Due to the Easter Holiday, all ten of Serie A games were played on Saturday to give fans and the players a chance to celebrate Sunday with their families. That meant a really congested fixture list, with the Derby della Madonnina being the highlight of matchday 32.
And this Saturday certainly did not disappoint. There were plenty of goals all around Italy as the 2016/2017 season approaches the final stages. Let's have a look at some of the talking points from Super Saturday in calcio.
1. A historic Derby della Madonnina...with late goals & early start-time
The latest edition of the Derby della Madonnina made history even before kick-off. Why? It was played at 12:30 CET (or 6:30 EST), making it the early match. Never before has this game been played in the afternoon (or very early morning for East Coast viewers).
The reason? Some believe that's because AC Milan and Inter are now under Chinese ownership, and Italian football is very popular in Asia. So, to cater to their strong fan-base and give them a chance to watch the game live, the match time was modified. Anyway, whatever the cause, it was certainly an entertaining derby from start to finish.
2. A few more notable stats and facts from the big game:
- Milan defender's Cristian Zapata's late goal was decided by goal-line technology. It's also the latest effort in a Milan Derby in 11 years (since Kaka's effort in 2006)
- Inter's Antonio Candreva is the first player to net in two Derbies this season since Diego Milito did so in the 2011/2012 term
- The Rossoneri have scored in 10 consecutive Serie A games for the first time since October 2013
3. Napoli's numerous attacking weapons
If there were a prize for playing nice football, Napoli will surely be in contention for it. The Partenopei, unfortunately are not in contention for silverware this term. They were dealt a very tough deal in the Champions League, and predictably were no match for reigning champs Real Madrid (albeit at least they did not lose 10-2 on aggregate).They also bowed out in the Coppa Italia after winning the second leg, but losing the first to Juventus, and the Scudetto looks set to remain in Turin for another season.
However, despite losing Gonzalo Higuain to the Bianconeri, they have no problems scoring goals. The Partenopei cruised to an easy 3-0 win over Udinese, and unlike many other teams in Europe, their goals truly do come from everywhere:
4 - Napoli are the only side in the top-5 European leagues with 4 players to have scored 10+ goals this season. Diamond. #NapoliUdinese
— OptaPaolo (@OptaPaolo) April 15, 2017
The goal-scorers? Dries Mertens (21), Lorenzo Insigne (14), Marek Hamsik (11), and Jose Maria Callejon (10).
4. Joining some legendary names
Torino's Andrea Belotti is having an excellent season, and as has been noted before, it will be very interesting to see if the Granata can hang on to him this summer. In any case, the 23-year-old currently is joint-tied on top of the Capocannoniere charts with an impressive 25 goals, and in doing so, joins some icons of Italian football:
25 - 5 italian players scored at least 25 goals in a single Serie A season since 1962: Signori, Totti, Toni, Di Natale & #Belotti. Rooster.
— OptaPaolo (@OptaPaolo) April 15, 2017
5. Yet another milestone for the on-fire Higuain
201. That's the number of Serie A and LaLiga goals that Gonzalo Higuain has now scored during his time with Juventus, Napoli, and Real Madrid. Last season saw him net 36, which matched an 87-year record, and whilst he still has some work to do to catch Belotti and Roma's Edin Dzeko, he's quite close to matching a Juventus icon with his goals for the Bianconeri this season:
23 - #Higuain has scored 23 goals in this Serie A: the last Juventus player to have scored more was David Trezeguet in 2001/02 (24). Bomber
— OptaPaolo (@OptaPaolo) April 15, 2017
How the race for the Capocannoniere is shaping up...
"What you do, I can do, too". That's the best way to describe this season's Capocannoniere race, which is a close battle between Roma's Edin Dzeko and Torino's Andrea Belotti. Last season's winner, Gonzalo Higuain, is making a strong case for himself after his brace against Pescara, and Napoli's Dries Mertens as well as Inter's skipper Mauro Icardi still have a foot in the door as well.
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Assist Kings
Can't have those goals without assists! Here's how the top providers compare:
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Serie A Matchday 32 rankings: The standings after a busy Super Saturday in Serie A
Here's how things are shaping up in Serie A after 32 rounds...will there be more changes after matchday 33 this coming weekend?
| Pos. | Team | MP | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | P | Form | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Internazionale | 32 | 26 | 5 | 1 | 77 | 17 | +60 | 83 | DWWDW | |
| 2 | Milan | 32 | 21 | 6 | 5 | 63 | 37 | +26 | 69 | DWWWW | |
| 3 | Juventus | 32 | 18 | 9 | 5 | 45 | 24 | +21 | 63 | DWLDD | |
| 4 | Bologna | 32 | 16 | 11 | 5 | 45 | 25 | +20 | 59 | DDWWL | |
| 5 | Roma | 31 | 16 | 7 | 8 | 56 | 35 | +21 | 55 | WDWD | |
| 6 | Lazio | 33 | 16 | 4 | 13 | 42 | 35 | +7 | 52 | WWLWW | |
| 7 | Atalanta | 31 | 15 | 6 | 10 | 57 | 36 | +21 | 51 | DLWDL | |
| 8 | Napoli | 32 | 13 | 10 | 9 | 50 | 40 | +10 | 49 | DWLDD | |
| 9 | Torino | 32 | 11 | 12 | 9 | 31 | 29 | +2 | 45 | DLWWD | |
| 10 | Fiorentina | 31 | 12 | 8 | 11 | 43 | 36 | +7 | 44 | DLLDD | |
| 11 | Monza | 32 | 11 | 10 | 11 | 34 | 41 | -7 | 43 | DLLWW | |
| 12 | Genoa | 33 | 9 | 12 | 12 | 35 | 40 | -5 | 39 | LDWDD | |
| 13 | Lecce | 32 | 7 | 11 | 14 | 27 | 48 | -21 | 32 | WLDWL | |
| 14 | Cagliari | 32 | 7 | 10 | 15 | 34 | 54 | -20 | 31 | DWDLW | |
| 15 | Udinese | 31 | 4 | 16 | 11 | 30 | 47 | -17 | 28 | LDLW | |
| 16 | Hellas Verona | 32 | 6 | 10 | 16 | 30 | 44 | -14 | 28 | DLDLW | |
| 17 | Empoli | 32 | 7 | 7 | 18 | 25 | 48 | -23 | 28 | LWLLL | |
| 18 | Frosinone | 32 | 6 | 9 | 17 | 40 | 63 | -23 | 27 | DDDLL | |
| 19 | Sassuolo | 32 | 6 | 8 | 18 | 39 | 62 | -23 | 26 | DDDLW | |
| 20 | Salernitana | 32 | 2 | 9 | 21 | 26 | 68 | -42 | 15 | LDLLL |
