Another round of Serie A fixtures is nearly completed, with Roma hoping to recover from their Champions League heartbreak as they take on struggling Empoli. In the meantime, here are five notable talking points from the other nine fixtures that took place starting from this past Friday.
Duvan Zapata - no problems scoring away from home for Atlanta as La Dea chase a European spot
Duvan Zapata may not be a familiar name to those who don't follow Italian football, but he is rapidly making a name for himself in Serie A this season. Although the race for the Capocannoniere is largely dominated right now by superstar Cristiano Ronaldo and veteran striker Fabio Quagliarella, along with surprise sensation Krzysztof Piatek, the Colombian international has also proven to be a breakout star for Atalanta as they aim to qualify for the Europa League this term.
Impressively, most of his 17 goals for La Dea aren't even on home turf - they have been on the road, and that stat alone puts him in some very elite company:
11 - Duván #Zapata has scored 11 goals away from home in the current Serie A season: a joint-record among the top-5 European Leagues' players, alongside Harry Kane and Lionel Messi. Machine.#SampdoriaAtalanta #SerieA
— OptaPaolo (@OptaPaolo) March 10, 2019
Not bad, eh?
Age really ain't nothing but a number for Sampdoria's Fabio Quagliarella
He may be closer to 40 than 30, but Sampdoria's Quagliarella is showing that age is just a number. Currently he's leading the Serie A scoring charts with 20 goals after and still staying ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo in what has shaped up to be a very interesting battle so far.
His 20th goal this weekend is a historical one as well:
20 - Fabio #Quagliarella is only the second player in Serie A history to have scored 20+ goals with at least 36 years old in a single campaign (after Luca Toni in 2013/14 and 2014/15). Timeless.#SerieA #SampdoriaAtalanta
— OptaPaolo (@OptaPaolo) March 10, 2019
Chievo may be bottom of the table, but they actually aren't the worst performing side in Serie A as of late...
How is that possible? The Flying Donkeys have picked up just 10 points all term, and are set for the drop. But they are not the team who have picked up the fewest number of points since the end of last year.
No, that dubious honor belongs to none other than Empoli. Despite sitting in 17th spot, they have picked up just six points since the middle of December. A couple of seasons back, this same sluggish performance saw them overtaken by a resurgent Crotone who managed to claw their way out from bottom place and sneak into 17th, so could Chievo take some respite from this?
Kean making his mark
He doesn't get to play often due to the presence of more experienced attackers like Cristiano Ronaldo, Paulo Dybala, Juan Cuadrado, and Federico Bernadeschi, but Moise Kean finally got some game-time this Friday as Juventus took on Udinese. Massimiliano Allegri decided to give most of his regulars a rest ahead of Juve's clash with Atletico, and thus Kean got a chance to show what he can offer.
And indeed he impressed - with a brace as the Bianconeri dispatched the Zebrette 4-1. In scoring a double, he achieved something many fans haven't seen in their lifetimes - and older ones haven't seen in decades:
2 - Moise #Kean (19y, 8d) is the youngest Juventus' player to have scored at least two goals in a single Serie A game since Giuseppe Galderisi (18y, 329g) in February 1982. Talent.#JuventusUdinese pic.twitter.com/LU9O7yVxiB
— OptaPaolo (@OptaPaolo) March 8, 2019
DID YOU KNOW?
Frosinone's 42nd minute goal against Torino this weekend was the first goal the Granata have conceded in nearly 600 minutes of play in Serie A (599 to be exact). However, it wasn't enough for the Canarini to secure what would have been a shock upset, as Torino rallied back to win the match 2-1.
Rankings as of matchday 27
Here's how the table looks after 27 matchdays, with only Roma and Empoli the only teams yet to play. Udinese and Lazio also have a game in hand after that match was postponed due to Lazio's participation in the Coppa Italia:
| 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 | 33 | 18 | 10 | 5 | 47 | 26 | +21 | 64 | DDWLD | |
| 4 | Bologna | 32 | 16 | 11 | 5 | 45 | 25 | +20 | 59 | DDWWL | |
| 5 | Roma | 31 | 16 | 7 | 8 | 56 | 35 | +21 | 55 | WDWDW | |
| 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 | 33 | 7 | 11 | 15 | 36 | 56 | -20 | 32 | DDWDL | |
| 15 | Udinese | 31 | 4 | 16 | 11 | 30 | 47 | -17 | 28 | LDLWD | |
| 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 |
