Italy
PHOTO: inter
Juventus ended Inter winning streak on Sunday Night. Having won 7 games in a row the nerazzurri had to surrender to the old lady for 1-0 in Turin.Mario Mandžukić featured as a starter on his new position on the left but was ready to exchange poisition with his nearest teammates and give a difficult read to his opponents. He also showed some technical skills that had not yet been seen during his Italian stint and fought his way back and forth. The former Atletico Star managed to be dangerous with 2 headers and risked to cause a penalty on Icardi. If Allegri wants to keep playing all of his weapons he cannot make it without Mario.
Marcelo Brozović wasn’t happy with the early substitution
Marcelo Brozović and Ivan Perišić were both starters under Pioli. Marcelo was probably the biggest let down of the night for the nerazzurri. The former Dinamo player looked uninspired and unprecice and his tackling too soft, which is a problem when you are playing in a two man midfield. Contrary to some of his recent performances he did not manage to bring any value to the table and ended up being the worse of the lot, which forced Pioli to sub him after only 58 minutes.
Ivan Perišić red card
Ivan Perišić started well but his impact decreased as time went by. He was one of the most dangerous in the first half, kept Buffon busy with a central header from good position in the box. The former Wolfsburg star had a decent but impressive central part of the match, to resurrect in the last 15 minutes when he stepped up again and showed his mental strength. He was the last one to surrender and his generosity and irritability cost him a red card in the last minute.
Josip Posavec’s Palermo beat 1-0 Crotone. The former Inter goalkeeper spent a quiet Sunday as his skills were never really put to question.
Napoli shattered Bologna 7-1 on Saturday night. Ivan Strinić looked on from the bench. Marko Rog came in with 10 minutes too go. Far to little to show anything interesting. Bruno Petković left Trapani, that are sadly sitting last in serie B, to come under the 2 towers. The Croatian striker made his seasonal serie A debut as he came in the 68 minutes without any substantial impact on the match. Having played collected already 1 token in 2012/13 and 4 in 2013/14 this was not his serie A debut. Funny how 3 out of his 6 serie A matches were against Napoli.
Photo: Milan
Milan crisis gets under the spotlight, as the rossoneri surrendered again home to Sampdoria 1-0 on Sunday and are left with one single W in 2017. Mario Pašalić played from the first minute and went the distance. The former Monaco midfielder almost scored with a shot from outside of the box. Other than that he struggled to find a good position and to be continuous in the match. Another unimpressive performance. Ante Budimir looked on from the bench.
Andrija Balić and Stipe Perica sat on the bench the whole afternoon during Chievo-Udinese 0-0. Hrvoje Milić, Milan Badelj and Nikola Kalinić are facing Roma on Tuesday.
SPAIN
Ivan Rakitić came off the bench in the 54th minute Saturday with the match already 2-0 in Barcelona’s favor against Athletic Bilbao. Barca would add an insurance goal through Alex Vidal to put them on 45 points. With Champions League knockout around the corner, Rakitić should see a heavier load in the midfield, starting one match per week and coming off the bench in the other.
Šime Vrsaljko came off the bench for extra added defense in the 73rd minute Saturday for Antoine Griezemann, who missed a penalty earlier in the match. Atletico Madrid would defeat Leganes 2-0 with a brace from Fernando Torres as the club looks to catch Sevilla for third place and an automatic berth to next year’s Champions League group stage.
Duje Čop got the start for Sporting Gijon and played 62 minutes Sunday in a 4-2 loss to Alaves. Besides penalty kicks, Čop has been dry in 2017. With the loss, Sporting remain five points from relegation freedom. Mateo Kovačić and Luka Modrić will get an extra week of rest as Real Madrid’s match with Celta Vigo Sunday was postponed due to unsafe stadium conditions in Vigo following a storm. A new date for the game has not been announced. Alen Halilović and new club Las Palmas face Granada Monday night.
ENGLAND
Dejan Lovren was sidelined Saturday for Liverpool with a minor knee knock and it showed with the Merseyside club losing 2-0 to Hull City. With the loss, Liverpool have not won a Premier League match since December 31st. The downward spiral now sees the club fighting for a Champions League spot after sitting comfortably in January. Jurgen Klopp will have to reshuffle some things if they are to finish in the top four. Lovren is expected to return next weekend.
