Lyon win by 3-1 and advance to the semi-final vs PSG. Juventus managed to keep it alive until the end, but OL were too much strong (and Macario scored an awesome goal, one of the best in this edition of the Women's Champions' League, I'd say). I'll anyway post highlights tomorrow.
The promised highlights: After sleeping on it, I have to say that Juventus anyway went ahead well beyond their target. They gave OL a run for the money, despite being slightly but quite clearly inferior in many aspects and in more than one player. And yet, they were just one goal away from dragging the qualification to extra-time. So, despite the bad loss and the understandable disappointment, I guess they only deserve a standing ovation: well done, girls! And now, for what concerns this thread, let's hope Italy NT will manage to do better than Juve by beating Lithuania and then by eating Switzerland at their home (yes, it's possible! ).
It's was a "beating" that lost its "b". Apart from that, what did make you believe it was an April's fool?
Good luck in the play-offs! Spoiler (Move your mouse to the spoiler area to reveal the content) Show Spoiler Hide Spoiler You can use a spoiler if you think you found an April`s fool so that other people that read it after you have the chance to be fooled.
But, before jumping into the WWC qualifiers, there is one last Serie A match-day before the NT break. Most of the results of today were especially relevant for the relegation fight. Let's start with Pomigliano-Sassuolo: it ended 0-3 and, despite the brace by Michela Cambiaghi (who got back to having a starting place, given the situation of constant injuries-emergency in Sassuolo) and the goal scored by Lana Clelland that allows her to catch up with Daniela Sabatino at the top of the scorers' rankings with 11 goals, it didn't look like a key-game for the neroverdi; Roma remain 3 to 6 points ahead, depending on their result vs relegated Verona tomorrow, and Milan could very well pass them too if they'll win in Empoli. It's mostly Pomigliano who have to worry: they had changed coach Manuela Tesse after 3 match-days of the league to sign Domenico Panico, then they reverted to Tesse, but the results keep not coming in this final part of the season. It's true that they still have an 1 point advantage over Fiorentina and a 4 points advantage over Napoli, and they even have a match in hand vs Lazio, but as we're going to see later in this report Lazio are no more a pushover. Relegation is a real risk, if Pomigliano's players don't invert the losing trend pretty soon! Meanwhile Inter dispatch Fiorentina quite comfortably by 2-0, with a brace by 24 yo MF Marta Pandini. It's not like Fiorentina didn't have their own chances (brilliantly saved by GK Francesca Durante, that could be battling for a starting place in National Team, and in one case by Norwegian DF Anja Sønstevold, who recently renewed her contract with Inter until 2024), but Inter could have anyway scored more than that (they even hit the crossbar twice in the same action, with Ghoutia Karchouni, also excellent as an assist-woman, and Gloria Marinelli! ). In the 8 matches of the 2nd Half of the season that were played so far, Fiorentina just had one win (vs relegated Verona ), two draws and five losses. If it wasn't for the fact that the clubs behind them are now basically busy dragging down each other, I wouldn't bet a dime on their chances. Talking about dragging down each other, Napoli could have reached Fiorentina at fourth-to-last place today, but they instead lost at home by 0-1 (from PK) to Lazio, thus giving a frankly quite unexpected lifeline to their opponents of the day. Maybe "lifeline" is a stretch: it's true that Lazio have a game in hand vs direct rivals of Pomigliano, but it's also true that 2 of their next (and last) 4 games are vs Juventus and Roma , and the safe-zone is at least 8 points far away (they're at 11 and Fiorentina are at 18, but the tie-breaker is the direct clash, that's been already won by Fiorentina). This means they need two wins and two draws in four games, including the aforementioned Juve and Roma matches; and that's assuming Fiorentina or Pomigliano don't make any more points. Ok, let's say that, should Lazio make it, I'd be very surprised. It is anyway possible, though, that they've dragged Napoli with them