	Difference		
44,38	55	10,62 	-	Roma
50,08	55	4,92 	-	Milan
66,60	71	4,40 	-	Inter
27,92	31	3,08 	-	Genoa
48,53	51	2,47 	-	Atalanta
(...)
50,39	44	-6,39 	-	Juventus
50,70	44	-6,70 	-	Napoli
34,83	28	-6,83 	-	Udinese
29,89	22	-7,89 	-	Empoli
34,55	26	-8,55 	-	Lecce 

Defensive efficiency (XGA versus goals conceded)

Inter and Monza (De Gregorio effect?) on top but this time Roma among the bottom teams

Code: Select all

XGA	GA	Difference		
24,13	14	-10,13 	-	Inter
45,43	36	-9,43 	-	Monza
53,03	45	-8,03 	-	Lecce 
39,35	32	-7,35 	-	Fiorentina
44,99	39	-5,99 	-	Verona
(...)
41,48	44	2,52 	-	Udinese
31,28	35	3,72 	-	Roma
53,80	59	5,20 	-	Salernitana
49,03	56	6,97 	-	Sassuolo
52,12	60	7,88 	-	Frosinone

Finishing skills

Lautaro of course

Code: Select all

XG	Goals	Difference		
17,06	23	5,94 	-	Lautaro Martinez (Inter)
5,20	10	4,80 	-	Teun Koopmeiers (Atalanta)
3,28	7	3,72 	-	Lorenzo Pellegrini (Roma)
5,66	9	3,34 	-	Christian Pulisic (Milan)
3,94	7	3,06 	-	Andrea Colpani (Monza)
(...)			
13,52	10	-3,52 	-	Marcus Thuram (Inter)
4,56	1	-3,56 	-	Roberto Gagliardini (Monza)
8,23	4	-4,23 	-	Antonio Sanabria (Torino)
7,60	3	-4,60 	-	Kaio Jorge (Frosinone)
9,70	5	-4,70 	-	Nikola Krstovic (Lecce)

[max tre]

My guess is they will wait until the 2nd leg of EL/ECL QFs and, if any of them goes through, make room for this match on May 15 (between MD 36 and 37) by postponing the Coppa Italia final:

• to May 23, if Atalanta gets eliminated in EL (most likely scenario) or in CI
• to May 30, if Fiorentina gets eliminated
• to June 2 (national day!) if both go through in Europe and (if needed) they manage to get some exemption for players supposed to reach their NTs

Andrea Butti (one of the fixture-man for the Lega Serie A) just said it cannot be after May 27 because Stadio Olimpico in Rome will be used for the upcoming European Athletics Championships.
He also revealed that tomorrow they will make official that the next Milan-Inter will be played on April 22, which is a Monday (!!!). It will be the first time in history for the derby della Madonnina. That was under Milan's request because they have an EL match in Rome the previous Thursday, and Roma too will play on Monday.

[Sagy]

My guess is they will wait until the 2nd leg of EL/ECL QFs and, if any of them goes through, make room for this match on May 15 (between MD 36 and 37) by postponing the Coppa Italia final:

• to May 23, if Atalanta gets eliminated in EL (most likely scenario) or in CI
• to May 30, if Fiorentina gets eliminated
• to June 2 (national day!) if both go through in Europe and (if needed) they manage to get some exemption for players supposed to reach their NTs

Andrea Butti (one of the fixture-man for the Lega Serie A) just said it cannot be after May 27 because Stadio Olimpico in Rome will be used for the upcoming European Athletics Championships.
…

Wasn’t this an Atalanta home game? Why would that status of Stadio Olimpico in Rome make any difference when this game is played?

The prefered solution might be to move the April 3rd semifinal to a neutral ground (winner advance to the final) and use the April 24th game between the teams as a league. Even better, have the league game on April 3rd and a single semifinal in a neutral ground on April 24th.

