Association Football 2020/21

[Battista Minola 1616]

My ability to care for the upper table of Serie A this year is dramatically scarce since I am obviously all out for Spezia.

Also: I still can't read someone say that Atalanta is a serious contender for the title without having cognitive dissonance.

[Battista Minola 1616]

My ability to care for the upper table of Serie A this year is dramatically scarce since I am obviously all out for Spezia.

Also: I still can't read someone say that Atalanta is a serious contender for the title without having cognitive dissonance.

They deserved to win away against Juventus (who struggled after the restart) at the end of last season, were very cruelly knocked out by PSG in the Champions League, beat a strong Lazio team away a couple weeks ago, and are the bookmakers' third-favorite to win Serie A, so I think they have to be considered dark horse contenders. They were only 5 points off Juve last season...

Yeah I certainly agree that they are dark horse contenders (and an Atalanta Serie A victory would be simply epic) but I am old enough to remember when Atalanta played for avoiding relegation. I don't know how much time it usually takes for a "small team" to become considered a "big team" (or vice versa) in the zeitgeist... maybe a decade?

[Battista Minola 1616]

My ability to care for the upper table of Serie A this year is dramatically scarce since I am obviously all out for Spezia.

Also: I still can't read someone say that Atalanta is a serious contender for the title without having cognitive dissonance.

You should consider yourself lucky that Spezia is in Serie A at least

Tfw your soccer team is in the 2nd Division

Of course! It's the first time ever for us.

Oh well. The great UD LAS PALMAS. I think I vaguely support it. Certainly I would take it over Tenerife.

[Battista Minola 1616]

Really looking forward to Milan-Roma in one week. Milan really might set itself up in pretty impressive position despite a soft-ish first three games. Absolutely critical to keep building that advantage early at least so they can feel safe about a top 5 finish. Suspect they will cool off later on.

I have absolutely zero love for Milan as an Inter fan. This beginning of season has been depressing on that front.

[Battista Minola 1616]

Best match of the day was probably Tottenham/West Ham.

West Ham comes back from 3-0 down, scores three goals in the final five minutes to get a draw.

Bologna-Sassuolo was better. Spezia-Fiorentina was a great match, too.

Of course Spezia-Fiorentina was a great match.



P.S. Can we get this thread pinned?

[Battista Minola 1616]

Also, going into today's match with Leeds, somehow, Aston Villa is in second place. It would be rather impressive if they kept that position all season, just a point behind Everton.

Everton and Aston Villa are my favourite Premier League teams. This is the dream!

[Battista Minola 1616]

Man I wish Parma-Spezia is an X!

Also, Romelu Lukaku is just such an Unbeatable Titan, so to speak. Forza Inter!

[Battista Minola 1616]

Man I wish Parma-Spezia is an X!

Also, Romelu Lukaku is just such an Unbeatable Titan, so to speak. Forza Inter!

Tempted to go X2 on it, even. Spezia played pretty well against a Fiorentina team that is much better than Parma. I don't think they're necessarily favored, but I think they have a slightly better chance than the odds suggest. If Parma's odds were more like 2.25, I may be more tempted by them.

Also, I was really impressed at how quickly Lukaku picked up Italian. Sure, he may have linguistic talent, and learning Italian isn't that hard for a French speaker, but it shows the kind of hard work he's done at Inter.

Just listened to a Lukaku interview and yes he's picked up Italian pretty quickly!

I must say that my favourite heavy-scoring forward in Serie A is Ciro Immobile, because his scoring average - especially with Lazio - is simply crazy (at least, crazy if your name is not Cristiano Ronaldo) and he is a staple of the Italian national team.

[Battista Minola 1616]

Parma - Spezia 2-2 with Parma drawing at the last minute.

Santander how f!cking smart you are

[Battista Minola 1616]

Barcelona. Is there a more hateable team? With that said, Juve plays terribly considering the sheer talent in the squad and deserve to lose.

For many years Juve has won loads of Serie A games against small teams 1-0 while playing crap, which is one of the numerous reasons why the Zebras are hateable.

[Battista Minola 1616]

Torino - Lazio 3-4 is crazy and is also very very sad, especially considering Lazio scored the decisive goal eight minutes after the 90'.
Spezia - Juventus 1-4 on the other hand...

[Battista Minola 1616]

In what's probably a good sign, the U.S crushed Panama 6-2 yesterday.

This victory over Panama's good news for those of us (like me) who would like to see the U.S be the best team in CONCACAF. Now if we could just consistently beat Mexico...

It will likely never happen (gladly). Viva México!

[Battista Minola 1616]

Last weekend of Serie A has been really juicy, between Juventus drawing at Benevento (lmao) and Spezia drawing at Cagliari at last minute. And, of course, Inter and Napoli won as well. We are quite kicking ass for now, which I wasn't really expecting. From Portovenere to Montemarcello, from the Cinque Terre to the Val di Magra, we all shout: Forza Spezia!

[Battista Minola 1616]

Group B is clearly harder. That's not even up for debate.

The final matches are tomorrow and right now Group B has one team at 8 points, two teams at 7 points and one team at 5 points.

I think you may now accept your accolades.

[Battista Minola 1616]

Group B is clearly harder. That's not even up for debate.

The final matches are tomorrow and right now Group B has one team at 8 points, two teams at 7 points and one team at 5 points.

I think you may now accept your accolades.

My preferred result would be Inter and Gladbach through, with Shakhtar entering the Europa League, and Madrid exiting, which is what will happen if Gladbach and Inter both win. But from a betting perspective, the odds on Gladbach and Shakhtar are very tempting.

