Intro
Nineteen days without Serie A, and plenty happened anyway. Mancini’s Italy took seven points from a group that began with a spine-chilling home defeat to Belgium, and beat Vincenzo Montella’s Türkiye twice, which ended up costing Montella his job. The Italian Football Federation (FIGC) managed to remove its president and then appoint him to run the place. The Azzurre won 2–0 in Tbilisi, though the scoreline flattered Belarus. Around 200 Serie A players went away on international duty, and Napoli lost Vergara and Olivera to injury along the way. Milan’s Gonçalo Ramos also, indirectly, pushed a player of Pelé-and-Maradona standing (Ronaldo’s own words) out of the Portugal team. The league returns with a table that still looks wrong.
Primo Tempo
Mancini’s October: seven points and a few new names
The window began badly. Italy lost to Belgium at the Olimpico after a first half-hour that had people asking whether Roberto Mancini’s second spell had been a mistake: the classic minestra riscaldata (reheated soup) dilemma. Three games later, the mood is very different. The Azzurri won 4–1 in Bursa (Bastoni, Frattesi, Kayode with a goal on debut, and Pio Esposito), drew 1–1 at the Stade de France, then beat Türkiye 3–1 at the Dall’Ara. That’s seven points from four, and Italy are second in Group A1.
The two Türkiye wins tell you less than the draw in Paris. Michael Olise put France ahead with a free-kick early in the second half, and Italy came back through Alessandro Bastoni, who stepped into midfield, took the ball off Como’s Lucas Da Cunha and beat Maignan. That’s two goals in two games, which makes an Inter centre-back the joint top scorer of Mancini’s second spell, level with his Inter teammate Pio Esposito. Donnarumma was called on to make several big saves, Upamecano was sent off late, and Zidane’s first home game as France coach ended level.
In Bologna, Mancini made nine changes, and it didn’t really cost him. Gianluca Scamacca scored his first Italy goal in three years. Riccardo Calafiori headed in a Barella free-kick for his first international goal, in his old home stadium, and credited Leonardo Bonucci for the set-piece routine. Pio Esposito scored late, as he usually does, and now has seven goals in 13 caps.
A couple of caveats. Türkiye were without several key players, and the real aim of this group is less about winning it than avoiding a low-ranked third place, which would send Italy into a League A/B relegation play-off in March. Still, after the Belgium result, this was the reset Italy needed, made even sweeter by Silvio Baldini’s Under-21s, whose 6–2 win over Poland sends them straight to the Euros. More on that below.
Montella sacked after losing twice to Italy
Italy’s double over Türkiye had another consequence. The Turkish federation announced, in a short statement, that it had “decided not to continue” with Vincenzo Montella as head coach. Türkiye lost their first four group games (Belgium, France, and Italy twice), and their last seven games brought just one win. They now sit bottom of Group A1 with no points and two games to play, in a format where the two worst fourth-placed teams in League A go straight down to League B.
It’s a sad end to a spell that went well for a long time. Montella took over in September 2023, reached the Euro 2024 quarter-finals, and took Türkiye to their first World Cup in 24 years. Labelled dark horses for the umpteenth time, they fizzled out in the group stage, and the Nations League made things worse. He leaves after 40 games, with 21 wins, 5 draws and 14 defeats. The irony is hard to miss: an Italian coach, sacked after losing twice to Italy, with his final game at the Dall’Ara.
Where we’re at: eight teams within reach
Serie A went into the break with an unusually crowded top half. Roma, Inter and Lazio are level on 13. Cagliari are fourth on 12 and have conceded two goals in five games. Milan are unbeaten on 11, and Frosinone, Juventus and Como have 10 each. That’s eight teams separated by three points. Further down, Napoli are on seven, Atalanta on six under Sarri, and Venezia have lost five in five.
Here are the questions the next few weeks should start to answer.
Is Roma’s start built to last? Gasperini has talked openly about a three-year plan to win the Scudetto, adding that it “maybe” happens sooner. Roma have won the title three times (1942, 1983, 2001), so that kind of talk gets noticed. Donyell Malen’s spectacular start has him leading the scoring charts with six.
Are Lazio and Cagliari for real? Gattuso’s Lazio and Cagliari’s defence were the surprise packages of September. This weekend, Cagliari host Juventus and Lazio host Monza.
Is Napoli’s slow start a crisis? Our view: partly. The growing injury list and fitness issues don’t help. Allegri’s tactics aren’t directly to blame, but his struggle to get a reaction from the squad is worrying.