[max tre]

My guess is they will wait until the 2nd leg of EL/ECL QFs and, if any of them goes through, make room for this match on May 15 (between MD 36 and 37) by postponing the Coppa Italia final:

• to May 23, if Atalanta gets eliminated in EL (most likely scenario) or in CI
• to May 30, if Fiorentina gets eliminated
• to June 2 (national day!) if both go through in Europe and (if needed) they manage to get some exemption for players supposed to reach their NTs

Andrea Butti (one of the fixture-man for the Lega Serie A) just said it cannot be after May 27 because Stadio Olimpico in Rome will be used for the upcoming European Athletics Championships.
…

Wasn’t this an Atalanta home game? Why would that status of Stadio Olimpico in Rome make any difference when this game is played?

The prefered solution might be to move the April 3rd semifinal to a neutral ground (winner advance to the final) and use the April 24th game between the teams as a league. Even better, have the league game on April 3rd and a single semifinal in a neutral ground on April 24th.

It was about the Coppa Italia final.
And yeah, your latter suggestion would be better than the previous one 'cause it allows you to keep the Coppa Italia semifinal a two-legged round in case teams get eliminated in Europe.

[Sagy]

Andrea Butti (one of the fixture-man for the Lega Serie A) just said it cannot be after May 27 because Stadio Olimpico in Rome will be used for the upcoming European Athletics Championships.
…

Wasn’t this an Atalanta home game? Why would that status of Stadio Olimpico in Rome make any difference when this game is played?

The prefered solution might be to move the April 3rd semifinal to a neutral ground (winner advance to the final) and use the April 24th game between the teams as a league. Even better, have the league game on April 3rd and a single semifinal in a neutral ground on April 24th.

It was about the Coppa Italia final.
And yeah, your latter suggestion would be better than the previous one 'cause it allows you to keep the Coppa Italia semifinal a two-legged round in case teams get eliminated in Europe.

Thanks, that was the piece that I missed

[matt]

- From being in Ukraine in De Zerbi's staff at the start of the war to leading Mantova to a wonderful season. I think Possanzini will lead a Serie A team in a couple of years, he looks like a talented manager.
Mantova won in Padova 5-0 and increased the lead to 7 points over Padova itself. A return to Serie B after 14 years for Mantova? In May 2023 they were relegated but another team got bankrupt so they took their place. Talking about sliding doors!

- In the remaining two groups Cesena (a strong team for Serie C) are leading the table above Torres (the surprise of the season from north Sardegna). One of them will go up, Pescara (managed by Zeman) and Perugia are disappointing and already too far behind.

In the southern group Juve Stabia from Campania are leading the table, again surprisingly, but there are a few dangerous teams behind, such as Avellino. Here i'm supporting Taranto because they are managed by a weird but funny and genuine man, Eziolino Capuano, he's a bit of a meme in Italy since several years.

News of the weekend in the Italian football: it's already (almost) party time in Mantova and Cesena.
The former can celebrate on Saturday at home with a win over Atalanta under 23 (or even Thursday night if Padova lose its game), while Cesena will mathematically clinch promotion if they win on Saturday and Torres doesn't two days earlier.
In the last group, Juve Stabia have a 9-points margin over Benevento and with 5 matchdays left it's almost a done deal too.

So 3/4 promoted teams are basically already known, for the last we will have to wait until June.

[matt]

- Tomorrow Serie A restart with Napoli - Atalanta, Lazio - Juventus, Fiorentina - Milan, Torino - Monza and Genoa - Frosinone, all more or less important games;

- Tomorrow Cesena (16:15) and Mantova (18:30) with two wins at home will be officially promoted to Serie B;

- Serie B (and half Serie A round) will play on Easter Monday;

- Bayern/Dormund, Manchester Ciy/Arsenal, Liverpool/Brighton, Real Madrid - Athletic Bilbao, Lille/Lens, OM/PSG over the weeekend and i'm surely forgetting something.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Football is back!