Catch up on all you missed from the opening week of calcio with the Serie A wrap.
[ MORE: Serie A schedule ]
Fourteen of the league’s 20 teams debuted this weekend, as European combatants Atalanta and Inter Milan will start the season late along with Serie B playoff winners Spezia.
That leaves opponents Lazio, Benevento, and Udinese also waiting to start their 2020-21 seasons.
Benjamin Button’s brace leaves Milan
Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored twice as AC Milan started the Serie A season with a 2-0 defeat of Bologna on Monday.
The humble Swede said that if he were 18 years younger he would’ve scored two more.
“I am not old, I am like Benjamin Button, I start old and die young,” Ibrahimovic said after the win. “Kidding aside, the team worked well, we are not at 100 percent and therefore made some mistakes we usually avoid, but it bodes well.”
Zlatan doing what he does best, score goals! 🦁 pic.twitter.com/d2pb7ClW6X
— ESPN (@espn) September 21, 2020
Ibrahimovic is 38 years old and demanding he not be held to any less of a standard than his prime, which is incredible considering his prime is better than 99 percent of top soccer careers.
“I don’t want people to talk about my age, I want to be treated at the same level as everyone else,” he said. “It doesn’t matter if I am 38, I want to be treated like someone aged 20 and do the same work.”
Milan is coming off seven-straight seasons outside of the top four, six of those coming behind their city rivals Inter Milan.
But Ibrahimovic’s 2019-20 half-season in Italy showed he can still bring the goods, with 14 goals and five assists in 20 appearances
Now he’s scored thrice in two competitive fixtures after opening his campaign with a goal against Shamrock Rovers in Europa League qualifying.
Milan is aiming high and is tied for the fifth-best odds to win the scudetto this season due to a talented squad that features Ibrahimovic, Alessio Romagnoli, Gianlugi Donnarumma, and Theo Hernandez.
“This year, we have to take it one game at a time, play with confidence and treat every match like a Cup Final.”
McKennie impresses as Juve rolls again
Playing under Andrea Pirlo has started well for USMNT midfielder Weston McKennie.
The 22-year-old Texan went 90 minutes in central midfield with Aaron Ramsey and Adrien Rabiot as Juventus beat Sampdoria 3-0 in Turin.
McKennie had 94 touches and completed 88 percent of his passes, with one key pass and four-of-five crosses in that mix.
[ MORE: Americans abroad in Bundesliga, Week 1 ]
He took two shots and converted his lone dribble attempt, the busy midfielderwinning six of 12 duels while registering four tackles, three interceptions, and two clearances. SofaScore did hit him with a “big chance missed” on debut.
McKennie kept some very good players on the bench in the forms of Arthur and Rodrigo Betancur. It’s going to be a battle to keep his place in the Starting XI but it’s clearly one he’s prepared to fight.
Cristiano Ronaldo, Leonoard Bonucci, and Dejan Kulusevski all scored for The Old Lady, who is bidding to win its 10th-straight title. That would double Inter’s second-best five-consecutive title run earlier this century.
Week 1 scoreboard
Fiorentina 1-0 Torino
Hellas Verona 0-0 AS Roma
Parma 0-2 Napoli
Genoa 4-1 Crotone
Sassuolo 1-1 Cagliari
Juventus 3-0 Sampdoria
AC Milan 2-0 Bologna
Week 2 fixtures
Torino v Atalanta — 9 am ET Saturday
Cagliari v Lazio — Noon ET Saturday
Sampdoria v Benevento — Noon ET Saturday
Inter Milan v Fiorentina — 2:45 pm ET Saturday
Spezia v Sassuolo — 6:30 am ET Sunday
Verona v Udinese — 9 am ET Sunday
Napoli v Genoa — 9 am ET Sunday
Crotone v AC Milan — Noon ET Sunday
AS Roma v Juventus — 2:45 pm ET Sunday
Bologna v Parma — 2:45 pm ET Monday
Standings
| Team | GP | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Home | Away | PTS |
| Genoa | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 1-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 3 |
| Juventus | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 1-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 3 |
| Milan | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 3 |
| Napoli | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0-0-0 | 1-0-0 | 3 |
| Fiorentina | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 3 |
| Cagliari | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0-0-0 | 0-1-0 | 1 |
| Sassuolo | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0-1-0 | 0-0-0 | 1 |
| Hellas Verona | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-1-0 | 0-0-0 | 1 |
| Roma | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-0-0 | 0-1-0 | 1 |
| Atalanta | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0 |
| Benevento | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0 |
| Inter Milan | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0 |
| Lazio | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0 |
| Spezia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0 |
| Udinese | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0 |
| Torino | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-1 | 0 |
| Bologna | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | -2 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-1 | 0 |
| Parma | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | -2 | 0-0-1 | 0-0-0 | 0 |
| Crotone | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | -3 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-1 | 0 |
| Sampdoria | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | -3 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-1 | 0 |
