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Serie A wrap: Surprises up and down the table

By Nicholas MendolaJan 28, 2018, 6:11 PM EST
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It was a wild, wild week in Serie A, where most of the relegation scrappers collected points and two Roman Top Five sides lost, one at home!

[ MORE: Barcelona’s big comeback ]

Napoli’s 57 and Juventus’ 56 points are double digits clear of the chasing pack after this loony couple days of Italian top flight play.

AC Milan 2-1 Lazio

Patrick Cutrone’s opener gave the hosts a lead which would last just five minutes, but Giacomo Bonaventura nodded this beautiful ball home to edge AC Milan closer to the Top Four race.

SPAL 1-1 Inter Milan

Remember Alberto Paloschi? The ex-Swansea City striker has given lowly SPAL an invaluable point with a 90th minute goal to make amends for a 48th minute own goal as Inter drifted further off the pace set by Napoli and Juventus in the chase for a scudetto.

Fiorentina 1-4 Verona

It was a big week for relegation battlers, as on-loan Moise Kean (Juventus) scored twice to pull the visitors within three points of safety.

Crotone 1-1 Cagliari

Marcello Trotta‘s first half penalty was canceled out deep into first half stoppage as Cagliari denied 17th place Crotone all three points.

Elsewhere
Sassuolo 0-3 Atalanta — Saturday
Chievo 0-2 Juventus — Saturday
Genoa 0-1 Udinese — Behrami with lone goal
Torino 3-0 Benevento — Falque opens scoring in 3rd
Napoli 3-1 Bologna — Two more for Mertens
Roma 0-1 Sampdoria — Duvan Zapata scores late

STANDINGS

Team GP W D L GF GA GD Home Away PTS
 Napoli 22 18 3 1 48 14 34 8-2-1 10-1-0 57
 Juventus 22 18 2 2 52 15 37 9-1-1 9-1-1 56
 Lazio 22 14 4 4 57 27 30 6-2-2 8-2-2 46
 Inter Milan 22 12 8 2 37 17 20 7-3-1 5-5-1 44
 Roma 22 12 5 5 32 17 15 7-1-4 5-4-1 41
 Sampdoria 22 11 4 7 41 31 10 8-1-2 3-3-5 37
 AC Milan 22 10 4 8 29 29 0 6-2-3 4-2-5 34
 Atalanta 22 9 6 7 34 27 7 5-3-3 4-3-4 33
 Udinese 22 10 2 10 35 31 4 5-1-5 5-1-5 32
 Torino 22 7 11 4 32 28 4 4-5-2 3-6-2 32
 Fiorentina 22 7 7 8 31 28 3 4-4-3 3-3-5 28
 Bologna 22 8 3 11 27 33 -6 3-3-5 5-0-6 27
 Chievo 22 5 7 10 21 39 -18 3-4-4 2-3-6 22
 Sassuolo 22 6 4 12 14 34 -20 2-3-6 4-1-6 22
 Genoa 22 5 6 11 16 24 -8 2-2-7 3-4-4 21
 Cagliari 22 6 3 13 20 34 -14 3-1-7 3-2-6 21
 Crotone 22 5 4 13 17 39 -22 3-3-5 2-1-8 19
 SPAL 22 3 8 11 23 40 -17 2-5-4 1-3-7 17
 Verona 22 4 4 14 22 45 -23 2-1-8 2-3-6 16
 Benevento 22 2 1 19 13 49 -36 2-1-8 0-0-11 7

McKennie: I have to stand up for what I believe in

George Floyd tributes in soccer
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By Joe Prince-WrightJun 2, 2020, 10:11 AM EDT
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USMNT and Schalke midfielder Weston McKennie has said he will stand firm and accept any punishment for wearing an armband in support of George Floyd.

During Schalke’s 1-0 defeat at home to Werder Bremen on Saturday, McKennie wore an armband saying ‘Justice for George’ and along with several other Bundesliga players, he will now be investigated by the German Football Association as there are rules against players wearing political messages on shirts or other garments.

Following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, MN last week there have been widespread protests across the USA. A video showed former Minneapolis police officer, Derek Chauvin, putting his knee on George Floyd’s neck for more than 8 1/2 minutes. Chauvin was arrested last Friday and charged with murder, authorities confirmed.

