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Free Weekly Episode - Juventus Hold Roma, Milan Thriller, Sassuolo Shock Inter, Europa League Preview (Ep. 416)
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Carlo reviews the weekend Serie A action. Juventus are close to qualifying for the Champions League as they draw at Roma, who now risk missing out altogether. Bologna are limping over the Champions League line as they draw with draw specialists Torino. Lazio’s Champions League hopes may have ended after an injury time equaliser from Monza. Milan play out a six goal thriller with Genoa. At the other end, the relegation race is hotting up. Sassuolo give themselves hope with a shock win over Inter. We will also have our usual Baggio, Premface and Serie Ass of Week and will preview the Europa League and Conference League semi final second legs.
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Transcript
00:00:02
Speaker
Welcome
Introduction and Agenda
00:00:03
Speaker
to the Italian football podcast. Hello, everybody, and welcome to the Italian football podcast. I'm Carlo Garganese, and I'm on my own today for the the weekend review show as Nima, unfortunately, is ill in bed. You probably heard him sniffing last week. He was coming down with something and it's now hit him. Hopefully he will get well very, very soon. But I'm doing it alone for
00:00:31
Speaker
for the weekend review show and for the Q&A which is already out. I'm recording this before the two Monday evening matches so I've got eight games to review on today's show together with
00:00:46
Speaker
reviewing, or rather previewing, the Europa League and Conference League semi-final second leg, some massive return matches in Europe and also our usual Baggio, Prem Face and Sadia Ass of the week.
Roma vs Juventus Analysis
00:01:05
Speaker
So, let's start off there with the big Sunday evening game at the study Olympics between Roma and Juventus. The game finishes 1-1.
00:01:17
Speaker
very, very important game for both teams in the race for Champions League football. And to start off with Juventus, this was a game in which a win for Juventus would have clinched Champions League football for
00:01:34
Speaker
for next season but a draw still puts them very very close now and they're almost there they'll be happy with the result all in all because the draw means that Juventus now if my maths is correct only need three points from their last three games to finish in the top five which will give them Champions League football remember
00:01:58
Speaker
Serie A will have an extra place, at least one extra place in the Champions League next season as a result of their performance, the coefficient. And the draw with Roma means that if Juventus beat Selena Turner at home this weekend, that will be that for Juventus. Juventus' remaining fixtures are Selena Turner at home, Bologna, Riewe, Monza at home.
00:02:27
Speaker
although Juventus probably still risk finishing lower than third, which is really, really poor, as long as they get into the Champions League, that will be, is the bare minimum that Juventus need for the season. In terms of summarizing the game from Juventus, it was based on Juventus' very, very low recent standards. I think it was a better performance from Ube. It was a decent performance. I wouldn't say,
00:02:56
Speaker
It was a good performance. I wouldn't say it was a bad performance considering Juventus are away to Roma. Never an easy place to go. I thought that Juventus created more chances again than they have done in recent games. Not hard. The bar is very low. But they created enough chances to certainly score more than the one goal.
00:03:16
Speaker
they scored that created enough chances that they could have won the game but they also conceded quite a lot of big chances as well including a huge huge chance in injury time for for Tammy Abraham that could have won the game for Roma. Overall though I think based on the chances the draw is probably fair based on the overall play in the game I think Juventus were probably the slightly better team in this game in terms of the actual play
00:03:40
Speaker
which is very, very rare to say for Juventus, because even in the games this season, when Juventus have created more opportunities than the opposition, they haven't played better or controlled the game better or passed the ball better. I think in this game, it probably was slightly better than Roma in that regard. But they only scored the one goal. That goal came from a cross, as usual. I've called Juventus under Allegri Brexit, Juventus.
00:04:06
Speaker
A leg re-ball because Juventus only score from set pieces and crosses. They don't have any ability to create chances for patterns of play or through anything structured. It's all just get it out wide and cross it or attack set pieces, corners.
00:04:21
Speaker
three kicks. That's how Juventus basically scored all their goals. I showed that in my underlight when I went through the underlying metrics a fortnight ago that Juventus were 10th in open play goals and chances created. So it's no surprise that the goal did come from across Bremmer with the goal to equalise after Roma had taken the lead through Lukaku. So Bremmer with a fantastic leap to score. Bremmer was good, had a very
00:04:48
Speaker
important block on Pellegrini in the second half, so positive for Bremmer after he did go through a little bit of a bad period, but he seems to be getting it back again now. The defender, though, in general from Juventus wasn't great in this game. It was really bad on the Lukaku goal, allowing Baldansi to get in on the right channel or Roma's right channel.
00:05:12
Speaker
put it into the box and then it wasn't cleared well from Gatti and it went straight to the Carco who scored. So it wasn't a great defensive performance. Roma did create other chances. Danilo headed one that was going in. He didn't play well though at all. He's been very disappointed this season, Danilo. Also another chance for Pellegrini which I just mentioned that Bremer put in a block.
00:05:37
Speaker
Abraham with a huge chance at the end again poor defending in that left centre back area. Juventus defended really really badly in this game. So Juventus didn't really defend very well
Roma's Champions League Hopes
00:05:51
Speaker
as a team.
00:05:53
Speaker
But I think the biggest positive for Juventus, or probably more so for Italy, the Italy national team ahead of Euro 2024, which is only just over a month away, five weeks away now, was the performance of Federico Chiesa. This was more like the old Chiesa from before the injury.
00:06:10
Speaker
He was really, really fantastic, really electric, his acceleration, ability to get away from his man, which we just haven't really seen since the injury. We feared that he'd lost it, and based on what we've seen, certainly for Juventus, it did seem like he had lost that half a yard or quarter of a yard, which makes all the difference at the highest level that he had before the injury, where he was just unstoppable when he was in top form.
