Juventus defender Lucio has revealed he is unhappy in Turin, and wants to move to the Bundesliga, with Wolfsburg emerging as contenders for the Brazilian's signature. Lucio, 34, moved from Inter in the summer on a free transfer, but has only started one Serie A game for the Bianconeri. And the former Bayer Leverkusen and Bayern Munich player has hinted at a return to the league where he spent nine seasons of his career. "(Antonio) C...More

Looking over the Summer transfer activity of Milan, you would be forgiven for thinking they had been forced into an austerity approach similar to that of Mario Monti's technocrat government. Major assets have been sold off in the shape of Thiago Silva and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, with replacements brought in that are of course on a level below these 'fuoriclasse'. Bojan Krkic joins to add depth to the attack, Giampaolo Pazzini and Antonio Ca...More

The overwhelming theme in recent seasons is promoted clubs surviving at the first attempt. Since 2005-06 - the first season after the introduction of a 20-team Serie A - 16 sides have avoided relegation. Only five returned instantly. The second season is another matter as Bari and Cesena have recently discovered, but the initial aim for Pescara, Torino and Sampdoria is to ensure safety. The port-city club recognised this and after Gi...More

It didn’t end the way Azzurri fans had hoped. The final was a disappointing conclusion. Yet it offered a renewed belief in the national side and showed a new way forward. That was the great success of the European Championships for Italy. After negotiating a difficult group and knockout phase, Italy reached the finale in Kiev, but weary legs could not stop the Spanish tide. Italy’s preparations for Euro 2012 encountered all sorts of ...More

“It’s so sad to see the stadium like this” said the fan next to me during FC Lucca’s league match against Lammari in March this year. Not that there’s much wrong with the Stadio Porta Elisa; it’s a 12,000 capacity arena that is fairly well maintained and has a stylish 1930s art deco main stand that can’t be knocked down due to heritage laws. But this fan has visions of days when the terraces behind each goal were packed full of colourf...More

It was remarkably fitting that the man so charmingly branded a “West Ham reject” by the English commentators was the one who scored the winning penalty on Sunday, sending the Azzurri through into the semi-finals. But, with Alessandro Diamanti coming off the bench and producing such an excellent performance – as well as converting the winning spot-kick – it may leave Cesare Prandelli with more questions than answers. With Italy just 9...More