To demonstrate how bad American soccer journalism is, Sports Illustrated wrote a headline today saying Group H was the hardest group. It was like, maybe the third-hardest group. (Group D was arguably harder, too) What a joke.

Lol. I shouldn't be surprised that soccer journalism in a country where the sport is not exactly immensely popular is bad quality, I suppose.

[Battista Minola 1616]

American soccer commentary is so bad. I can see it for MLS, but can't they get some actual professionals to call La Liga matches?

You could start following Italian commentary instead. Great learning opportunity

[Battista Minola 1616]

Napoli win our appeal to reschedule the Juventus match! Didn't even play after losing two in a row and elevated to third on the table! Now let's hope Fiorentina finishes their job!

Cuadrado got expelled early on in the game so I'd say Fiorentina has it easy... but we'll see in an hour.

Meanwhile, Spezia lost Sunday, but since it lost against Inter, I can't say I'm disappointed. Atalanta destroying Roma was just beautiful instead.

Also: NEW RECORD. During Sassuolo-Milan Leão scored a goal in less than 7", breaking the record for the fastest goal in the history of Serie A!

[Battista Minola 1616]

lol Arsenal. If you want easy money at this point, just bet against them in every match. They always have people putting money on them because of their brand name.

Lmao

In other news, Fiorentina did indeed finish its job, steamrolling Juventus 3-0 in Turin. Actually, when was the last time Juve lost home by 3 goals in Serie A?? Must be a long time.

[Battista Minola 1616]

Hard to believe Simon Kjaer is only 31, it feels like he's been around forever. There are even some people who are calling him the best defender in Serie A... (obviously, those people are very wrong - that title belongs to Koulibaly) I remember back when Kjaer was at Roma in 2012, people were calling him the worst defender in Serie A, lol.

I was interested to see if Julian Draxler would move this window, as I think he's a genuinely interesting transfer who could make a difference somewhere, unlike Sami Khedira, Christian Eriksen, or Isco, but it looks like he's going to run out his contract at PSG. The transfer window has been so quiet... literally zero deals worth talking about.

I'm honestly shocked 1. that Simon Kjaer is still around 2. that he is considered in contention for best anything.

I very much agree about Kalidou Koulibaly, the impenetrable wall of Naples.

[Battista Minola 1616]

https://twitter.com/CalcioDirect/status/1351668833917022219?s=20

Unreal Coppa Italia match.

Your quarters are Napoli/Spezia, Inter/Milan, Juve/SPAL, Atalanta/Lazio (or Parma). Not much chaos at all, but that was certainly a nice small moment of fun.

SPEZIA

SPEZIA

SPEZIA

SPEZIA

The Eagles soared in Rome! City pride through the roof!

[Battista Minola 1616]

The other night Inter beat Milan in the quarter-finals of the Coppa Italia and I feel so good about it. Derby won!

Eriksen's free kick goal was MASTERFUL.

Tonight Spezia plays at Naples in the last quarter-final and I don't feel good about our chances at all. Speaking of which, I've just found out that the stadium of Naples has been renamed foe Diego Armando Maradona after his death lmao.
In the unlikely event Spezia wins I'm going to heavily taunt Sprouts, sorry not sorry.

[Battista Minola 1616]

In the unlikely event Spezia wins I'm going to heavily taunt Sprouts, sorry not sorry.

Lmao
Spezia lost 4-2 and at one point was down 4-0.
Anyway, it's been fun. I mean, in the last eight years Spezia has reached the final phase (i.e. round of 16) of Coppa Italia four times and the quarter-finals twice, which is still much more than one would expect from a team of our caliber.

The other night Inter beat Milan in the quarter-finals of the Coppa Italia and I feel so good about it. Derby won!

Eriksen's free kick goal was MASTERFUL.

The Zlatan-Lukaku fight was fun to watch, too.

Eh, I only watched the end so I missed that episode.

[Battista Minola 1616]

If your takeaway from Real Madrid beating Atalanta 1-0 with Atalanta being with 10 men from the 17' on is that Real Madrid did impressively, you literally have no clue about football.

In other news, this is looking like the most competitive Serie A in ages, Inter has taken the lead, and Spezia is hovering pretty safely above the relegation line. What's not to like?

[Battista Minola 1616]

This incident should not be forgotten, and action should be taken to find a long-term solution to prevent future attempts. The ringleaders Perez, Agnelli, and the Americans need to be removed, and safeguards put in place to prevent like-for-like replacements.

It is going to be very hilarious if this Super Duper League clownshow blunder costs Andrea Agnelli his post as president of Juventus. Of course it will not actually change anything because he and his family still own the club, lol. As they have done since forever. I guess that explains many things about Juventus.

[Battista Minola 1616]

This incident should not be forgotten, and action should be taken to find a long-term solution to prevent future attempts. The ringleaders Perez, Agnelli, and the Americans need to be removed, and safeguards put in place to prevent like-for-like replacements.

It is going to be very hilarious if this Super Duper League clownshow blunder costs Andrea Agnelli his post as president of Juventus. Of course it will not actually change anything because he and his family still own the club, lol. As they have done since forever. I guess that explains many things about Juventus.

Juve, like Real Madrid, have what are probably the strongest values, traditions, and identity of any major club in Europe. The problem is that those values suck.

For that reason, it is not surprising that they were the two clubs whose fans actually expressed the most support for the Super League.

When someone first pointed this out to me I remarked "Well, Juventus fans are used to rigged competition".