00:06:37
Speaker
running away and accelerating past his man and he kind of has lost that Piazza but in this game he did start to show more of that and he was he was really really fantastic he he set up the early chance for Vlalvic, Vlalvic was really really poor again in this game second game in a row he's been he's been anonymous he set up that early chance he got the assist for Bremmer nice twist and turn and cross and that's Piazza at his best when he can go right or left both footed
00:07:05
Speaker
The person marketing doesn't know which way he's going to go because he's so strong balance wise off both feet, but also in his use with either foot when it comes to crossing or shooting or passing, he's so strong on either side. And he pinpoint crossing for Bremmer to score, but his best play was when he hit the post early in the second half, which was vintage case and magnificent, the way that he picked up the ball,
00:07:34
Speaker
He burst past his man, fired it in with his left foot when he, you know, was kind of, should have been a sort of off balance, but what a fantastic shot from the angle. Cannon off the post, it really deserved the guy. It was a well-class bit of play. And then, you know, that wasn't the only time he was, he really gave Christensen a real, really, really hard time. And he was, this was really, really good to see, really promising to see because
00:08:01
Speaker
You know, we're going into these Euros with not really much or anything in the attack. We hope the Schemaka, who's been in great form, he's hit form in the last month or so, we hope, pray that he can keep that up and he can do it for Italy and the Euros.
00:08:17
Speaker
Apart from that, we don't really have much to pray for with our attack, other than that Kiesa suddenly refines his form from three years ago. And this was the Kiesa of three years ago. It's only one game.
00:08:32
Speaker
But let's just pray and let's just hope that he's suddenly, he's suddenly woken up because this was, this was magnificent performance from Chiesa. The only crazy thing, the only bermusing thing in this game is how the hell can Max Allegri take Chiesa off in this game? Just insanity. He takes off Chiesa, the best player on the pitch. Certainly the best outfield player on the pitch. No doubt about that. Juventus is his best player by a mile. And he takes him off.
00:08:59
Speaker
I mean, for Moisa Ken in the closing stages when Juventus, it just doesn't make any sense. It's insanity from Allegri. This is where we're at. Juventus is, although they got the draw, Juventus' dreadful form continues. Five without a win now, I think. I think I've got that correct. Five games without a win for
00:09:23
Speaker
four games without a win for Juventus. 16 games since that emply game when everything fell apart. We're almost half a season now. 1-3, drawn 8, lost 5. I mean that's 17 points from
00:09:44
Speaker
from 16 games. That's relegation form, relegation numbers. Juventus have been a relegation team in the second half of the season. It's now looking more and more likely that this will be Juventus' lowest points tally in Allegri's second spell.
00:10:00
Speaker
And it's also now official that Allegri will have got less points than Andrea Pirlo got in his one season, that the Pirlo that was moped, and maybe rightly moped, because it was a bit of a clown show that season at times, even if he did do some good things in his player development, I think, certainly Kiesa.
00:10:21
Speaker
who we just mentioned, is one of those. But the fact that Allegri is going to have less points than Pielo in all three of his seasons, and certainly this season when Juventus have had nothing to play for, nothing to play in Europe, no games in Europe, then that's just embarrassing, really. And this could be the worst of all. And if you saw Weston Mckenny at the end of the game saying that Juventus players are exhausted, then Juventus are playing one game a week.
00:10:50
Speaker
I mean, what the hell? How the hell?
00:10:52
Speaker
What are they doing in training? I mean, it looks when you watch Juventus play that they're doing nothing in training. Certainly nothing from a technical point of view because in three years they haven't got any patterns to play or any structure in the way that they build the play from the back or build the play from anywhere. There is no build up, no build up or passing moves at all. But when it comes to the fitness side of things, what are Juventus doing? How the hell can Juventus be exhausted? They shouldn't be exhausted. They're playing once a week.
00:11:21
Speaker
once a week for an entire season in Serie A, one of the slowest, the slowest major league in Europe. I mean, it's a joke. It's an absolute joke. So that is, that is concerning. But you know, Allegri, I think we'll, we'll, we'll almost certainly go at the end of the season. And it looks like though, thankfully for the fans' sake that Juventus will
00:11:43
Speaker
limp over the line into the Champions League. They certainly haven't earned their place in the Champions League by themselves. They're going to get into the Champions League just as much because all the other teams have been just as bad. Let's be honest. I mean, Juventus have been dropping points after points after points in these last weeks. And luckily for them, the other teams have slipped up. You know, Bologna have won one of their last five games. Roma have started to hit
00:12:10
Speaker
they've won one in their last four in the league Roma and they've started to get exhausted as we'll come on to in a second and you know even Milan, Milan have fallen apart as well so Juventus are getting in the Champions League just as much because the other teams have been, I mean the points tally to think that Roma as it stands with three games to go
00:12:31
Speaker
are in the final Champions League spot with 60 points with three games to go. That says it all. It's a bad season from third down, and we could even say from second down, the way that Milana finished in the season. Just like last season, it's not been a good season from second or third down in Serie A. We've had one team that have completely
00:12:55
Speaker
blown everyone away and then the rest have really not been very good. But talking about Roma, although they are still in fifth place, as I just said, this was a blow for them in order for them to try and get finished fifth and qualify for the Champions League.
00:13:16
Speaker
Because they really had to win this and you know that you've I mean now Obviously interim Milan are already in the Champions League. They've already qualified. That's official But we have to say that Juventus Bologna and Atalanta are now Firm favorites to take those other three Champions League spots wrote Juventus As I've said, they only need to to get three points and they've got so Lenny Turner at home I mean even this Juventus will surely beat so Lenny Turner at home and then
00:13:46
Speaker
Bologna are four points ahead of Roma, with three games to go. And Atalanta are three points behind Roma, but they've got two games in hand. And one of those games is against Selene Turner, which, as I said, we were recording this before, before they play that game, and Rosetta Turner already relegated bottom of the table. So I think that Roma probably now need to win this weekend,
00:14:15
Speaker
away in Bergamo against Atalanta. It's a huge, huge game for both teams, but especially for Roma, because I think if they fail to win that game, then we can say that not only Juventus and Bologna are, that's it, that's done for Roma, but I think Atalanta, we can say, are going to overtake them. And if that happens, then Roma will
00:14:41
Speaker
will have to rely on Atalanta winning the Champions League and Roma coming sixth, which I think they should come sixth, and they've got to be a little bit careful of Lazio, but they should, they're four points ahead of Lazio, they should be good to finish sixth, Roma, and if they finish sixth, then they can get into the Champions League if Atalanta win the Europa League.