Over the weekend Borussia Dortmund’s Jadon Sancho and Achraf Hakimi revealed messages of support on their jerseys, while McKennie wore his armband saying ‘Justice for George’ and Borussia Monchengladbach’s Marcus Thuram took a knee after he scored in the Bundesliga.

Clubs and players across Europe have since issued their support to the movement. As for the German FA, they said they are looking into potential breaches around rules on political, religious or personal slogans.

Speaking to Forbes in an interview, McKennie said that as an American international player he simply had to speak out.

“I was like, ‘I’m not taking it off’. There’s a rule in the league that you can’t make political statements. But I mean, if you really, really look at this as a political statement, then I don’t know what to tell you,” McKennie said. “The league and everyone (in soccer) always preaches ‘say no to racism’. So I didn’t think that there would be a problem. If I have to take the consequences to express my opinion, to express my feelings, to stand up for what I believe in, then that’s something that I have to do.”

“I felt like it was my responsibility and my duty, especially being American, and with the situation going on in America,” McKennie added. “And I felt like it was the best and biggest platform that I could use to spread awareness. Of course, maybe some people don’t agree with it, but that’s their opinion and for me, I felt like it was my duty and my responsibility to go out to show justice for George Floyd. This is a problem that’s been going on way too long. We’re the only (soccer) league that’s playing right now, all eyes are on the Bundesliga. So I felt like there’s no better way and no better time than now.”

McKennie then went on to detail some of the racist abuse his family have received in the USA and said he wasn’t surprised at all about what happened to George Floyd, but urged people around the world to join the Black Lives Matter movement and the battle to stop police brutality.

“It doesn’t matter the color of your skin. If you believe that this is wrong, if you want to see change, it’s something that you can join. Every voice matters, no matter how big or how small,” McKennie said. “Obviously it’s a global problem and it’s going to take the world to fix it.”

Hasenhuttl signs new four-year contract at Southampton

Hasenhuttl
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By Joe Prince-WrightJun 2, 2020, 9:33 AM EDT
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Ralph Hasenhuttl has handed Southampton a massive boost by signing a new four-year contract at the Premier League club.

[ VIDEO: Premier League highlights ] 

Hasenhuttl, 52, joined Saints in December 2018 and his high-pressing style of play has impressed fans and neutrals, although there have been a few bumps in the road along the way.

The low-point was the 9-0 home defeat to Leicester City in October but since then Hasenhuttl went back to basics with his tactics and the slate was wiped clean for most of his players. Saints went on a run of seven wins from 11 games from late November to January to drag themselves away from the relegation battle.

“This, for me, was a simple decision. Simple because of the relationship that I have built with the club, the players and the fans, and also because of the relationship they have built with me too,” Hasenhuttl said. “I said when I arrived at the club that we were at the beginning of a long journey, and also a journey that would bring emotion and hopefully enjoyment. We have already had some moments where we could celebrate together, and some that have been emotional and also challenging.

“The way we have handled this together as a group of people has been incredible for me, and I believe we now have strong foundations here that can allow us to take the next steps in our progress as a team… We value the same philosophies, and this is a big part of why I want to stay here, and I hope we can share in some very successful moments moving forward.”

This works out well for everyone. Saints need Hasenhuttl and vice versa, as the club stood by him when his side were battered by Leicester and were all over the place defensively earlier in the season. Since then there’s been a massive turnaround as Hasenhuttl’s high-pressing style has returned to Saints and they’ve won away at the likes of Chelsea and Leicester City.

Southampton currently sit seven points above the relegation zone with nine games of the 2019-20 season to go and Hasenhuttl’s young, hungry side have a string of games against teams battling against relegation to come.

This contract will give the playing squad certainty as Hasenhuttl only had one year left on his previous deal. Shane Long is expected to sign a contract extension soon too, while captan Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg has one year on his contract but may be swayed to stay at Saints given Hasenhuttl will be sticking around.

The financial situation at Saints is a little unclear given that their majority owner Gao Jisheng has stated he will not bankroll signings and wants the club to be sustainable, so Hasenhuttl will likely have to rely on polishing plenty of gems from Saints’ famed academy to bring into the first team.

