Much like Germany did this weekend, Italy had a hotly anticipated match between historic rivals that provided the lion’s share of entertainment, and we’ve got the scoop on that game plus all the others from Serie A.
Serie A winners from Matchday 28
Mile Svilar
In a pulsating Derby della Capitale, Roma’s defense hung their goalkeeper out to dry so often, you’d swear you were watching an Italian movie from the 1950s. Under an onslaught from Lazio, the Serbian shot-stopper made one spectacular save after another (one of them off his own teammate’s attempted clearance that would have gone for an own goal) and produced a man-of-the-match display in a 1-1 draw. The Roma faithful should be thankful that he saved them from defeat to their hated rivals.
Sérgio Conceição
The AC Milan coach switched his team to a 3-4-3 alignment, and the result was a 4-0 beatdown at Udinese. (A fifth goal by Christian Pulisic was ruled out because Tammy Abraham touched the ball from an offside position.) It would have been great if Conceição had found this tactical solution earlier in the season, but from ninth place, the rossoneri still have a chance to make a run for a Champions League spot.
Igor Tudor
The Croatian spent almost a decade playing at Juventus without ever quite morphing into the fearsome defender that many observers expected. Recently, Juve fired Coach Thiago Motta and hired their old center-back to see out the rest of the year. Three games in charge has seen Juve earn a routine win over Genoa, a creditable draw against AS Roma, and now a win against Lecce, though Federico Baschirotto’s late goal made things nervous for the bianconeri in the last minutes. It’s still early, but Juventus fans have reason to be encouraged.
Marko Arnautovi
The 35-year-old Inter Milan striker has never been nearly as consistent as his teams have wished, but right now, the big Austrian is in a zone. He opened the scoring in his team’s defeat of Cagliari by taking Carlos Augusto’s knockdown and putting it in the net, then he registered a beauty of an assist from the touchline that set up Lautaro Martínez’ chipped goal. To think, five years ago Arnautović was playing in the Chinese league, and now he’s got three goals in the last five games down the stretch for a team that’s on track to win the scudetto.
Daniel Fila
With 71 minutes gone, 19th-place Venezia were heading for a draw at home to 20th-place Monza that would have been both costly and embarrassing. The Czech striker who joined the Winged Lions two months ago saved their blushes by touching in Mikael Egill Ellertsson’s cross for the win, which pulls Venezia within two points of safety with six matches to go. Fila also got a red card in the game’s dying moments, but if his goal saves his team from relegation, that will cushion the blow mightily.
Mateo Retegui
The Atalanta striker opened the scoring by smashing home Raoul Bellanova’s cross. Then he turned provider and crossed for Mario Pašalić to score in a defeat of Bologna that has major implications for the Champions League spots. With 23 goals in Serie A, he will likely finish the season as the league’s leading scorer, and Argentina may live to regret letting this native son play for Italy.
Fabio Grosso
It’s not easy to bounce right back up one season after being relegated, but that’s what Sassuolo did after they beat Modena and third-place Spezia could only draw against Mantua. You may remember Grosso as a player at the 2006 World Cup, scoring the winning goal against Germany, converting the winning penalty in the final against France, and diving to win the penalty that eliminated Australia. Since then, he’s been coaching in many places, most recently with a failed stint in Lyon. Sassuolo hired him at the beginning of the season, and now he’s taken them back up to Serie A at the first time of asking. We’ll be seeing the neroverdi again come August.
Serie A losers from Matchday 28
Jhon Lucumí
Bologna’s suicidally high pressing will lead to them giving up some easy goals, and Atalanta clearly identified their Colombian left-back as a weak link. Both goals by Atalanta came down his flank, with Lucumí’s turnover leading directly to Mario Pašalić’s score. By the time the rossoblú shored up that side, it was too late.
Torino
A thoroughly flat display at Como leading to a 1-0 loss. They hardly gave Como goalkeeper Jean Butez anything to do in the first half, and while the granata did improve in the second half, they couldn’t conjure up an equalizer.
Genoa
Even less inspiring was the team with the griffin on their crest. Their match at Hellas Verona ended goalless. With a majority of the possession, Genoa managed one shot on target. At least Verona tried to score.
Parma
Their last five games have all ended in draws. If a tie is like kissing your sister, well, this is just really creepy.
Manchester United
Their former players keep flourishing on other teams. Scott McTominay scored two goals for Napoli in their easy win over Empoli, and both of those were assisted by fellow ex-United guy Romelu Lukaku. Along with Marcus Rashford filling up the stat sheet for Aston Villa and Antony thriving at Real Betis, that constitutes its own indictment of how things are run at Old Trafford, completely apart from United’s place in the Premier League table.