00:15:03
Speaker
But obviously, Atalanta first needs to get pass in Marseille, which we're confident they can do that, one-one from the first leg, but then they have to beat Bayern Leverkusen in the final and that's going to be...
00:15:16
Speaker
one hell of an ask. Really realistically, if Roma want to get in the Champions League, they're going to have to win in Berdicombe. They're probably going to have to win their last two games of the season as well. It's a shame. It's a shame because Roma had put themselves in a really good position and they were looking so good and De Rossi had done such an amazing job. I just think that what's happened, and we saw that in this game against Juventus,
00:15:40
Speaker
Roma have just, they've run out of steam and it's totally understandable because they've played so many games. It's been such a full schedule for them playing every weekend, Thursday, weekend, Thursday. And they look exhausted. And I said it after the Napoli game, they were lucky to draw that game 2-2 against Napoli. Napoli outplayed them and
00:16:04
Speaker
They were exhausted, they looked tired in that game. And I said, I fear for them against Leverkusen, ahead of the Leverkusen first leg I said in the semi-final of the Europa League. I said, I fear for them because Leverkusen have got so much energy, they're so physically fit and Roma just look so tired and they looked exhausted.
00:16:21
Speaker
in that game against Leverkusen, got outplayed, lost 2-0. And then again in this game against Juventus, they look tired. They were out on their feet in the second half. The games have really caught up with them.
00:16:36
Speaker
And I don't think you can blame anyone for it. I don't think you can blame De Rossi. I think it's just, you know, just so many games and it could get, I think I do worry for them against Leverkusen in the second leg. It could get ugly. It could get ugly, but
00:16:55
Speaker
The hope that he won't get ugly is that Roma are still showing hearts. And even in that second half, Roma rally, they looked tired. There was a stage in the second half, probably about midway through the second half, where Juventus were taking full control and Roma looked so tired. And he just thought it's only a matter of time that Juventus are going to get the second goal. They're going to win this game.
00:17:18
Speaker
Roma, they showed their battling spirit and that is all down to De Rossi and they still created chances. They created two big chances, Pellegrini and I think it was Kristensen when Danilo headed it away and then the Abraham chance and injury time. So they still, even though they're exhausted, they still managed to create two massive chances and a third pretty good chance as well.
00:17:41
Speaker
That is testament to Roman. That's why we can't rule them out. That's why they're still gonna fight. Unfortunately, those missed chances from Abraham are costly. That's two huge injury time misses in a row that have been very costly. The open goal, I still don't know how he missed it to make it 2-1 against Levakus and that would have given Roman a glimmer of a hope for the second leg in Europa League. It would have meant that just a win would have taken it to extra time. Now we can say they need a miracle.
00:18:11
Speaker
And then in this game, you know, this win would have been priceless for the Champions League. It really would have made it would have made all the difference. And, you know, he missed the charts. Chesney made it made a great save. And so, yeah, it was a shame for Roma. There were some positives, though. I think Bal Dansley starting a rare start for him.
00:18:32
Speaker
He showed some moments of class, which is encouraging. He set up the Lukaku goal. That was mainly done to him. He set up that big Pellegrini chance at 1-1. And he did well. I think if anything, Roman needed more from Di Bala. He was a little bit disappointed. In these last games, he's gone off the boil a bit. Roman needed it in these last games, certainly against Leverkusen.
00:18:58
Speaker
against Juventus here and he didn't, was way off his best really and so that's, you know, Roman need him now. He needs to step up for these last games of the season and also quite telling after the game the quotes, the comments from De Rossi saying that he prefers fast, wide players but that he has Di Bala so he has to make the most of his characteristics. Now
00:19:24
Speaker
Maybe there's nothing to read into that, but I did find that quite interesting because I said after the Levakusian game that I think that the fact that Roma, basically Roma carry two attackers in defensive phases, they carry Lukaku and Dibao. Lukaku and Dibao are often nothing in terms of defensive courage, in terms of pressing, in terms of covering. They just don't. They don't, they don't, they're,
00:19:52
Speaker
They're a hindrance, they're a weakness when it comes to defending from the front. And that I think showed, I think that definitely penalized Roma against Leverkusen because Leverkusen are such a, you know, every player needs to run, to close down and they created overloads. And a lot of that comes from, you know, if everybody doesn't do the work off the ball, that's how you create overloads.
00:20:19
Speaker
you know, so I don't know. I wonder with De Rossi, what to read into that going forward into next season because we know De Bala, his contract runs out in a year but he has this release clause for 12 million that's active for a few weeks. So we will see what happens there with De Bala. Maybe De Rossi thinks that
Milan's Inconsistent Form
00:20:40
Speaker
You know, he, I don't know. We'll see. We've been there down this path before with Deepala, haven't we? That's why he's not as much of a genius as he is. He's not always the most modern of players in that respect. Lukaku though did score. He's not had a good 2024. It's only his fourth goal in 2024, but it was good to see him get on the score sheet and to get on the score sheet in a big game because he rarely, rarely scores or performs in the matches against the biggest teams.