Germany
Ante Rebić played the full match and scored for Eintracht Frankfurt in their 2-0 win over Darmstadt on Sunday. Rebić scored his side’s second goal in the 83rd minute, getting himself on the end of an inch perfect cross from teammate Alexander Meier. Frankfurt maintain their hold on third place in the Bundesliga, but they still have several sides breathing down their necks.
Pass: 0:45, Goal: 1:45
Andrej Kramarić played the first 68 minutes in Hoffenheim’s 4-0 thrashing of Mainz on Saturday. Kramarić was pretty quiet considering his side’s dominance, as he had two shots and created one chance in his time on the pitch. Hoffenheim remain tied for 4th in the Bundesliga, one point out of third, with 34 points in 19 matches.
Tin Jedvaj was an unused sub for Bayer Leverkusen as they fell 1-0 to Hamburg on Friday. The loss leaves them tied for 9th in the Bundesliga after 19 matches.
France
Danijel Subašić started in net as AS Monaco picked up a huge 3-0 win over 2nd placed Nice on Saturday. Monaco dominated the match, allowing only one shot on target, which was an easy save for Subašić. Monaco are now alone atop Ligue 1, three points ahead of PSG and Nice. In 23 matches they have scored 68 goals, 23 more than PSG, the second highest scoring team.
Next Matches:
Tuesday, 2/7
Monaco at Montpellier, Fiorentina at Roma, Atlético Madrid at Barcelona(Copa del Rey),
Wednesday, 2/8
Frankfurt at Hannover 96, Juventus at Crotone, Milan at Bologna,
Saturday, 2/11
Tottenham Hotspur at Liverpool, Frankfurt at Bayer Leverkusen, Udinese at Fiorentina, Barcelona at Deportivo Alavés, Real Madrid at Osasuna,
Sunday, 2/12
Hoffenheim at Wolfsburg, Empoli at Internazionale, Juventus at Cagliari,
Monday, 2/13
Milan at Lazio
~Ante Kvartuč reporting from sunny Southern California, Zach Gilfix reporting from Minneapolis, MN and Salvatore Cagnazzi reporting from Italy
Fauxk you!
Bad on Brozovic for doing that if he’s crying about being subbed. All these pri madonnas are acting out. That type of stuff never happened a few years ago. Now there are players left right and centre who throw tantrums. Bench him and teach him a lesson. The team always comes first. Messi doesn’t even do that.
@Soul Champ:
Fuck Liverpool and Fuck England.
Overrated hack league. Only good for two things
Broken legs and high wages.
@ BZ
All good Brate.
@ Svima
Mandžukić is a beast competitor. Allegri had to find a way to insert him into the line up.
I look at a Liverpool and think they could’ve use him upfront banging in some key goals this season.
He must jump well as he wins almost every aerial duel regardless of where he is on the pitch. He takes his chances infront of goal. His technical abilities are not great but sufficient and maybe under rated.
But man does he compete for his team.
MANdzukic
@SoulChamp- you know I hear you.
@DannyJ- I expect Cacic to do it. The problem is our LB for the game will be pretty useless taking advantage of Mandzo’s underestimated Hold-up & link-up skills.
@ Aussie
Uvijek vjerni !
We have the most beautiful country in the world and have good hearted people.
We produce world class athletes that bring magic to life.
I say sit back with Karlovačko or what ever you enjoy and lighten up.
Hvala Bogu za Stari … The man enjoys his fjaka.
Moj fjaka = Jadran – picka – Hrvati success.
@ Cynical / “honest” Hrvati
Rebić scores a goal and shows a pulse of a footballer … Hvaljen Isus.
Sve najbolje.
ZDS
Wayne Rooney had a poster of Slaven Bilic on his wall when he was kid.
Leicester shoulda kept Kante. He’ll win you more games than Mahrez and Vardy.
Mahrez Raineri and Vardy won the prem last year, they’re about to get relegated, I’m sure they have something to do with it
Everything’s subjective, I wonder how many times they still have to play Bayern and BVB
They were almost relegated last year. This year they are doing well.
I am sure Kovac and Rebic had something to do with that.
I get it there’s Croatians there; 2 flops; doing good, but boys be honest….its above and and beyond frankfurt will celebrate as if they won the World Cup if they finish top 5
I support them as much as you do, but they were 3 points off from being close to 10th last week
And how does their previous opponent not matter???
Franfurt is flying high in the table, regardless of how poor their last opponent is.