with today's score. Napoli still have three matches available: one is very difficult (Sassuolo); the other two are vs direct rivals of Empoli and Pomigliano, but Napoli as seen today can't seem to possibily score when their life depend on it! Tomorrow's matches seem to count a little less for the relegation fight (since Empoli, who anyway look almost safe at 20 points, are not really expected to beat Milan), but we're going to see if Juventus, after being eliminated by OL in Champions' League, will at least manage to lock the title away or if any window will open for Roma to challenge them again. Results of today: Pomigliano 0-3 Sassuolo Inter 2-0 Fiorentina Napoli 0-1 Lazio Highlights of today's matches:
No surprises at all in the Sunday matches: the three teams currently leading Serie A Femminile all won their respective matches quite comfortably (or, in some case, very comfortably). Roma-Hellas Verona was the first match of the afternoon and it ended by 7-1! Basically, everyone and her sister scored, so I'll only underline the first goals in Italy from two players Roma signed in the winter-market: Serbian MF Milica Mijatović scored a brace in 1st Half, while Norwegian FW Sophie Román Haug, who was subbed-in in 2nd Half, put the icing on the cake with the last of Roma's goals. Talking about winter signings, it looks like Beata Kollmats had a good game too has a CB alongside Elena Linari, but frankly it wasn't so difficult to shine against the FWs of already relegated Verona, since they were still missing their best (and almost only) scorer Lineth Cedeño. The game vs Sampdoria could have been tricky for Juventus, after the loss in Lyon and the elimination from the Champions' League, that could have brought some kind of emotional backlash. Also, Roma, with their win, were just 2 points behind, so it was a game to win at all costs vs a team who had already reached their target last week thus having no pressure and nothing to lose. Juventus showed that they're intentioned to get back in the Champions' League soon and by the main entrance: the traditional big names Cristiana Girelli and Barbara Bonansea scored in 1st Half and Arianna Caruso settled the score in 2nd Half with a PK. Sampdoria's coach Antonio Cincotta, now that his team is officialy safe, gave playing time to some under-used players: FW Caterina Bargi scored Sampdoria's only goal; young Paraguaian GK (20 yo) Isabel Rocío Ortiz made some good saves but she'll sure have to get back to the drawing board for what concerns defending Corner Kicks. Finally, Milan's win in Empoli is easily explained by the inconsistency of the opponent team. Empoli's defense looked sleeping, and their shots were well prepared but always weak. Don't ask me about Milan's kit of today: I have no answer. The recap of today's results: Roma 7-1 Hellas Verona Juventus 3-1 Sampdoria Empoli 0-3 Milan The new rankings (the two teams currently having a match in hand have a -1 next to their names) Juventus 50 Roma 45 Milan 40 Sassuolo 39 Inter 35 Sampdoria 28 Empoli 20 Pomigliano (-1) 19 Fiorentina 18 Napoli 15 Lazio (-1) 11 Hellas Verona 4 (relegated) Highlights from today's matches:
In the next days we're going to see Senior NT at work, but it can be interesting to give a look to our U-19 NT, guided by Enrico Sbardella, who is currently playing the Round 2 of Euro 2022 qualifiers as the host nation. Today, Italy easily won by 6-0 vs Bosnia/Herzegovina, with braces by 18 yo Nicole Arcangeli and 17 yo Chiara Beccari (both playing for Juventus youth team). the match has just finished: I only wacthed the last part of it, when Italy was already ahead by 3-0, but it seemed to me that the team is technically and strategically very competent, and physically fit (they pushed until the last minute and the 6th goal happened at 85'). Of course the opponent was quite poor, but the quality of this group of girls could be clearly seen anyway. Meanwhile Switzerland, that on paper looked like the most dangerous contender for 1st-place in our group (only the winner will qualify for the final stage of the tournament in Czech Republic), unexpectedly lost by 1-2 to Hungary. The match vs this last team thus becomes the crucial one of the group and it will happen on Saturday (the final clash vs Switzerland is scheduled for next Tuesday, the 12th, instead).