00:21:09
Speaker
Let's move on to Milan. Milan against Genoa. What a game this was. Absolute thriller. Six gold thriller. Three, three. I mean, it's between two teams who really have nothing to play for. And I guess that shows to an extent. I mean, Milan are on a terrible run of form now. And they've now lost six games, drawn three, lost three in all competitions, of course, went out in the Europa League to
00:21:35
Speaker
to Roma and four games without a win in Serie A. So they just want this season to be over, Milan, that's for sure. Having said that though,
00:21:49
Speaker
If anybody saw the result, they would have just thought that, you know, this was just another of those, I mean, the game against Juventus, for example, I mean, Milan couldn't give a shit. They couldn't be asked at all. Excuse my language. I mean, they just, they didn't care less. This game, I think they did put the effort in. They created a lot of chances, so many chances. And really apart from the goals that Jenna was scored, they didn't really concede much either. We'll come on to the defending in a little bit.
00:22:16
Speaker
But they should have, based on the chances, they should have won this game comfortably. And they had an XG of pushing on almost three, so many chances. And really, they were just let down by bad finishing and also disastrous defending, disastrous defending. And that's been a problem for them all season, really.
00:22:38
Speaker
a terrible defending. Tamoori had a shocker in this game. He gave away the penalty and then he cleared the ball onto Tiau or Retiki or whoever it was that however that ball somehow went in for the third goal for Genoa. He is impulsive still sometimes tomorrow and I've been saying this for a long time and that is his one weakness. He is aggressive and he tries to win the ball and he tries to steal the ball and sometimes
00:23:03
Speaker
He tries to win it and steal it when it can't be won. And he goes through the man and he gives away penalties and free kicks and gives away yellows and makes dangerous challenges, commits himself when he shouldn't commit. And that's something in his game which he still hasn't perfected in his game. It was a weakness when he emerged onto the scene two, three years ago and it's still his weakness.
00:23:31
Speaker
something that really, yeah, you would have hoped he would have ironed out in his game now, but it wasn't just Tamoria, you know, Milan, they give away just such unforced, making unforced errors to concede goals in games, in games where they'd completely dominate, not this game, so much the better team.
00:23:51
Speaker
in chance creation and then they give away goals and they can only draw the game. Rafael Liao was disappointed again. He's back to his inconsistent form of the first half of the season in these last business weeks of the season. He really looked like, I mean, the first half of the season very inconsistent, wasn't scoring enough, wasn't shooting on goal enough. And we mentioned that at the turn of the year. Then he really stepped it up. He had a really excellent two to three months
00:24:20
Speaker
We thought he'd turn the corner and then all of a sudden the last few weeks is when it's really mattered in the Europa League quarterfinals and in these last weeks of the season he's disappeared again and he was very, very poor in this game. In fact, it was after he came off that Milan turned the game around from a losing position and looked like they were going to win the game.
00:24:42
Speaker
And he was booed by fans after the game as well. And he took it badly. He took it badly. He posted a cryptic message on Instagram after the game. He didn't stay on the bench. He went straight down the tunnel. And, you know,
00:24:57
Speaker
This is again something that I raised a few weeks ago. He needs to take criticism better, Rafael Liao. He can't let it get to him like he has done. First with the Antonio Cassana criticism before the Uroma Europa League first leg quarterfinal game, where he let it get to him, then had an awful game, which basically was the end of Milan against Roma in that tie.
00:25:27
Speaker
You can't, if you're a top player, you don't get affected by criticism. You don't. Top players don't care about criticism. You have the belief in yourself, and if you believe in yourself, you don't care what criticism you get from fans that you don't even know who they are. Or from Antonio Cassano, who talks out of his backside 99% of the time. You don't care. Why should you care about what somebody else says about you? Who cares? Who cares?
00:25:57
Speaker
Yes, if it's from somebody that you respect and it's constructive and it's like from your coach or from your coaches or from a legend that you respect, then you can take it on constructively and you can learn from it and become a better player.
00:26:16
Speaker
But whoever it's from, you should not let it affect you and let it get you angry and emotional or upset. Because top players in any walk of life, not just football, but in anything, if you let criticism,
00:26:37
Speaker
get to you, then you're not a winner. It's honestly as simple as that. It's black and white. If you let criticism get to you as a professional, I'm talking about here, as a professional in a professional sport or your professional job, if you let criticism get to you, you're not a winner.
00:26:56
Speaker
And if it affects your performance, you're not a winner. It really is as simple as that. And that is why, for Rafael Liao, he, you know, again, this is why he's still not, we can't consider him a world-class player. He's a player with world-class qualities, with world-class moments, does world-class plays and world-class goals, has some real world-class attributes that are only a few players in the world have. That burst of pace and that acceleration, that ability to do something out of nothing,
00:27:26
Speaker
There is only a handful of players that can do that in the world, but he can't do it. He's not doing it consistently. He's, he, you know, he disappears in the first half of the season. He doesn't do anything for the first half of the season. He disappears now when it's really, when it matters most at the end of the season and he lets criticism get to him. And that's concerning. He needs to work. He has to work on that. He really does. He really has to work on that. Um, Olivier Giroud did end his bad runner form with it, with a great goal. It's been five games without a goal before the game.
00:27:55
Speaker
one of the worst misses I've seen probably this year before that and then he then makes up with it with an amazing volley. It was a brilliant volley to make it 3-2. It actually means this is his best scoring season for Milan which if I'm not mistaken which is something of a surprise really because he's sometimes had a bit of a patchy season this season and that's the problem with Milan. They've got too many patchy
00:28:19
Speaker
patchy players that play well for a while then disappear play well for a few months and disappear for a few months
00:28:27
Speaker
there needs to be more consistency. Milan players all need to find their consistency next season if they're going to maintain a challenge. And the same goes with the coach as well because Pioli's the patches of them all. He goes on these long winning runs, seven game winning run, and then he goes on a six game run without winning. And this is what I said when we were discussing this before that Roma first leg when it was the discussion on whether Pioli should stay. And I said, look, it will not surprise me if
00:28:54
Speaker
if Milan now go on a run where they don't win for seven games. That's about to happen. They've got six without winning. I mean, it's just, it's unbelievable, isn't it? But yeah, it was, it was a very, very entertaining game. Unlikely scorers from Milan, Florencia and Gappia. Process from the, from the ultras, they remain silent for the whole match, but I don't care about the ultras though. I give them no relevance at all, as you know. But yeah, the big talking point for Milan now is really who is their next manager?