Who will challenge Inter? Pundits keep calling Inter the clear favourites. Chivu would rather they asked who the “anti-Roma”, “anti-Juve” or “anti-Milan” is for a change. We’ll be better placed to judge the chasing pack at the November break.
Malagò removed as president, then appointed commissioner
Here’s how it went. Giovanni Malagò was elected FIGC president on 22 June, with Serie A as his main backer. Then it emerged that he hadn’t been formally registered with the FIGC beforehand, which is a condition for standing. A long institutional row with CONI, the national Olympic committee, followed. On Tuesday, CONI placed the federation under a commissioner, and the commissioner it chose was Malagò. CONI’s executive board and national council both approved this unanimously. New elections must be held by 31 January 2027, and Malagò has already suggested 14 December.
The Italian press has had fun with the idea of a man appointed “commissioner of himself”. For Serie A, the outcome is mostly good. The league’s chosen candidate is still in charge, the solution should head off a wave of legal appeals, and there’s no gap at the top while Mancini’s project is going well. The catch is that Italian football now spends two or three months under temporary management, with a vote at the end. It’s too early to say whether anyone will stand against Malagò. It’s a messy fix, but it beats months in court.
The Azzurre: 33 shots, two goals, a crucial win
This story doesn’t get enough attention. Fifteen months after Italy’s first European Championship semi-final since 1997, which ended with a 119th-minute extra-time loss to England, Andrea Soncin’s side have to go through the play-offs to reach the World Cup.
Their qualifying record explains why. They lost 1–0 at home to Sweden, drew 1–1 and 0–0 with Denmark, and let a two-goal lead slip in a 2–2 draw in Gothenburg on the last matchday. They also beat Serbia 6–0 and 3–0. That’s one defeat in six and a goal difference of +8, but nine of their 12 goals came against Serbia. Against Denmark and Sweden, they scored three goals in four games.
Friday night’s play-off first leg against Belarus (ranked 52nd in the world) in Tbilisi followed the same pattern. Italy had 79% of the ball and 33 shots to Belarus’s one. Eleven were on target, and the Belarus goalkeeper made nine saves. It took until the 66th minute for Martina Piemonte to head in at the near post from a corner. Elisa Polli, on for three minutes, added a second in stoppage time with a left-footed finish after a defensive mistake: her first Italy goal. A 2–0 win is a good result. Two goals from 33 shots is not.
The margins are tight. Only seven of the eight second-round winners qualify directly for Brazil 2027, decided by the overall qualifying rankings. The eighth goes into an inter-confederation play-off in February. The second leg against Belarus is at the Franchi on Tuesday. After that, it would be Finland (who beat Serbia 3–1 in their first leg) or Serbia between 26 November and 5 December. Italy are very hard to beat. In Florence, the job is turning chances into goals.
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Secondo Tempo
Keeping Up With The Internationals
A twist on our usual KUWTI format: this time we’re highlighting the standout performances from Serie A’s players for their national teams. Around 200 of them went off on international duty across the senior and Under-21 squads. For a league that worries about its global standing, the returns were pretty good.
Gonçalo Ramos (Milan, Portugal): Started ahead of one Cristiano Ronaldo in Oslo and scored the winner. Ronaldo then left the camp after being told he’d be on the bench again. Ramos responded with a goal and an assist in a 4–2 win in Denmark, then another late winner against Norway in Porto. Portugal are the first team into the quarter-finals.
Nico Paz (Como, Argentina): Three goals and an assist. One of the goals came in Messi’s farewell game, from a Messi pass. Years from now, it may look like the handover. Fiorentina’s Mastantuono and Juve’s Nico González also played that night, so there was plenty of Serie A on the pitch.
Lautaro Martínez (Inter, Argentina): Two goals and two assists. He’s now Argentina’s joint third-highest scorer of all time, level with Sergio Agüero, with 42 goals in 87 caps.
Rasmus Højlund (Napoli, Denmark): Three goals in four games, one more than he’s scored for Napoli in five league games.
Kevin De Bruyne (Napoli, Belgium): Scored twice against Türkiye and set up a goal against Italy, which Italy fans won’t thank him for.
Luka Modrić (Milan, Croatia): Scored against the Czech Republic at 41. More on him below.
Montenegro’s Serie A forwards: Atalanta’s Nikola Krstović (two goals, one assist), Sassuolo’s Vasilije Adžić (two goals) and Genoa’s Milutin Osmajić (one goal) helped Montenegro top their League C group.