Providing Saints don’t collapse in the final games of the season, they will be in the Premier League next season and they will have stability with Hasenhuttl around as they can plan ahead. During the suspension of play, Hasenhuttl has been working on a virtual book for the entire academy system at Saints to follow and his style of play will now be present from their youth sides all the way up to the first team.

The ‘Klopp of the Alps’ has found his home on England’s south coast.

Bundesliga: Takeaways from Week 29

Bundesliga takeaways
Photo by Bernd Thissen/Pool via Getty Images
By Nicholas MendolaJun 1, 2020, 7:47 PM EDT
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Two teams with American players going in two very different directions met Sunday in Gelsenkirchen.

Werder Bremen beat Schalke 1-0 via a wonderful Leonardo Bittencourt goal to give it plenty of hope of avoiding its first relegation in nearly 40 years.

[ Bundesliga: Fixtures, box scores ]

The win also gave plenty of misery to Schalke, who looks absolutely rudderless. David Wagner’s men are winless in 11 league outings with five draws and a total of three goals scored. Three of those losses have come to teams currently ranked 13th and lower on the table.

Schalke has produced nine shots on target in its four matches back from the break, with Weston McKennie’s diving header its only goal in 430 minutes. Next on the docket is a trip to Union Berlin before finishing with Bayer, Eintracht Frankfurt, Wolfsburg, and Freiburg.

[ MORE: USMNT mid McKennie wears black armband ]

Bremen, on the other hand, can move level on points with 15th place Mainz by beating Eintracht on Wednesday.

There are still tough matches on the docket including Wolfsburg and Bayern — the latter of whom may have already won the league by that June 16 home match — but Eintracht, Paderborn, Mainz, and Koln… there are points to be had there.

Also encouraging: American forward Josh Sargent has started all three matches of Bremen’s unbeaten run. He’s getting valuable experience and mettle for a 20-year-old, even if the direction has been, “Run around like a maniac and make lives miserable.”

Sargent is covering the entire field from his striker position, and he’s being noticed by defenders. He drew five fouls in 70 minutes, won 10-of-17 duels, and posted two tackles, an interception, and a clearance (Sofascore).

Player of the Week: There’s little question here. Jadon Sancho’s return to the Starting XI was an unqualified success as the English winger collected his first hat trick in a 6-1 win over Paderborn.

It was 0-0 before Thorgan Hazard opened the scoring, but Sancho had shown signs of life even while kicking off first half rust.

Sancho went 90 minutes in getting his three goals (57′, 74′, 90’+1), completing three of his four take-ons while passing at an absurd 92 percent given he plays much of his match in the final third.

[ MORE: Sancho honors George Floyd after scoring ]

Additionally, Sancho registered five key passes, two of which were classified as big chances by Sofascore.

He’s one of four players in Europe’s top five leagues to have double digit goals and assists (Alassane Plea, Serge Gnabry, and Lionel Messi). His price tag, rightfully, is going to be absolutely nuts, pandemic or not.

Paderborn v. Borussia Dortmund recap and video highlights
(Photo by Lars Baron/Getty Images)

BEST XI

Hradecky (Bayer)

Hakimi (Dortmund) — Torunarigha (Hertha) — Bender (Bayer) — Angelino (Leipzig)

Klaassen (Bremen)

Sancho (Dortmund) — Bittencourt (Bremen) — Thuram (Gladbach)

Plea (Gladbach) —  Lewandowski (Bayern)

Notes:

  • Klaasen joined Hoffenheim loanee Kevin Vogt in locking down the midfield against Schalke. Yes, we exhaustively covered Schalke’s offensive ineptitude but their steely performances won the day.
  • Thuram and Plea are a dynamic duo with power and skill. Plea is now one of the referenced four players with double-digit goal and assist seasons this year, while Thuram is likely to meet him there.
  • Twenty-two year old German youth international Jordan Torunarigha was very strong, making nine clearances, two blocks, an interception, and two tackles while passing at 85 percent.

