Serie A week one: Three things we learned
The Serie A made its return this weekend and it did so in emphatically entertaining fashion.
Seven goal thrillers; last minute penalty misses; and shock results, made the first round of fixtures of the Serie A season one of the best weekends of league football in recent memory.
Juventus began their title defence with an impressive win over Fiorentina at J Stadium, while their expected challengers, Napoli and Inter, floundered in an eventful weekend of calcio. Here are the five things we learned from week one of the Serie A 2016/17 season.
1) Is the Serie A the most entertaining league in Europe? Possibly.
This weekend’s Serie A fixtures proved that the myth of Italian football as being dull and defensive is simply that: a myth. Unlike the English Premier League, which provided a number of disappointing televised games, the Serie A provided its viewership thrilling contests
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throughout Saturday and Sunday: A.C. Milan’s 3-2 win over Torino; Lazio’s 4-3 win over Atalanta and Pescara’s shock 2-2 draw with Napoli. These games in particular, were fantastic adverts for the Italian game and exemplified the fact that attacking football is currently in vogue on the peninsula.
Although the league is no longer able to attract the world’s top players as it once did during the 1990s, it can still provide its viewership with unrivalled drama.
Contrary to popular belief, Italian football is no longer defined by catenaccio.
2) Gianluigi Donnarumma: The heir to Gianluigi Buffon.
Siniša Mihajlović: “If I had known he was going to save the penalty, I wouldn’t have given him his debut.”
In stoppage time at Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, a 17-year-old was given an opportunity to become a hero… and he took it. With his team in danger of relinquishing their 3-2 lead over Torino after Gabriel Paletta was adjudged to have fouled Andrea Belotti in the penalty area, Gianluigi Donnarumma came up trumps for Milan. The young goalkeeper dived to his right and saved Belotti’s resulting spot kick, thus ensuring that the Rossoneri would kick start their 2016/17 campaign with a win.
There have been many Italian goalkeepers over the past ten years who have been touted as the “next Gianluigi Buffon”, but none have been worthy of that tag until now. The 17-year-old has proved – like Buffon did as a teenager at Parma – that he can deal with the pressure which comes at the very highest level. For many, Donnarumma’s penalty save on August 22nd 2016 will go down as the moment that it became explicitly clear that the youngster was the true heir to Buffon in the Italian national team.
3) A.S. Roma will be Juventus’ strongest title challengers.
As Frank de Boer’s new look Inter side fell to Chievo Verona and last season’s runners-up Napoli drew 2-2 at Pescara, one team touted to challenge
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Juventus for the Serie A title kick started their season with a win: A.S. Roma. Luciano Spalletti’s men recorded an impressive 4-0 victory over Udinese at Stadio Olimpico to go top of the table after week one of the Serie A season.
Although 1st place has little significance this early in the season, Roma fans will be pleased with the performances of a number of their key players; in particular, Kevin Strootman and Edin Dzeko. Strootman’s return to the starting XI after being stricken with injuries over the past two years will be a huge boost to the Giallorossi, while Edin Dzeko has seemingly put a season of struggle in front of goal behind him.