00:29:23
Speaker
and that continues to be hot. It now seems to be the latest reports, recording this on Monday, is that it's going to be a Portuguese coach. Sergio Conseil, Paulo Fonseca seem to be the first two in line at the moment. Ruben Amorim started to fall and may even stay at sport in Lisbon.
00:29:41
Speaker
And Julen Lopategi looks like he's about to go to West Ham and Milan don't seem to want to even look at Italian coaches, they're discriminating against them. So we're looking like a potential Portuguese coach at the moment, but let's see what goes there. That's going to be key also to Milan next season, because I think we can see now from this run that certainly replacing Pioli for next season is the right decision.
00:30:06
Speaker
As for Genoa, I mean, again, just another example of what a positive season has been in their first season back in Serie A. No Goodmanson in this game, Reza Ghia and Ecuban up front. I thought Ecuban had a really great performance, got a great head. He caused a lot of problems with his physicality, Ecuban has.
00:30:25
Speaker
and Rettaghi was Rettaghi, you know, showed his penalty box qualities, he scored the penalty, he was there for the third goal even if not credited with it to foster the mistake from Tomori and Genoa continue there, I mean what a record Genoa have got against the big teams this season, they've drawn with Milan here
00:30:42
Speaker
They've beaten Roma and Lazio. They're drawn home and away against Juventus, drawn home and away against Napoli. They're drawn within, so they're drawn with Bologna. I mean, that record, I mean, the amount of points they've taken there, off all the big teams, I mean, hardly any of the big teams have beaten this season. Only a few losses against the big teams at the top, Champions League teams. So, you know, that is testament to Alberto Giladino. What a great job he's done at Genoa and why he's considered one of the most promising
00:31:10
Speaker
young coaches in Italian football. It would be nice to see him stay at Genoa, but there is going to be interest in him. I think he should stay at Genoa and prove himself for another season, but he's done a wonderful, wonderful job with Genoa this season. Right. Inter. Inter lose to Sassuolo. Mass rotation from Inter.
00:31:39
Speaker
They were the best team in this game, no doubt about it. But they were a little bit toothless in attack, which can happen for Inter when both Taram and Lautaro don't play. And it's either Alexis or Arnaudtovich being one of the front two.
Inter and Sassuolo Review
00:31:54
Speaker
And in this game, it was Alexis, although Arnaudtovich did come on after. That happens. They lack that killer instinct and that potency in front of goal.
00:32:07
Speaker
And that's what happened in this game. And that is where Inter definitely need to strengthen for next season. It was costly for them, certainly in the Champions League and that first league against South Mexico Madrid, missing all those chances. And yes, they need more than just two.
00:32:26
Speaker
top attackers if they're going to take that next step up in the Champions League next season. Obviously, they've been far and away the best team in Serie A this season. But this game also is inevitable now with nothing to play for that we're going to get these kind of results from Inter. It's inevitable. It's just natural. It's what happens. You've got nothing to play for. Even unconsciously, you lose something. You've got the euros to come.
00:32:56
Speaker
as well, players playing in the Euros or the Copa America, and they want to preserve themselves a little bit unconsciously or consciously. And, you know, Ninzagi rotates the players, which he did in this game. He rested half. He rotated half for the players. He was bringing on players like, like class and coming on, you know, it's, it's, this happens, you know, but for Sasuolo, it's a, it's a massive, massive win. If they didn't win here, it was all over for them.
00:33:24
Speaker
for certain all over for them. This win gives them a glimmer of a hope now that they've still got a lot to do because they're three points off safety with three games left. And when you're down the bottom and you're three points off safety with three games left, that's a lot. That's still a lot, but
00:33:41
Speaker
If they'd have lost this game, they'd have been six points off. It would have been all over for sure. Even a draw, five points off, game over for them for certain. So this win, it gives them a little bit of hope. I still think they've probably left themselves too much to do.
00:33:59
Speaker
but, you know, they don't have a bad end to the season. They've got general away next, nothing to play for. And then they've got calorie at home, which is a huge, huge game, relegation game. And then that's your way last game of the season. So the next two matches, I mean, they're going to have to, they're going to have to, they're probably going to have to win both of them, to be honest with you. So they, they, they have a lot to do. Certainly four points. They're going to need a very, very bare, bare minimum.
00:34:25
Speaker
But Sassuola's record, another team at the bottom with an insane record against the big teams this season. Sassuola are probably going to get relegated. They've done the double over Inter.
00:34:35
Speaker
I mean, can you believe that? I mean, how is that even possible? Inter have lost two games this season, and they're both against Zassuola, a team that's gonna get relegated. Two of the seven games that they've won, Zassuola, against Inter, they also beat Juventus as well, and they beat Fiorentina, and they drew with Milan and drew with Bologna. I mean, this is Serie A, it's bizarre, doesn't make any sense. These teams at the bottom,
00:35:02
Speaker
with incredible records. Udenezer another one with a great record against the big teams this this season. It's just really really bizarre. Let's move on to Torino against Bologna. Bologna are like Juventus limping over the Champions League and they have clearly slowed down in last week's one win four draws in the last five games.
00:35:27
Speaker
The one, probably the one weakness in this Bologna team this season, as amazing as they've been, an incredible job that Motta has done. And this is something that probably the one question that Motta needs to answer next, well there's a few questions that Motta needs to answer next season, assuming he is at Juventus. One is, you know, adapting to a big club.
