Following former referee Mike Dean’s confession, it is now clearer why certain penalties aren’t awarded: they were just joking

 “Italy must rebuild by focusing on young people. We must nurture talent.” With a long career as a youth academy coordinator and sporting director, the sporting executive sounds the alarm over the future of Italian football

Among the league’s leading teams, what stands out above all is the gap between the transfer balance – the difference between expenditure and revenue – and the impact of these transactions on the profit and loss account

The stadium is due to open in a year’s time and replace the old Penzo stadium in two years’ time: it promises to be a flagship venue in an Italy lacking in sports infrastructure. It is a pity, however, that it will be too small to host the European Championships

La Pulce is bidding farewell to Argentina, but he will not be giving up football. Consequently, we will continue to encounter discussions about who is more beloved between him and Cristiano Ronaldo and, above all, the never-ending debate over ‘who’s better, him or Maradona?’. A literary genre, rather than a footballing phenomenon

Fiorentina were hoping for a winning anniversary. Instead, it all went wrong: to mark their 100th anniversary, they were ‘treated’ to 90 minutes of confusion.

At Inter, he had become a bit-part player. Gennaro Gattuso had other plans for him: to give him centre stage. And he took centre stage straight away: first match, first goal; second match, second goal. Both were decisive.

The Portuguese striker is moving to Galatasaray, leaving the Rossoneri’s left flank after seven seasons, a few moments of joy and the realisation that there will be no more Godot to wait for