Calcio Weekender: Four Regions Covered on Match Day One

Welcome to the Calcio Binge series, transporting armchair tifosi into the action on a weekly basis.

The Ferragosto weekend kickstarted the new season, so we planned our base in Verona, an hour’s drive from Brescia and Parma, with Turin just under three hours away by train. With the Serie C season a week away, attentions turned to the Stadio Mario Rigamonti, the former homes of Pep Guardiola and Roberto Baggio.

Brescia Calcio v Palermo FC, Stadio Mario Rigamonti

The Rigamonti is a ten-minute drive from Brescia’s city centre. Given that the Serie B opener would kick off during the Ferragosto period – Italy’s traditional August bank holiday and a week-long excuse to hit the beach – the Piazza Duomo still enticed us for a Campari Spritz aperitivo with friends.

Andrea and Federico made the trip from Milano, the latter wearing the skimpiest beach shorts we’d seen in decades. We’ve since asked Federico for permission to publish some damning footage but the message still shows up as ‘unread’. At over 200cm tall, the Argentine has a lot of leg to offer. We’ll keep you updated.

Palermo shone throughout the first half and deserved to take the lead if not for some disastrous finishing from Roberto Insigne and Federico Di Francesco. The Rosanero took charge with 63% of the ball but Brescia fought back after the break.

Alessio Dionisi’s changes did very little while Rolando Maran’s brought energy. Davide Adorni atoned for his earlier miss in front of goal with a late headed winner and La Leonessa took all the three points. 

Palermo renegotiated to keep Matteo Brunori in the summer and reinforced their attacking depth with Thomas Henry, yet could only produce one shot on goal from 10 attempts. Our DC Man of the Match award went to Claudio Gomes, the French midfielder who left everything on the pitch. Ultimately, the Sicilians are equipped for automatic promotion to Serie A and will improve.

Bresciani, get ready for another promotion-chasing campaign. The early signs suggest that Maran’s side is engineered for attacking football – 18 attempts, six on target – despite not enjoying the lion’s share of possession.

Here’s our Stadium Guide for the Rigamonti.

Parma Calcio 1913 vs ACF Fiorentina, Stadio Ennio Tardini

Severe storm warnings couldn’t keep us away from CrespoLand. It took 90 minutes to drive from Verona to our hotel in Parma where 99% of the Novotel Hotel patrons could be heard discussing the match.

A 25-minute stroll took us to the Accrediti booth to collect our passes. We then frothed over the items on display inside the Tardini’s museum, themed appropriately for the return of former Gialloblu striker (and current Viola boss) Raffaele Palladino.

Roby Baggio’s Fiorentina shirt from 1989-90 – yes, that stunning La Nazione-sponsored number – and dozens of Parma strips from the Parmalat era welcomed us through the museum, enough to make one pine for the halcyon days of Serie A.

We later set up in the Tribuna Stampa (media stand) in preparation to cover the match and expand upon our exclusive interview with Parma manager Fabio Pecchia.

Pecchia had told us Parma was a “happy place” after the club’s return to Serie A for the first time in three years and the excitement was palpable.

Had the stadium announcer been any louder he’d have blown up the in-house sound system. His voice is still undoubtedly reverberating throughout the whole of Emilia Romagna.

As for matters on the pitch, we were treated to a glorious early contender for match of the season, a 1-1 draw dripping in end to end action with two phenomenal left-foot curlers.

Dennis Man’s opener was too good for Pietro Terracciano, before Cristiano Biraghi threaded a stunning set piece from a tight angle. The Fiorentina captain has now scored eight free kicks since 2018-19, the most of any Serie A player during that time (Sergej Milinkovic-Savic is on seven).

Parma’s press officer, the ever-helpful Fabrizio, recommended dinner at Sorelle Picchi in the centre of town. Needless to say, Emilia Romagna’s reputation as food capital of Italy is still intact. Even Parma president Kyle Krause was in there living it up.

Hellas Verona vs SSC Napoli, Stadio Marcantonio Bentegodi

What a city Verona is. Lauren is our expert travel writer and will publish soon. Yes, we saw Juliet’s balcony. Yes, we did have Dire Straits’ Romeo and Juliet stuck in our heads for several hours afterward.

