With so much happening in the Serie A space, including big-name transfers and Euro games featuring Serie A standouts, this article will round up the 2 major stories coming from Serie A this week.
Calafiori steals the show once again
Italy have finished 2nd in the group after a last minute equaliser by Mattia Zaccagni- a bending finishing into the far corner to beat an excellent Dominik Livaković. This finish was preceded by a superb run out of defence by the emerging star Ricardo Calafiori. After a strong first game vs Albania that caught the eye and then an unfortunate own goal vs Spain the Bologna defender- alongside Bastoni has been one of few standouts for Gli Azzurri. Donnarumma has been superb and showed his class vs Croatia with an excellent penalty and then rebound save, he was unfortunate to concede the second rebound but he has been excellent and kept Italy in the game vs Spain before Calafiori’s own goal.
“I wanted to give something back after my own goal, and I think I did.” The center back’s run was reminiscent of a midfielder’s, taking the ball from his own half, playing a pass to Frattesi, receiving it back, and driving to the edge of the box before laying it off to substitute Mattia Zaccagni, who produced one of the best finishes we’ve seen this tournament, curling it around the keeper and into the far corner. This goal sealed Italy’s second-place finish.
Italy, throughout the group stage, looked well set up tactically, and this was further highlighted by the formation change from a back four to a back five. This back five worked well, and players who were rotated into the side, such as Retegui, looked sharp. Barella dropping in between the center backs has also been notable. This is something we saw him do within the Inter Milan setup with the fluidity between the midfield defence and centre back breaking lines to create overloads. Spalletti has set his team up similarly, with Darmian, Bastoni, and Calafiori all pushing forward when Barella dropped into defence to receive the ball. It will be interesting to see how Italy performs as they face a well-set-up Switzerland side in the round of 16, where club teammates such as Calafiori, Ndoye, Freuler, and Aebischer (all of Bologna) will face off against each other.
Douglas luiz swap deal advancing
As per the Italian reports from Romeo Agresti and Sky Italia, Douglas Luiz’s transfer to Turin is nearly completed. Weston McKennie has been replaced by Juventus midfielder Enzo Barrenechea. The deal includes Barrenechea alongside Samuel Iling-Junior, and about €22 million to Villa, while Douglas Luiz will join Juventus as their latest midfield player. The acquisition is a bold move from Juventus, who have a plethora of midfielders especially with young stars such as Fagioli coming back from a lengthy suspension, this move for Luiz does throw some doubt on Locatelli, Miretti and Mckennie, who is no longer joining Aston Villa in the swap deal.
This is undoubtedly a good move for Juventus and a statement signing, as Luiz has been widely sought after and linked with many top European and English sides. The Brazilian will bring more grit and energy to a Juventus side that lacks a player who can operate as a 6/8 and whose profile is that of a box-to-box, driving midfielder. With 9 league goals and 5 assists, acquiring Douglas Luiz for €20 million and two relatively unproven young wingers is a deal from which the Old Lady will certainly walk away happy. If Aston Villa didn’t have mounting FFP issues to address, they could have easily commanded a higher fee.
In other transfer news the move for Joshua Zirkzee to AC Milan has stalled and Zirkzee is now reportedly in talks with Manchester United over a potential move. However due to his Netherlands call up nothing is likely until after the Euros.
Osservando 
Leave a comment