Also on the scoresheet: Zieliński (Inter, Poland), Isaksen (Lazio, Denmark), Koopmeiners (Juventus, Netherlands, playing at centre-back next to Van Dijk), Zhegrova (Juventus, Kosovo), Romano Schmid (Frosinone, Austria) and Akor Adams (Venezia, Nigeria). That’s at least some good news for Venezia this season.
Manuel Akanji (Inter, Switzerland): Played every minute of four Swiss wins, in which they conceded once.
The other side of it: Napoli’s Vanja Milinković-Savić let in six goals in three games for Serbia, though Corriere dello Sport found no obvious fault in five of them and called him hesitant only on Douvikas’s winner for Greece. Juve’s Francisco Conceição, Fiorentina’s Radu Drăgușin and Como’s Jesús Rodríguez were all sent off.
Matchday 6: Worth Your Weekend
Como v Roma (Sun 12:30): The two teams football anoraks are most curious about. Fàbregas had 15 players away on international duty, as many as any Serie A coach, so he’ll be relying on his physios this weekend. Moise Kean left the Italy camp early and is a doubt. Malen is back from his knee problem for Roma. If Gasperini really meant that three-year plan, this is a good occasion to put it to the test.
Cagliari v Juventus (Sun 20:45): The league’s best defence, two goals conceded in five games, against a Juve side running hot and cold. Mancini called up Cagliari’s Romano and Maldini, which adds some spice.
Sassuolo v Milan (Sun 18:00): Milan are unbeaten, and Ramos comes back as the man who replaced Cristiano Ronaldo. The Mapei has already proved a trap for Juventus this season. Saelemaekers is out until February after ankle surgery.
Napoli v Frosinone (Sat 20:45): Napoli are without Vergara and Olivera, and Milinković-Savić returns after a rough fortnight with Serbia. McTominay is back after his heart procedure, and Allegri says he has 20 to 30 minutes in him. Frosinone arrive above Napoli in the table, with top scorer Raimondo set for the bench after racing to be fit. Allegri, who described himself as “very self-critical”, says Napoli need a run of wins. This is where it has to start.
Inter v Parma (Sat 18:00): Gilardino had barely unpacked his novelty desk furniture after replacing Cuesta during the break, and his first game in charge is away at the reigning champions. Not the debut anyone would willingly choose.
Lazio v Monza (Sun 15:00): Gattuso’s Lazio can stay top, but they’re without Gudmundsson, who hurt his shoulder after 30 minutes for Iceland against Estonia. Juric, on the Monza bench, describes Gattuso as “not afraid of anything”. Lazio will need that.
Atalanta v Venezia (Mon 18:30): Sarri’s side will have gone 22 days without a league game. Venezia have no points but did get a goal from Akor Adams for Nigeria, so things aren’t entirely bleak.
Honourable & Dishonourable Mentions
Honourable: Gonçalo Ramos. Picked ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo, he scored the winner. Ronaldo, told he’d be benched again, left the Portugal camp in Copenhagen on a private jet. Ramos then scored in the next two games as well. Asked whether he’d earned his place, he said: “Perhaps that’s a question for the coach, but in my opinion, yes.” He then shared an Instagram story captioned “the status of being the best” and deleted it a few hours later. Three goals in three games, though, so it’s hard to argue.
Honourable: Cher Ndour. The Fiorentina midfielder, captain of the Under-21s, won the ball back near his own box after a Poland corner, saw the goalkeeper off his line, and scored from about 70 metres. It was his second goal of the night, in the game that sent Italy to the Euros. A ridiculous thing to try, and he needs his head checked, but it worked and we loved it.
Honourable: Luka Modrić. At 41, the Milan midfielder scored against the Czech Republic and became the oldest goalscorer in Croatia’s history.
Dishonourable: Lucas Da Cunha. The Como midfielder earned a France call-up and impressed on his debut. Then, at the Stade de France, he lost the ball to Inter’s Bastoni, who scored Italy’s equaliser.
Dishonourable: The FIGC. It’s been placed under a commissioner, and the commissioner is the president it just removed. It’s hard to think of a more Italian way to solve a problem.
Dishonourable: Juventus transfer policy. Nico González spent last season on loan at Atlético Madrid and was on the market all summer. On Friday, Juventus announced that he had extended his contract by a year, to 2030. He has played well under Spalletti (two goals in five appearances), and the extension lowers his annual amortisation cost. But going from the transfer list to a new deal in a single summer looks like a club that had no plan for him until Spalletti gave it one.
Ci vediamo in curva! ⚽
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