The match vs Lithuania from yesterday was as easy as it looked like on paper: in a very windy evening, Italy scored at 2', then wasted a lot of chances in 1st Half, but anyway managed to be ahead by 3-0 at HT. In the end they scored 3 goals between 86' and 92' to finish the game on 7-0, with braces by Arianna Caruso and Valentina Bergamaschi, a FK converted by Valentina Cernoia and two late-sub veterans, Daniela Sabatino (almost 37 yo) and Tatiana Bonetti (30 yo) that, with a goal each, showed that the team can count on them also (as a testament to the difficult relationship Bonetti had with NT, it was her first goal in Senior NT in just 10 caps, but the season she's having in Inter sure earned her this satisfaction). Our converting ratio wasn't as good as the final score could suggest and it was far from a "perfect" performance, but the target of this game was anyway clearly reached: Italy needed to win an to shore up their goal difference, and they did both (our goal difference is currently better than Switzerland's) The unexpected draw between Romania and Switzerland makes things a little easier for Italy (now "just" a win would be enough to top the group, no matter the goal difference in direct clashes), but it doesn't change the fact that Tuesday's game in Thun must be a win. Bonus highlights video: U-19 Italy's win from Wednesday vs Bosnia/Herzegovina: Today (in about an hour) U-19 NT will play Hungary, who have beaten Switzerland in their previous game. Our team is strong, but the win vs Switzerland suggests that Hungarian girls could be dangerous: let's see if Enrico Sbardella's team can win this one too.
Bad news from the Italian camp, as it looks like my prediction about Benedetta Glionna playing on the Right-Wing in NT won't have any chance to become true: I had wondered who was the player on crutches seen at the end of yesterday's match, but I couldn't recognize her because of the mask: it looks like it was indeed Glionna, who suffered a muscle-injury (her thigh, if I am not wrong) in the warm-up to the match vs Lithuania and now will have to come back to Roma. It's a shame, because she was in a moment of outstanding brilliance, at least as I had seen her play in the league matches. Meanwhile the U-19 match vs Hungary has finished and it ended 3-1 for Italy, who leads the group with 6 points and a better goal difference than both Switzerland (who earlier today have beaten Bosnia-Herzegovina by 7-0) and Hungary. In the match vs Switzerland on Tuesday (same day and opponent as the Senior team ) a draw will be enough to advance. Today Italy's finishing wasn't perfect (they hit the crossbar once and the post twice) and for a moment, in 2nd Half, on a 2-0 score, a random Hungary's goal directly from CK (helped by the strong wind) seemed to reopen the game, despite the fact that Hungary couldn't even seem to shot (the final stats will say: 21 shots to 3 for Italy). In the end, a generous PK (although a probably clearer one had been denied in 1st Half) sealed the deal for Italy. There aren't highlights available yet, but I can post the full-game video instead :
The highlights of the U-19 game are now available (although they're very essential: apart from the goals, they only have the action where Italy hit the crossbar; to get a better idea of the game I anyway suggest to look at the highlights at the end of each half in the full-game video ):
And, after Benedetta Glionna, we lose another offensive player for the away game in Switzerland, and another one who had looked like her form had just peaked with club in the latest weeks: Agnese Bonfantini is too much ill to stay with the group. It's no covid, but it's a bad enough flu to make her unavailable in the next days. The game vs Lithuania showed that the veterans, as Daniela Sabatini and Tatiana Bonetti, remain apparently a consistent offensive option, but I would have preferred to have the youngest options available too...
First Switzerland's mission of today accomplished , with the U-19 team beating the Swiss by 3-1, with a goal by Nicole Arcangeli sadwiched in-between a brace by Elisa Pfattner (the lonely goal by Switzerland's Valotto in 2nd Half wasn't really enough to re-open the game). So they win the group are they will fly to the Elite Round in Czech Republic, later in June. No full-game video or highlights available, at the moment, I am probably going to post them later. Meanwhile, the Senior Team match is going to start in minutes and I am going to follow on TV (since the men's team has been eliminated, there is an unusual interest to the women's team by media ). As a good omen, I'll post again the goals from the match vs Lithuania, as seen by the "Vivo Azzurro" ground-level cam :
I am going to give Italy's starting 11, then I'll leave to watch the game on TV; it's a 4-3-3: Giuliani; Bartoli, Gama, Linari, Boattin; Galli, Caruso, Giugliano; Cernoia, Bonansea, Girelli. So, no Rosucci or Serturini. In Switserland, both players alightly in doubt, captain Wälti and Bachmann, are starting.