The contrast between the city and the stadium is stark. Upon failing to decipher Hellas Verona’s media accreditation page, the “fan experience” was the only way forward. We decided to make a video on “How To Buy Tickets To A Verona Match” but disaster struck again.

Even though we spoke to a real person at a real ticket booth, we were denied tickets on the grounds that we don’t have a residency in Veneto.

What strategy is there to attract new Serie A fans to stadiums? None in Verona, it seems. One of Italy’s best holiday hubs – a gold mine in terms of cashed-up tourists with time of their hands. When in Rome do as the Romans, but when in Verona you clearly can’t do as the Veronesi, unless you happen to be one of them.

The video recording file was binned and we acquired our €85 tickets online. Instructions on how to do that can be found here in our Stadio Marcantonio Bentegodi guide. At least beers were only €3.50 and the signage from Italia ’90 was still displayed. Nostalgia ahoy.

The Bentegodi is an intimidating venue, with travelling Napoli fans vastly outnumbered, and Napoli’s defence sliced open upon request. For Antonio Conte, Verona is a horrible, horrible place.

Read Dan Cancian’s piece: Antonio Conte’s Anger Spells Troubles for Napoli After Verona Nightmare.

Counter attacking football was the big winner. New Hellas coach Paolo Zanetti demonstrated that he believes in his low-cost signings, which include Dailon Rocha Livramento from second division Dutch outfit Maastricht, and Daniel Mosquera from Colombian side America De Cali. The pair combined for all three goals and only cost sporting director – and former Perugia and Torino defender – Sean Sogliano approximately €1.3 million (£1m).

Conte has sounded the alarm, demanding more reinforcements. With Victor Osimhen dreaming of a move away, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia picking up a knock and Giovanni Simeone and Giacomo Raspadori out of sorts, David Neres’ arrival is just what Conte needs looking ahead to his first home match against Bologna. The DC team will be on-site to cover that.

Fittingly, the outcome for Napoli reflected Diego Maradona’s debut Serie A match in 1984, addressed earlier this week by Emmet Gates.

Juventus FC vs Como 1907, Allianz Stadium

The train system has improved throughout Italy. With a quick changeover in Milano Centrale, we reached Torino Porta Susa in about two and a half hours. No time for checking out the city centre though. Thankfully, the Allianz Stadium is situated 15 minutes away and Juventus FC hosted us in the Tribuna Stampa.

The stairwells are lined with a trip down the Bianconeri memory lane. Omar Sivori, Roberto Baggio, Zinedine Zidane, Alessandro Del Piero and the list goes on – there must be a thousand square metres of imagery.

Thiago Motta’s Juve debut coincided with Samuel Mbangula’s. What a start to life at the Allianz for both. The 20-year-old Belgian was rewarded with a perfectly placed shot into the corner, beating Pep Reina on his first start for Como in the 23rd minute.

While Juve ran out 3-0 winners on the night, Como started the match brilliantly, stroking passes from side to side in the opening 20 minutes. But the Allianz is not the friendliest of stadiums to play your first match in the top flight for 21 years.

Como vice-captain Alessio Iovine was missing at right-back, and new signings Raphael Varane and Luca Mazzitelli were unavailable through injury for Cesc Fabregas.

Timothy Weah made it 2-0 just before half time, his first Serie A goal (just 45 behind his father George now), and Andrea Cambiaso struck in the 91st minute. Juve fans expected nothing less. The 1,000 Comaschi who made the trip still held their scarves aloft at the full time whistle, just happy to be there and get their baptism of fire out of the way.

On a side note, thanks to Mauro and Sandra for their hospitality in Turin, vi ringraziamo.

On the menu for Calcio Weekender 2: Campania from August 24th to 30th covering Naples, Benevento, Salerno and Castellamare di Stabia respectively for Napoli v Bologna, Benevento v Cavese, Salernitana v Sampdoria and Juve Stabia v Mantova.

There is no better way to spend your weekends as long as the destination is calcio.

Watch our pod on Juventus FC from the Allianz: