Page 13 - Soccer360 Issue 105

IMPORTANT
FIXTURES
MARCH
17- Inter Milan v Napoli
30- Napoli v Atalanta
30- Cagliari v Verona (Relagation Battle)
APRIL
7- AS Roma v Lazio (Rome Derby)
7- Juventus v Fiorentina
14- Torino v Juventus (Derby della Mole)
21- AC Milan v Inter Milan (Milano Derby)
21- AS Roma v Bologna 28- Napoli v As Roma
28- Juventus v AC Milan
MAY
5- AS Roma v Juventus
12- Napoli v Bologna
5- Empoli v Frosinone (Relagation Battle)
12- Atalanta v AS Roma
19- Fiorentina v Napoli
19- Bologna v Juventus
19- Sassuolo v Cagliari (Relagation Battle)
OPPOSITE TOP:
Lautaro Martinez’s goals have given Inter a real chance of another scudetto
FAR RIGHT:
Inter Milan’s Canadian midfielder #17 Tajon Buchanan
TOP:
Daniele Rugani of Juventus celebrates in front of fans following the final whistle of
A Serie A match at Allianz Stadium.
A CANADIAN IN ITALY
Dan Roberts looks into how Tajon Buchanan made history by becoming the first Canadian to ever play in Italy’s Serie A.
Canada has been enjoying a purple patch recently when it comes to football. After decades of their near-neighbours the United States taking all the regional plaudits and producing players who
have played for some of the biggest clubs in the world, Canada has been able to shine and make
a name for itself. Canadian internationals have been performing at the highest level in Europe
for a while now but Tajon Buchanan is the first to ever play in Serie A, after signing for Inter at the beginning of January. Following this exciting move to Simone Inzaghi’s title hopefuls, he now looks set to develop even further what has long promised to be a stellar career.
A Brampton, Ontario native, Buchanan moved
to Colorado as a teenager to pursue a career in football and ended up being taken ninth overall
in the 2019 MLS SuperDraft by the New England Revolution. In just two seasons he performed well enough to be nominated for the All-Star Game and earned a move to Europe at Belgian side Club Brugge.
He played almost 70 times for Club Brugge and continued his appearances for the Canada national team, including at the most recent World Cup finals in Qatar. It was his performances there for the national side that first alerted Inter to his ability and they were able to fend off the interests of a number of other clubs, including some from the Premier League, to sign the exciting young player. Now Buchanan has the chance to prove himself on a whole new stage and continue the meteoric rise of Canadian football.
There had been some consternation in Italy about how poorly their clubs had performed in European competition in recent years, so the resurgence of the Milan clubs - alongside Napoli’s dramatic return on the domestic stage – was seen as a good sign. That could change again with new restrictions being brought in by the Italian authorities in the next few years. But, for now, Serie A is tough to predict. Napoli, as mentioned, have been
a shadow of last season’s side, but it is Inter that have looked outstanding this year, alongside a Juventus team that was not expected to be able to challenge for the title. Add AC Milan into that mix and Serie A has now turned into one of the more unpredictable leagues in Europe. The Rossoneri look too inconsistent to repeat
their Scudetto of a couple of years ago but Inter and Juventus seem set to battle it out until the end of the season. Inter have led the way from the start and their firepower makes them the frontrunners, but Massimiliano Allegri and the Old Lady cannot be ruled out.
Hakan Çalhanoglu overtook Sükrü Gülesin as the highest Turkish scorer in Serie A history with 40 goals this season.
AC Milan’s Mike Maignan distinguished himself by providing at least one assist in each of the past three Serie A seasons, the most for a goalkeeper since 2004/05.
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