We now have the video with the goals of the U-19 match from this afternoon: While we wait for the highlights of the Senior Team's match, it can be worth briefly commenting it. It actually wasn't a brilliant Italy side, on the contrary the finishing was all over the place and some key-players, especially in the midfield, had a quite mediocre match (Aurora Galli, Barbara Bonansea). But I guess Italy deserved to win with the minimal margin because Switzerland gave up playing and were rightfully punished for that: in 1st Half, at least, they kept Italy on their toes and had a very dangerous middle-range shot by Ana-Maria Crnogorcevic that needed a great response by Laura Giuliani to be saved; but in the 2nd Half they basically just sat there defending the 0-0 and squandered the few occasional counterattack-chances they had. Only after Italy scored at 83', they decided it was worth trying something, but it was too late for that. Cristiana Girelli wore herself out all game to keep pressing on Swiss Center-Backs and didn't really have a clear mind when she had a pair decent chances to score, one per half. But when Italy won that FK from a Sandy Maendly's hand-ball on a Martina Rosucci's shot near to the left angle of the box, Girelli concentrated and delivered a perfect execution (there could have maybe been a slight deflection from the wall, but actually I think the ball just passed through Svenja Fölmli's jumping-up pony-tail ). Now, the qualification is far from conquered, since there still are two matches to play, in Moldova in June and, especially, vs Romania at home in September, and we've already seen Romania stop Switzerland on a draw. But at least now it's all in Italy's hands.
The official highlights are now available: They are a little short, though. Not that it happened much more than what it's shown there, but for instance one could be interested in watching the two chances (on per half) Cristiana Girelli scored before converting her FK; or someone else could be curious to see the handball leading to the winner-FK. For that, there is the full match video (from Italian TV) available also : Italian media (at least the few ones actually covering women's football with comments and discussions) seemed to appreciate Aurora Galli's performance, that I criticized instead in my previous post. I could maybe change my mind by rewatching the match, but, from what I remember, the fact that she was very "active" didn't equal being "effective": she was one of the few ones shooting from the distance, it's true, but no one of her shots was on-frame (although at least one was close) and sometimes her shots were stifling actions that could have had a different ending. She moved a lot in the midfield and she retrieved some balls, but what I remember most are some dangerous balls she lost instead and, in general, she didn't seem very accurate in her passes to me. Well, I guess I should conclude that I agree to disagree with media, but I'll somehow suspend my judgement until I maybe can find the time to rewatch the whole match.
The consistency in calling hand-balls has been all over the place for years, that's for sure, but I am not sure Maendly was close enough to the shot to justify that interception being allowed and justified as a protection. In general, fair or not, I noticed referees mostly tend to give the foul anyway if the hand-ball was stopping a shot to goal (see Kumagai vs Netherlands at WWC 2019). If it can console you, the Italian commentators (including Carolina Morace, who was there for the colour-comment) admitted that it was a "generous" FK (but they quickly added: "We'll take it anyway!" ).
I don`t blame the referee. Maendly made a clear movement with her arms and if she had enough time to raise her arms you could say she had enough time to duck away her head. Unfortunately reflexes by humans don`t care about football rules. It`s bitter if you miss the World Cup because of such a situation. On the other hand if you don`t win in Romania it`s your own fault after all.