00:35:48
Speaker
obviously that's always huge playing twice a week absolutely massive playing in Serie A and the Champions League but
00:35:57
Speaker
Also, I think from an offensive point of view, creating more chances than Bologna have created this season. Bologna, one thing we can say about them is they have been toothless in attack sometimes this season. They've been outstanding in defense, Bologna, this season. Again, in this game, I mean, they've conceded 27 goals, Bologna, the only team
00:36:23
Speaker
that have conceded less this season is inter. So, outstanding defensively, outstanding structurally, the patterns, the patterns of play, the way they keep the ball, possession-wise, one of the best in Serie A, you know, territorially, the improvement of players, the way the team plays, the development of players, fantastic. But,
00:36:48
Speaker
At Juventus, Juventus will have to create more chances next season than, well, than Juventus have this season, they're allegory. But also, they need to create more chances than, or Mozart will need to create more chances, assuming he's there with Juventus than he has done at Bologna, and they, because they can be toothless in a tap. And that's their, I think that's their one weakness this season. They've scored 49 goals, Bologna, and only, there's only one more than Juventus, actually.
00:37:16
Speaker
one goal more than Juventus. So that's something that, obviously, Juventus is going to have far superior attackers, so to have better players to work with. But that's something that was probably noticeable in this game, looking forward.
Bologna and Lazio's Struggles
00:37:40
Speaker
Torino, though,
00:37:41
Speaker
are never an easy team to score against. I think they've got the fourth best offensive record in Serie A this season. And they've also got the number of clean sheets this season is 18. 18 clean sheets this season, only in to have more.
00:38:00
Speaker
13 clean sheets at home from 18 games which is insane absolutely insane for a team that are in mid table in 10th place to have that many clean sheets amazing amazing and
00:38:17
Speaker
probably this was the most obvious nil-nil draw you were ever going to get before the game. It was very easy to predict. And so it was a nil-nil draw with Ivan Urich. I think he will leave at the end of the season, at the end of the game, the Turinoc president Urbana Ocaido pretty much
00:38:38
Speaker
confirmed it, that Duric and Torino will split. He kind of sort of criticised him saying he did everything he asked for last summer. We all remember that famous argument they had in the parking lot between Duric and the sporting director and that will
00:39:00
Speaker
came down from Cairo and not getting the players that Djuric wanted. And he gave him his players, like Illich, I think was one that he asked for. He got the striker, Zapata, and, you know, Torino, they just don't, through Djurich, they just don't create anything in attack. And that has been the story of Djurich's career, because I like Djurich, I think, in terms of organization, defensively, pressing the high line,
00:39:27
Speaker
very, very organized, very well drilled. His teams are aggressive, they battle, they compete. You can never turn up against Torino and think you're going to have an easy game and win. But they just don't create chances, they don't score. And that's the problem. And that's what stopped Djuric from going from
00:39:52
Speaker
an excellent mid-table manager, manager of a mid-table team, to a team higher, to a team that are competing for Europe, or competing for Europa League, Champions League places, or even further up. This is the problem that Djuric has had, and he's never been able to improve that, unfortunately. And that's been the case. I mean, Torino have 31 goals from 35 games this season, which is horrific.
00:40:22
Speaker
It's the third worst attack in Serie A, which is unforgivable for a team like Torino. You know, I'm not saying they should have the best attack in Serie A, but they shouldn't have the third worst attack in Serie A, and that's down on Djuric. So I think he will all leave at the end of the season, but certainly he is, Torino
00:40:45
Speaker
When it comes to 0-0s, if you ever want to put a team, a draw, a bet on a 0-0 draw, just go for an Evangirich team or an Evangirich Torino team.
00:40:55
Speaker
because they are always a guarantee for a 0-0. Lazio playing at Monza. Lazio came into this game really with a chance of rescuing a Champions League place. If they'd have won this game, Lazio, they would have gone temporarily into sixth place above Atalanta onto 58 points and they would have been two points behind Roma with three games left.
00:41:22
Speaker
And with Roma really, you know, exhausted and with the tough running they've got and Lazio have got a good running, we could have said Lazio almost have a really good chance of getting that Champions League spot, which just seems impossible for most of the season.
00:41:39
Speaker
And they were nearly there, but an injury time equalizer from Djuric, from Monza. And that is a huge blow for Lazio's Champions League coach, and probably ends their Champions League hopes now, to be honest, because now Lazio are four points off fifth with three games to go, but that's allowed to win their games in hand. Then they are 63, they're seven points off with three games left, that's it.
00:42:03
Speaker
That's all over. So, so yeah, probably all over now for that series. It's been a good effort though. I think Tudor has made a really good impact at the club and you know, they, they almost got another win here.
00:42:14
Speaker
which would have been a huge, huge win. Immobolev back, and he scores, Vissino scores, and seemed like another big goal. I mean, he has been, had a career of big goals, Vissino, almost was another one. But it wasn't to be, and they now need to focus on trying to qualify for Europe, I think, that CEO. They're denied by that man, Juric, who is the best player in Serie A at Headers. There's no doubt about that.
00:42:43
Speaker
He's got 16 goals in Serie A, Zurich, and 10 of them are headers. It's absolutely unbelievable. I mean, 16 goals in his Serie A career, I should say, not this season, 10 of them are headers.
00:42:58
Speaker
This season, this is one of the most insane stats in Serie A. He's averaging 6.8 headers, one per game, Djuric. That is the most in Serie A by a mile. The next best after him is Jaka Biou, 3.8 headers. He's basically, he's averaging double the amount of headers of basically every single player in Serie A, apart from Biou.