SCORES

Freiburg 0-1 Bayer Leverkusen — RECAP
Mainz 0-1 Hoffenheim — RECAP
Hertha Berlin 2-0 Augsburg — RECAP
Schalke 0-1 Werder Bremen — RECAP
Wolfsburg 1-2 Eintracht Frankfurt — RECAP
Bayern Munich 5-0 Fortuna Dusseldorf — RECAP
Borussia Monchengladbach 4-1 Union Berlin — RECAP
Paderborn 1-6 Borussia Dortmund — RECAP
Koln 2-4 RB Leipzig — RECAP

UPCOMING FIXTURES (Full season schedule here)

Week 24 reschedule
Werder Bremen v. Eintracht Frankfurt — 2:30 p.m. ET Wednesday

Week 30
Freiburg v. Borussia Monchengladbach — 2:30 p.m. ET Friday
Bayer Leverkusen v. Bayern Munich — 9:30 a.m. ET Saturday
RB Leipzig v. Paderborn — 9:30 a.m. ET Saturday
Eintracht Frankfurt v. Mainz — 9:30 a.m. ET Saturday
Fortuna Dusseldorf v. Hoffenheim — 9:30 a.m. ET Saturday
Borussia Dortmund v. Hertha Berlin — 12:30 p.m. ET Saturday
Werder Bremen v. Wolfsburg — 7:30 a.m. ET Sunday
Union Berlin v. Schalke — 9:30 a.m. ET Sunday
Augsburg v. Koln — Noon ET Sunday

STANDINGS

Team GP W D L GF GA GD Home Away PTS
 Bayern Munich 28 20 4 4 81 28 53 10-2-2 10-2-2 64
 Borussia Dortmund 28 17 6 5 74 34 40 10-3-1 7-3-4 57
 RB Leipzig 28 15 10 3 70 29 41 7-6-1 8-4-2 55
 Mönchengladbach 28 16 5 7 53 34 19 9-2-3 7-3-4 53
 Bayer Leverkusen 28 16 5 7 53 36 17 7-4-3 9-1-4 53
 VfL Wolfsburg 28 11 9 8 40 34 6 4-6-4 7-3-4 42
 1899 Hoffenheim 28 11 6 11 39 48 -9 6-1-8 5-5-3 39
 SC Freiburg 28 10 8 10 38 40 -2 6-2-5 4-6-5 38
 FC Schalke 04 28 9 10 9 34 45 -11 5-6-3 4-4-6 37
 Hertha BSC Berlin 28 9 8 11 41 50 -9 4-3-7 5-5-4 35
 1. FC Köln 28 10 4 14 44 52 -8 6-3-5 4-1-9 34
 FC Augsburg 28 8 7 13 40 54 -14 5-4-5 3-3-8 31
 1. FC Union Berlin 28 9 4 15 33 48 -15 6-2-6 3-2-9 31
 Eintracht Frankfurt 27 8 5 14 44 52 -8 6-4-4 2-1-10 29
 FSV Mainz 05 28 8 4 16 37 61 -24 4-2-8 4-2-8 28
 Fortuna Düsseldorf 28 6 9 13 31 53 -22 4-4-6 2-5-7 27
 Werder Bremen 27 5 7 15 29 59 -30 1-3-9 4-4-6 22
 SC Paderborn 28 4 7 17 31 55 -24 2-2-10 2-5-7 19

Serie A fixtures set for remainder of 2019-20 season

Serie A fixtures
Photo by Giuseppe Maffia/NurPhoto via Getty Images
By Nicholas MendolaJun 1, 2020, 6:24 PM EDT
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Serie A’s season will play out in 124 matches over 43 days between June 20 and Aug. 2.

The final day will see the two leaders in massive matches against traditional powers, as current leaders Juventus host Roma and second-place Lazio visits Napoli.

Those leaders also know when their final showdown with each other will take place. Lazio’s visit to Juventus is the only match on July 20.

[ VIDEO: Premier League highlights ]

Juve is seeking its ninth-straight scudetto and leads Lazio by one point, with the second-place side boasting a better goal differential by nine. Lazio beat 10-man Juve 3-1 in December.

The Coppa Italia semifinal second legs and final will be played in the week prior to Serie A’s resumption.

Napoli leads Inter after one leg in Milan, while Milan and Juve drew 1-1 at the San Siro. Juve had its four Coppa run broken by Lazio last season.