As I was mentioning a pair weeks ago, "lifeline" was a stretch, referring to Lazio, and it is even more after today. The catch-up match vs Pomigliano and Lazio was played today and it was a 1-1 draw, that apparently leaves everything open for both teams. Pomigliano, though, now at 20, could be passed by Lazio only if they'd make 9 points in three matches and third-to-last Napoli could only catch up with them with 2 wins in the next 3 matches (inlcuding the direct clash, ok, but that's assuming Pomigliano don't make any more points; and they also have to be passed by Fiorentina, another direct clash, to be relegated). So, it was important for Pomigliano not to lose this game: now it's all in their hands and they should probably lose to both Fiorentina and Napoli to actually crash out of Serie A. Lazio, as I was mentioning two weeks ago, needed at least 7 points in 4 matches (most probably more): since they made just one today, they need at least other 6 points and this forces them to win vs at least one of Juventus and Roma, the leaders of the league. It's only arithmetics, actually, keeping them alive. Today's game was quite open: Lazio looked more dangerous in 1st Half, but young Serbian GK Sara Cetinja made miracles and it was Pomigliano actually scoring first, from a defensive blunder exploited by Swedish striker Marija Banusic. Lazio managed to equalize at 84' with excellent young prospect Noemi Visentin. Pomigliano 1-1 Lazio So these are the new rankings, with all the teams now having the same number of games played : Juventus 50 Roma 45 Milan 40 Sassuolo 39 Inter 35 Sampdoria 28 Empoli 20 Pomigliano 20 Fiorentina 18 Napoli 15 Lazio 12 Hellas Verona 4 (relegated) And these are the highlights from today's match: :
And, after the lonely catch-up match between Pomigliano and Lazio, Serie A Femminile is finally back for good after the National Teams break: just three match-days to go, but they're going to decide everything at the top and at the bottom. As a footnote: this week Cristiana Girelli renewed her contract with Juventus until 2024; now only one of Juventus' big names remains who has not re-signed yet, Barbara Bonansea, but, according to most rumours, she's expected to stay too (meanwhile, Girelli, Bonansea, Peyraud-Magnin and Zamanian will be out with covid tomorrow vs Lazio ). The first match of today wasn't a particularly significant one: Inter easily won by 0-4 a game at the home of already-relegated Hellas Verona. It can be worth noting that Ajara Nchout Njoya is back to goal after two months and a half from her last one: she had been almost unstoppable at her first months at Inter, then she had quite disappeared from the picture for some time. The goal of the match (and probably of the week) is Tatiana Bonetti's one, though: control with the backheel and bicycle kick; ok, she was basically alone in the box with no-one closely marking her, but what a display of technique! A good game from Norwegian DF Anja Sønstevold also: she scored the opener from a Corner Kick's action and she kept the ball in play near the side-line in the action of the 2nd goal. Fiorentina-Roma was a big decider both at the top and at the bottom of the rankings, and it was a hard-fought match indeed: twice Roma went ahead and twice Fiorentina somehow managed to equalize; in the end, the third goal was the charm for Roma and it was scored by Norwegian FW Sophie Roma Haug, at her 2nd consecutive goal for Roma, this last one being for sure the most important one. Talking about Norwegians, Emilie Haavi was finally back from the injury that kept her away for some weeks: she was subbed-in in the 2nd Half and she will surely be part of her club's forcing to challenge Juventus for the title (not easy) or to at least qualify for the Champions' League (almost in hand). Fiorentina's match was not so bad per se, but it's a fact that they're standing still just three points ahead of Napoli, who'll play tomorrow in Sassuolo. Relegation remains a serious danger. The motivations of the two teams were very different in Sampdoria-Empoli: the host were sitting at a comfortabe 6th-place, with the closest teams sitting respectively 7 points ahead and 8 points behind : the poster child of "nothing-more-to-ask-from-this-season"! Empoli, instead, were looking for points to be potentially safe from relegation within this week-end: the obvious outcome was a 1-3 win for Empoli; Sampdoria is a nice little team, but, after a 1-1 score at Half-Time, the Tuscan team played the 2nd half with much more grit than them. The winning goal was scored by Norma Cinotti (who has been occasionally called up to the National Team in the last two seasons, having collected a pair of caps, and is rumoured to already have a verbal agreement with Milan for next season ); the score was subsequently rounded-up by young FW Asia Bragonzi (21 yo), on loan from Juventus, who was back to goal after a quite long injury and some difficult times. Empoli will be guaranteed to remain in Serie A for next season if tomorrow Napoli won't win in Sassuolo (a draw would leave Empoli at an impossible-to-close 7 points gap over the third-to-last place). The scores: Hellas Verona 0-4 Inter Fiorentina 2-3 Roma Sampdoria 1-3 Empoli The highlights:
In your opinion blissett can Roma become any threat for Juve across next 2 seasons? We were expecting this from AC Milan but things has stalled out there. Sassuolo also have tried but I guess they are too small fry (as opposed to Inter for example) to try it financially.