00:43:22
Speaker
who's almost half of the number of headers. He's got, so I mean, Zurich is, I mean, he's probably the ideal player if you're losing with like 10 minutes to go and he just want to launch long balls up to. He wins everything. He's like, we've been talking about ISIS, Pro Evolution, soccer, like if anyone played it like in the 2000s when there was,
00:43:49
Speaker
the young collar, the old Czech Republic and Bruce, your Dortmund striker, who was, I think six foot seven or six foot eight in real life, two meters basically. And he, he used to win everything in the air. Like you could do goal kicks or long balls, circle long ball up to him from, from your own penalty area. And, and you put it up to him and then he would, you could like to a flick on header and score from,
00:44:17
Speaker
with uh with Collar from basically anywhere on the pitch if you just did a long ball to him I mean he's like that basically but I think Monza does I don't I don't think that's he deserves to win this game I think Monza deserved the draw definitely carbonium bondo miss miss sitters in in this game and I think overall the draw was a fair result
00:44:37
Speaker
And the rest of the weekend Serie A results, calorie one, Lecce one, late Kristovic goal, really. Otherwise calorie would have been virtually safe from relegation. Now they have to keep going. They're still
00:44:53
Speaker
depending on how good it gets, it could get really, really tight. If good it gets a result or win against Napoli, then it gets very, very tight at the bottom again. But Callery would have basically been safe, but that late goal from Lecce now are safe with that goal. I think we can safely say that. Empoli-Nil, Frosty-Nornin-Nil was just a board draw. Both teams really right in the thick of the relegation fight.
00:45:18
Speaker
and Verona 2, Fiorentina 1, which is a huge win for Verona in their fight against relegation. If Udenezer don't get a result against Napoli, then Verona are almost there. They're almost there. They're not quite there, but they're
Relegation Battles and European Previews
00:45:40
Speaker
What a job. I mean it will be miraculous. If Verona stay up, what a job that Baroni will have done for Verona. I mean they've sold basically their entire first 11 and most of their first team squad in January. They bought a bunch of what me and Nima have been called in regen players. Players with names that seem like they've been made up on championship or championship manager or football manager.
00:46:08
Speaker
at the end when players retire and they've I mean it's unbelievable what they've done and Gianni Noslin one of the signings of January scored with a rocket he has been such a fantastic signing for them and Fiorentina
00:46:23
Speaker
If you haven't seen it played their entire reserve team, as expected, they're just going for the Europa League. Now, Italiano doesn't care where they finish in, he's leaving it in the end of the season, he doesn't care where they finish in the league. So yeah, very, very interesting. Serie A now with three games to go, as I said, certainly turned out to Udenes and Napoli are playing after I record this. Just before I get onto Badgio, Primface and Sadia as of the week,
00:46:51
Speaker
big games in Europe this week. On Thursday, we'll cause no teams in the Champions League. It's the Europa League and Conference League semi-final second legs. The first game is in the Conference League on Wednesday, actually, Fiorentina are playing in Belgium. They lead 3-2 from the first leg. No away goals, remember. So they've got a slender advantage here, Fiorentina.
00:47:19
Speaker
Come on, Fiorentino, we have to do this. This is a golden opportunity for you guys because Olympiacos are 4-2 up and at home in the second leg against Aston Villa, who were the red-hot favorites of this competition. If Fiorentino can get through here, they play Olympiacos in the final. That is, they're not going to get a better chance to win a European trophy. What will be their first European trophy since
00:47:48
Speaker
1961, is it? If I remember correctly, early 60s. I mean, wow, what an opportunity. So come on guys, do this. Let's do this. Thursday though, two massive games. First of all, let's go with the long shot. Leverkusen against Roma in Germany. Leverkusen lead 2-0 from Rome. We've said it, Roma need a miracle. This Leverkusen team, I watched them again in the weekend. They won 5-1 at Frankfurt.
00:48:18
Speaker
48 games unbeaten equal in the Benfica record from the 1960s the Usabeo team of the 60s 1963 to 65 They just looking invincible. They are invincible this season. They look invincible Roma having to win by two goals just to take this extra time a Roma team that as I've said earlier look exhausted Yes, they need a miracle they need a miracle and and I think I think they're gone sadly and
00:48:44
Speaker
But Atalanta are all we favourites. Going into theirs, they drew 1-1 in Marseille in the first leg, because they played the second leg at Atalanta in Bergamo. And they're going to rotate, I think, a lot of players in the game against Saleni Tana. So they should hopefully be fresh for that game. And let's just hope that Atalanta can do it. They are playing well in good form. They can do this.
00:49:13
Speaker
Keep your heads, put your chances away. Nothing stupid, no stupid mistakes. We're confident that Atlanta can do that. Right, to finish off with, Baggio, Prem Face, and Celia Ass of the Week.
00:49:27
Speaker
Starting with Badjo, I'm going to go for that man Sven Goren-Eriksen or rather the Sven Goren-Eriksen tribute at Sampdoria. Sampdoria are playing on Sunday and Sampdoria did a tribute before their City of B game. It was magical to see. They put on a real show for him and all the
00:49:51
Speaker
I'm sorry, I have to cough because I'm talking nonstop now for nearly an hour. I'm used to Nima doing a lot of the talking. But yes, so before the game, there was all of his, a lot of his former squad from the 1990s. He was there for five years, of course, a legend at Sampdoria. Roberto Mancini, the star of that team, Clarence Cidor, Fartilio Lombardo, Chiesa, Enrico Chiesa, the dad of Federico,
00:50:21
Speaker
And many other legends were there. And he went to the game before he gave a speech the day before on the Saturday, a beautiful speech talking to the Sampdoria squad.
Critique of Media and League Representation
00:50:36
Speaker
And then he went before the game on Sunday. It was a big banner from the Sampdoria fans. And there were all those former players that I mentioned and it was just beautiful.
00:50:49
Speaker
It really was. I think that obviously we know Ericsson has got terminal cancer and he only has months to live. And I think it's absolutely beautiful that he is spending his final days doing this kind of almost this farewell tour to life, a farewell tour of football.
00:51:15
Speaker
He's been, he said that his dream was to coach Liverpool before he died and Liverpool, they set up a game for him to coach a Liverpool team in the charity game, a friendly game.
00:51:29
Speaker
He went to Gothenburg and in a similar tribute that they'd done at Sampdoria with an amazing banner and they sung that the fans sung a song to him and he had tears in his eyes and all the players, former players were there as well. Ben Fika, another of his former clubs and you know, I just think it's beautiful. He's saying goodbye to the world and it's, you know, of course everybody deals with, you know,
00:51:59
Speaker
you know, your final months in a different way. He's thankfully at the moment, he still seems strong enough that he can do this, but I just think it's beautiful. The amount of, and the love that people have shown for him just shows what an amazing person he is and how loved he was. And it's beautiful, it's touching, it brings a tear to your eye. And this was just another example of that. So absolutely beautiful, absolutely beautiful.