June 20
Torino v. Parma
Verona v. Cagliari

June 21
Atalanta v. Sassuolo
Inter Milan v. Sampdoria

June 22
Lecce v. Milan
Fiorentina v. Brescia
Bologna v. Juventus

June 23
SPAL v. Cagliari
Verona v. Napoli
Torino v. Udinese
Genoa v. Parma

June 24
Atalanta v. Lazio
Inter Milan v. Sassuolo
Roma v. Sampdoria

June 26
Juventus v. Lecce

June 27
Brescia v. Genoa
Cagliari v. Torino
Lazio v. Fiorentina

June 28
Milan v. Roma
Napoli v. SPAL
Sampdoria v. Bologna
Udinese v. Atalanta
Sassuolo v. Verona
Parma v. Inter Milan

June 30
Torino v. Lazio
Genoa v. Juventus

July 1
Bologna v. Cagliari
Inter Milan v. Brescia
Lecce v. Sampdoria
Fiorentina v. Sassuolo
SPAL v. Milan
Verona v. Parma

July 2
Juventus v. Torino
Sassuolo v. Lecce
Lazio v. Milan

The Turin Derby (Alessandro Di Marco/ANSA via AP)

July 5
Inter Milan v. Bologna
Sampdoria v. SPAL
Cagliari v. Atalanta
Brescia v. Verona
Udinese v. Genoa
Parma v. Fiorentina
Napoli v. Roma

July 7
Lecce v. Lazio
AC Milan v. Juventus

July 8
Genoa v. Napoli
Fiorentina v. Cagliari
Atalanta v. Sampdoria
Bologna v. Sassuolo
Torino v. Brescia
Roma v. Parma

July 9
SPAL v. Udinese
Verona v. Inter Milan

July 11
Lazio v. Sassuolo
Brescia v. Roma
Juventus v. Atalanta

July 12
Genoa v. SPAL
Parma v. Bologna
Fiorentina v. Verona
Cagliari v. Lecce
Udinese v. Sampdoria
Napoli v. Milan

July 13
Inter Milan v. Torino

July 14
Atalanta v. Brescia

July 15
Sampdoria v. Cagliari
Bologna v. Napoli
Milan v. Parma
Lecce v. Fiorentina
Sassuolo v. Juventus
Roma v. Verona
Udinese v. Lazio

July 16
Torino v. Genoa
SPAL v. Inter Milan

July 18
Verona v. Atalanta
Cagliari v. Sassuolo
Milan v. Bologna

July 19
Parma v. Sampdoria
Genoa v. Lecce
Fiorentina v. Torino
Napoli v. Udinese
Brescia v. SPAL
Roma v. Inter Milan

July 20
Juventus v. Lazio

(Photo by Paolo Bruno/Getty Images)

July 21
Atalanta v. Bologna
Sassuolo v. Milan

July 22
Parma v. Napoli
Torino v. Verona
SPAL v. Roma
Lecce v. Brescia
Inter Milan v. Fiorentina
Sampdoria v. Genoa

July 23
Udinese v. Juventus
Lazio v Cagliari

July 26
Milan v. Atalanta
Roma v. Fiorentina
Juventus v. Sampdoria
Cagliari v. Udinese
Verona v. Lazio
Brescia v. Parma
SPAL v. Torino
Napoli v. Sassuolo
Bologna v. Lecce
Genoa v. Inter Milan

July 29
Fiorentina v. Bologna
Verona v. SPAL
Udinese v. Lecce
Parma v. Atalanta
Lazio v. Brescia
Inter Milan v. Napoli
Cagliari v. Juventus
Torino v. Roma
Sampdora v. Milan
Sassuolo v Genoa

Aug. 2
Genoa v. Verona
Juventus v. Roma
Atalanta v. Inter Milan
SPAL v. Fiorentina
Bologna v. Torino
Napoli v. Lazio
Lecce v. Parma
Milan v. Cagliari
Brescia v. Sampdoria
Sassuolo v. Udinese

How to Watch Serie A

  • When: Begins June 20
  • TV Channel: ESPN
  • Stream Live: Via ESPN+