Mazzola remembered, Roma-Inter and 23 Saturday games
Football says goodbye to Sandro Mazzola, who has died at 83; then the football itself, with Roma-Inter at 18:00 Italian time deciding top spot in Serie A. In between, 23 matches across the big five leagues: Bayern arrive on the back of a 7-0, Chelsea after a collapse, Barcelona travel to Sevilla.
It started last night and it was not dull. At the U-Power Stadium Monza took their first win of the season, 2-1 against Sassuolo with a Gustavo Varela double (the second from the penalty spot on 63 minutes) and Vasilije Adzic's goal on 87: ANSA Calcio calls it the result that saves Juric, while the Gazzetta dello Sport's player ratings give Varela 7.5 and single out Berardi's mistake. Abroad it was even wilder: in the Premier League Brentford swept aside Xabi Alonso's Chelsea 3-0, in the Bundesliga Bayern strolled to a 7-0 over Union Berlin, in Ligue 1 Monaco beat Lens 2-1 and in La Liga Elche won 3-1 at Espanyol, down to ten men from the sixth minute according to the Corriere dello Sport.
The morning's big story, though, is not a scoreline. It is the death of Sandro Mazzola at 83, an Inter icon and a symbol of Herrera's Grande Inter: ANSA Calcio broke it overnight and the Gazzetta dello Sport carries the club's tribute, on those who enter history and those who become history itself. This is the kind of loss that runs through a whole league rather than a single fanbase, and the Olimpico will be the place to feel it today.
On the pitch, the morning bulletin speaks Neapolitan: NapoliCalcioNews.it reports Spinazzola is out after failing to train at Castel Volturno, and the Corriere dello Sport writes of an injury crisis with no end for Allegri, with Anguissa still to be assessed; SOS Fanta already leaves the full-back out of tomorrow's probable line-up in Florence. On the international front, Calciomercato.com and Gianluca Di Marzio report Mancini's 34-man Nations League squad, without Politano and Zaccagni, Zidane has named his France list, and ANSA Calcio notes that De la Fuente has called up Inter's Martinez. One statistical curiosity from Calciomercato.com to close: Serie A has equalled the record of 41 consecutive matches without a 0-0.
From now until late tonight there is almost always a game on. Serie A opens at 15:00 with Bologna-Torino and Udinese-Cagliari, puts Roma-Inter on at 18:00 and closes at 20:45 with Venezia-Lazio. The Premier League starts early, 13:30 for Tottenham-Aston Villa, then three at 16:00 with Everton-Ipswich, Brighton-Arsenal and Newcastle-Hull City, and Nottingham Forest-Coventry at 18:30. The Bundesliga stacks four games at 15:30 — Hamburg-Cologne, Mönchengladbach-Mainz, Werder Bremen-Augsburg, Frankfurt-Freiburg — and adds Stuttgart-Dortmund at 18:30. La Liga builds through the day: Osasuna-Rayo at 14:00, Athletic-Alavés at 16:15, Celta-Racing Santander at 18:30 and Sevilla-Barcelona at 21:00. Ligue 1 begins at 17:15 with Paris FC-Strasbourg and ends with four kick-offs at 20:45, Lyon-Rennes among them. Tomorrow finishes the round: Fiorentina-Napoli at 12:30, Juventus-Atalanta at 18:00, Milan-Lecce at 20:45, the Madrid derby between Atlético and Real at 16:15 and Marseille-PSG at 20:45. All times Italian.
The table explains why Roma-Inter matters more than the rest: both sides are level on 12 points after four rounds, Roma ahead on goal difference (12 scored and 1 conceded, against Inter's 13 and 6) and Donyell Malen leading the scoring charts on 6; behind them, Como and Lazio on 10. In the Premier League Arsenal and Manchester City share top spot on 12, with Brentford up to third on 9 after last night and Chelsea seventh with a negative goal difference already. In La Liga Barcelona have a perfect 18 points from 18 and 28 goals scored, Raphinha top scorer on 9: tonight they visit Sevilla, fifth on 13. In the Bundesliga Bayern lead alone on 10, in Ligue 1 Monaco stretch to 13 while PSG sit seventh on 5. Enjoy your lunch break.
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