Let’s hope rebic turns it round
Why not mandzukic on the left side and Kalinic up front for Ukraine
Seems to be working at juventus
@Soul Champ
Ne daj se!
the line between cynical and honesty is very thin
Cue the Cynical Hrvati posts …
Ever wonder why Croatia is the most educated/poorest country on the planet earth?
Sve znaju ..
If I had a kuna for every cynical post over the last 10 years I would create a villa on my fathers land in Dalmacija, 50 meters from the Jadran …
Oh Wait … already living that life !
Yes already living that life.
Hrvati please give up the cynical Hrvati BS.
Again …
Ante Rebic has been in soccer oblivion for 3 years.
Fellow Hrvat Kovac gives him the start and the kid produces.
Hvaljen Isus!
Laziooooooo ha ha
Robo-Rebic on the comeback?” = sucking Rebic’s d$&k???
Obviously!!!
Halilovic comes on for Livaja at 81′ in loss.
Would write more, but had enough sucking Halilovic for tonight.
@Soul Champ
“Sucking?”
I think Idemo meant that Rebic has sucked thus far in his career.
What else could he have meant?
@idemo thanks
@ Idemo
“Sucking?”
Merely happy for a talented 23 yr old who has had a crap 3 years.
Ukraine is a hard running side and we will need all the depth we can muster.
Perišić will be missed as he has become second to Modric in game impact and brings explosive speed in the attacking third. This directly supports space for Modric to be even more Magical.
If Rebic and or Halilovic perform this month then they both should be called into the squad.
The match may call for them to contribute.
Good news is that Pjaca looks fully recovered from his leg injury and will be ready to fill in for Perisic.
btw when our are next national games coming up?
Wondering if anyones heard from Allen Strk in the last few hours?
Might have to contact suicide watch.
before we start sucking rebic, Darmstadtis is dead last with 9 points from 19 matches, didn’t watch the game so I’ll take it from you that did if he played well, but I think context is key
Robo-Rebic on the comeback ?
With Perisic out for Ukraine, NEED the SPEED.
Pjaca back in effect as well.
Halilovic resurrection as well at Las Palmas?
Kovačić ready for super star status.
Belicic is the greatest coach of all time.
Hrvati have a special talent to champion the team to victory.
Rebic did well today.
Best player on the pitch.
Forced his opponents into two yellow cards, had the best chances and scrored an Ivica Olic type tap in crap goal.
@iggy- Thx for update, I like your logic.
oh well we did lose to spain.. i guess we would’ve lost to serbia if we won so prolly better to lose to spain than those wankers at least, heh
Rebiccccccc! Just kidding.
juve 1 inter 0
perisic sent off in et
brozovic on a milk carton
mario very nice work rate
pjaca was gonna be subbed on Mister changed his mind and put Alves instead
ajme meni nije mi dobrooooooooo
I love how even these tennis scrubs that we roll out against Spain are all still like 6’6″ tall and jacked lol.
Hopefully these games get them a higher rank and gets some money sent their way. They completely deserve it.
Croatia has literally been beating Spain in every single sport this past year or so (football, basketball, waterpolo, handball, tennis…)
Pretty cool rivalry to have since they are the only other team (along with us) in the world who are ranked top-15 in the world in these five sports above.
@iggy- nice one
I guess it wouldn’t be the first time our B team beat Spain eh ?
😉
Kyrgios played for Aus and he generally doesnt take much to fuck off.. our team is definitely the weakest, it’s the worst lineup ive ever seen for us.. i think the highest rank guy is 280 or something dogshite, spain have 3 players in the top 40 or something so we really ought to be getting belted but somehow we’re winning
Djokovic played for Serbia, but that’s probably because he got knocked out of the Aussie Open early like Cilic.
Iggy beat me to the punch.
Davis Cup is the international “team tennis” competition. It runs from February to November. Croatia is ranked 2nd this year because of their finish in the final back in November.
They just started again with the first round this weekend. But everyone brought their B squad because the Aussie Open was last weekend. The big players show up in the quarters and semis.
yeah that was last year, this is this year
it runs through the year with only one tie played every few months
Didn’t the Davis cup just end recently, when we lost to Argentina??
Wow, haha, we’re actually leading spain 2-1 in the davis cup ? haha lol.. i mean, i still think we lose overall – surely we can’t win – but it’s worth mentioning we play serbs in the unlikely event we win
knee injury
Anyone know why Lovren wasn’t on liver pools squad list today ?