The Scudetto Match 🇮🇹 (Feat. Nima Tavallaey)
NAPOLI host INTER MILAN in a Serie A title tilt.
In England, the FA Cup returns for the Fifth Round — more on that below — but the headliner for this weekend is a top-of-the-table tussle in Italy.
After a frankly disastrous title defense last term, NAPOLI steamed back into contention over the first half of this season under their brilliant and tempestuous new boss, Antonio Conte. But after a bizarre January transfer window where they sold key attacker Khvicha Kvaratskhelia to PSG and brought in nobody to replace him, they’ve lost their way and dropped nine of the last 12 points available.
Reigning champions INTER, meanwhile, are in unabashed pursuit of a treble, and boss Simone Inzaghi has been rotating his teams like mad to deal with the matchload associated with all of their obligations. Still, they’ve been grinding out those three points, like the 1-0 over Genoa last time out in the league — and they've zipped into first place just in time for this encounter, one point clear of the Neapolitans.
Joining us to preview the match on Saturday (12pm ET, 5pm UK) is Nima Tavallaey (@NimaTavRood) co-host of the Italian Football Podcast (@ItaFootPod). He broke down how Napoli’s mismanagement goes farther back than the January transfer window and goes all the way to the top; why it's a three- or even four-horse title race in Serie A; and whether, if this goes the wrong way, Conte might erupt like the nearby Mount Vesuvius:
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Or check it out on APPLE PODCASTS🍎
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LONG READS
⚽︎ For The Athletic, Rory Smith delves into “football’s age of conspiracy.”
⚽︎ I have no time for referees as an Arsenal fan, but Max Rushden has penned a defense of the yellow-, black-, and neon-clad scoundrels in The Guardian.
⚽︎ On Substack, Henry Winter has an in-depth look at the disastrous recent recruitment record at Manchester United.
⚽︎ If you’re seeking a 125-year history of Bayern Munich on the club’s 125th birthday, Sebastian Stafford-Bloor has the goods in The Athletic.
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MORE MATCHES
CRYSTAL PALACE vs MILLWALL
Sat @ 7:15am ET, 12:15pm UK
It’s a South London derby in the FA Cup, and it’s the Esse Derby, too. No, not Eberechi Eze — Romain Esse, the 19-year-old winger who moved from Millwall to Palace in January for the princely sum of £14.5 million. As Omer Ronayne of That Millwall Podcast put it to us ahead of the Third Round, the kid born in Lambeth, South London had been in the first team about six months before he was on his way to the Premier League for double-digit millions.
He hasn’t gotten too many minutes for Oli Glasner so far, but perhaps he can make the difference in a fixture with deep roots: in polling, each of these fanbases consider their opponents here to be their second-greatest enemies.
MAN CITY vs PLYMOUTH ARGYLE
Sat @ 12:45pm ET, 5:45pm UK
The visiting Pilgrims’ fairytale cup run continues with a trip to the Etihad Stadium after they saw off Liverpool in the Fourth Round. That was at Home Park in Devonshire, though, not Anfield, and this will be a tall task for a team that’s ultimately close to the bottom of the Championship.
For City, though, it’s been a bizarre, chaotic, and highly disappointing season. There might just be enough FA Cup magic on Plymouth to do them in here.
ATLÉTICO MADRID vs ATHLETIC CLUB
Sat @ 3pm ET, 8pm UK
The hosts started out as an affiliate of the visitors many eons ago. These days, they’re third and fourth in La Liga. Atlético are five points clear, in the heat of a three-way title race with the traditional powers of Barcelona and Real Madrid. Athletic Club are looking to hold onto the fourth Champions League spot. Athletic are just edging Atlético as the form team in the Spanish top division over the last 10 matches, unbeaten in that period with 22 points from 30 available.
MAN UNITED vs FULHAM
Sun @ 11:30am ET, 4:30pm UK
The cups have been a godsend for Manchester United in recent seasons, a desperately needed diversion from some poor league campaigns, and they could use another FA Cup run to take them from now to May. They’ve just about kept themselves clear of the Premier League relegation scrap — though the 3-2 midweek win over Ipswich at Old Trafford was hardly convincing — but this should be a real test. Fulham are an outside threat for European qualification, and they’ve beaten far better sides than Manchester United in recent weeks.
MILAN vs LAZIO
Sun @ 2:45pm ET, 7:45pm UK
Things have gone quite horribly wrong for A.C. Milan this winter as they’ve crashed out of the Champions League to Feyenoord, slipped away from the race for a Champions League spot in Serie A, and faced something of an onslaught from their unhappy supporters.
This is an opportunity for the Rossoneri to change course: Lazio are fifth, which is likely to be a ticket to the UCL at the end of this season, and they’re six points clear of Milan. If they fall at the San Siro, it could shake up the story in Italy’s top six.
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GEAR
👕 This Australian national team kit dropped at the end of last week, but our enthusiasm endures. Now available at Nike.com.
👕 It’s Yellow Kit Friday here, and Cult Kits has a Venezuelan throwback on sale that looks better than some of the 11s the national team has put out over the years.⚽︎