00:52:26
Speaker
On the other side of the scale though, prem face of the week, Jamie Carragher. This was really quite something to see. So it was during the Champions League game in Germany in Dortmund between Borussia Dortmund and PSG and one of the CBS pundits, Jamie Carragher, of course a former Liverpool player,
00:52:52
Speaker
who's no stranger to controversy, certainly since he finished his career. And he was sent by CBS to watch the game in the yellow wool, the legendary yellow wool, with the Borussia Dortmund fans.
00:53:10
Speaker
He watched the game there and then after the game, he came from the yellow wall and did to do some interviews, joined Peter Schmeichel to do some interviews in the flash zone. And it was embarrassing. He was completely drunk, slurring his words, shouting like a drunken yobo on holiday. And it was just,
00:53:40
Speaker
It was a clown show. It was a clown show. Completely scripted. He was interviewing Jaden Sancho who just looked embarrassed. Peter Schmeichel completely, I mean I know.
00:53:54
Speaker
that Peter Schmeichel works for CBS. I know that Peter Schmeichel absolutely detests Jamie Carragher. I know that, but I know that from people that know Schmeichel. He absolutely detests Carragher and he looks so uncomfortable. He was like, who is this guy? What is he doing? It was a complete clown show. I'm not against
00:54:14
Speaker
you know, making football a little bit light. I actually think that's quite endearing. I don't think football, football journalism, certainly punditry should be all serious. And I think that's something that we try and do on this show with me and them. We try to have a bit of a joke, we make fun, we make fun of ourselves.
00:54:30
Speaker
you know we pick up and we we pick up on you know serious things but we we also comment on the more light-hearted things as well and so you know that's one thing that i think with cbs i don't watch them all the time but i think that you know that is can be endearing about cbs but it also the number there's also a line but there also is
00:54:53
Speaker
You know things have to be natural and CBS is so scripted It's unbelievable how scripted like some of the stuff they that they do Is so so scripted. I mean when you see the what's her name that the presenter, you know? Talking about her relationships all the time and they're all talking about their relationships and then they're cracking jokes, which are so scripted I mean that you can tell that they've sat there and they they've literally scripted the words they're gonna say And this was obviously scripted as well. It was said before that
00:55:23
Speaker
you know, Carrigo was going to go and get drunk or act drunk. And then so I don't even blame Carrigo. Whoever's put him up to it is just as much to blame. I mean, it's just embarrassing. It really is embarrassing. And you know, I've been there. I know how UEFA deals with these things and I know how other journalists deal with these things. And if it was any other media, they would have been kicked out for doing this kind of stuff. And, you know, there seems to be this acceptance to kind of just allow this stuff to go. You know, CBS clown show. I mean, it is a clown show.
00:55:52
Speaker
Sometimes, I mean, this was just embarrassing, absolutely embarrassing. So yeah, that's my prim face. The other one, which was sent in by a patron who, and I've left my phone in the other room, so I'm really sorry, I did have it written on my phone who the patron was that sent this in, but it was Danny Mills saying that Jude Bellingham wouldn't get into the Manchester City team.
00:56:20
Speaker
And so that is, yeah, that is certainly an act of prem facery. I mean, come on. Yeah. I mean, Jude Bellingham, he's a, he's a world-class player and he gets into any team I think in the world. So Danny Mills, the, the, the, the, the English Caffoo did they used to call him? What was, what did he used to be called? Danny Mills. I can't remember what his nickname was. But anyway, Danny Mills is the second prem face of the week.
00:56:49
Speaker
And finally, Selya Ass of the Week is, you'll be surprised to know, is the Seria official Twitter account, as it usually is most weeks. And it was for, and again, I had this on my phone, I've left my phone somewhere. So this was a drawing of, I'm just trying to remember it now, it was a Harry Potter drawing, Harry Potter themed drawing of Harry Potter.
00:57:18
Speaker
I have never watched Harry Potter, but it was like six wizards racing each other for the Golden Snitch, which I think most people will understand what that means better than I do. But they were racing for something, the Golden Snitch.
00:57:34
Speaker
and that they drew like all the the seria champions league teams to that they put the logos or the shirts of the six champions league teams and like racing for the champions league not champions league qualification and it was just
00:57:53
Speaker
just just like really bizarre and just like really random out of nowhere and that's kind of like what the seriad twitter cab does all the time it's just just random random posts and random photos and random captions that don't really make any sense and have no context and and and it's just just really really weird and
00:58:14
Speaker
I think the top comment was, nobody will convince me that a six-year-old doesn't run the Serie A official Twitter account. I think that is the best way of putting it. I mean, who runs this Serie A Twitter account? I mean, if anybody knows who runs the Serie A official Twitter account, I would love to know. I really would love to know because I'm sorry, they need to be named in shame. I don't mean to be horrible, but I mean,
00:58:40
Speaker
you know, it really is a joke and it does so much damage to our hopes of growing the Seria that they put out this kind of content in what is our window to the world.
Closing Remarks and Get Well Wishes
00:58:52
Speaker
Okay, right. So, yeah, I'm going to leave it at that. That is me talking for 58 minutes on my own, almost without taking breath. So, yes, that is that. The Q&A has already been done by me as well. We hope that Nimr gets well very, very soon because, yes, we are planning, or Nimr is certainly planning,
00:59:18
Speaker
to do a reaction show on Thursday to the Europa League games and also the conference league game which is played on Wednesday. Nimr is planning, at least Nimr, I might be around if I'm not, it will certainly, Nimr certainly will be around if, if he is well and he recovers well. So hopefully he will be. But yeah, that's all from me for today. Have a great week everyone and see you next time. Ciao Ciao.