Roma 7-1 Sassuolo and the Serie A Women's Cup Final: When the Goal Rain Hides the Truth About Juventus

I sat with the recording of the Serie A Women's Cup semi-final in Nha Trang, rewinding to the 70th minute when the score had already reached 5-1, and asked myself an uncomfortable question: are all of us being fooled by a number? Seven goals against Sassuolo. Four different scorers. Piemonte scoring a hat-trick. Van Dooren adding a brace. Doms and Giugliano each contributing one. On the stands, the cheers erupted. In the Italian press, headlines spoke of an "impressive" Roma. And in Vietnam, where I work daily as a football reporter, the first question the public asked was: Roma will surely crush Juventus in this Saturday's final in Viareggio.

I do not believe that. Not because I enjoy going against the crowd for entertainment, but because there is a truth being overlooked. The louder the stands, the easier the truth hides. And in this case, the noise of seven goals is obscuring a simpler reality: the final between Roma and Juventus, judged on recent head-to-head history, is essentially a balanced gamble, and no 7-1 scoreline changes that.

Context: Two Semi-Finals, Two Completely Different Stories

To understand why I hold to this position, we need to return to the two semi-finals just played. On one side, Roma demolished Sassuolo 7-1. On the other, Juventus beat Inter 1-0 through an own goal by Van Diemen. Just looking at the two scorelines, one easily concludes that Roma are at a destructive level while Juventus are merely survivors riding luck. But that is precisely the kind of reasoning I always distrust.

The truth everyone believes in football is that the bigger the margin, the stronger the team. That belief is true in most cases, but it is not true in every case, especially in Italian women's football, where the gap between the leading group and the rest is structured by financial and personnel factors that a scoreline cannot fully display.

I have followed Italian women's football since 2026, when I began writing for the sports desk of Belgrade Television while also closely tracking Serie A Femminile through online platforms. My viewing experience shows a repeating pattern: Italian big clubs, when facing mid-tier sides at home or in matches where they need a convincing win to build morale, tend to play a score-accumulating style. But when they enter a final against an equal opponent, they immediately revert to a cautious, compact state, and those matches are almost always decided by a small moment.

And here is the fact that shapes the entire picture: last season's Serie A Women's Cup final, the competition's inaugural edition, Juventus beat Roma 3-2, with the decisive goal scored in the 92nd minute. Not 3-0. Not an overwhelming performance. But a stoppage-time goal, after Roma had twice equalised to bring the match back to parity. This is the most important information in the entire story, and it is being drowned under the wave of excitement from the 7-1.

This year's final will be held in Viareggio, a neutral location in Tuscany, at 6 p.m. on Saturday. A neutral venue means neither team has home advantage. But a neutral venue also means a single match, a match where every prediction model becomes more fragile than usual. In a final, the only certainty is uncertainty.

Core Analysis: Why Seven Goals Do Not Mean What You Think

Let us start with Roma, the team being celebrated.

Roma's goals came from multiple sources, and this is a genuinely positive sign - but it is not a sign of dominance over Juventus. Piemonte scored a hat-trick, Van Dooren a brace, Doms and Giugliano one each. Looking only at the distribution structure of goals, this is a signal that Roma does not depend on a single striker. They have multiple attacking channels, multiple ways of reaching goal, and this makes them hard to neutralise by tightly marking one individual.

But - and this is the "but" the media is ignoring - the ability to distribute goals does not equate to the ability to dominate an equal opponent. Sassuolo are not Juventus. Sassuolo entered the semi-final having already beaten Roma 1-0 in the group stage at Tre Fontane. Let that number settle for a second. In the group stage, Roma lost to Sassuolo 0-1 at home. Three weeks later, Roma beat Sassuolo 7-1. Same opponent, same season, two results so opposite they are hard to believe.

The enormous volatility between these two meetings reveals something any serious analyst must accept: in football, the scoreline is the highest-variance variable. It depends on venue, on match state, on which team scores first, on which team must push forward chasing an equaliser, and on rotation decisions no scoreboard records. When Sassuolo score early or are forced to play open, Roma can exploit the gaps and turn a balanced match into a breakout performance. But when two equal teams meet in a high-tension final, that scenario is far less likely.

This is why I say 7-1 is a cognitive trap, not a strength indicator. It tells you Roma can destroy a mid-tier side when everything goes their way. It does not tell you what Roma will do against a side that has proven it can silence them for 90 minutes.

Now look at Juventus, the team being unfairly underrated. Juventus beat Inter 1-0 through a Van Diemen own goal. On the surface, this is an embarrassing result for a reigning champion. A goal that did not come from open play, not from an attacking set-up, not from a brilliant individual moment. Just an own goal. Many will look at it and say Juventus were lucky.

But I look at it and see something else. A match-deciding goal that does not come from open play is a sign of a team that knows how to control a match to the point where the opponent defeats itself. In football, there are two kinds of teams that win via own goals: teams that get lucky, and teams that apply constant pressure forcing the opponent into mistakes inside the box. I have no data to distinguish between the two in the Juventus-Inter match, and therefore I will not conclude hastily in either direction. That is my working principle: I do not trust my eyes, I trust what the eyes cannot see. And what I did not see in Juventus-Inter includes xG, shot counts, possession time, and touches inside the opponent's box. Without those figures, any judgment about Juventus's true strength is speculation.

But there is one historical fact I can assert with certainty. Last season's final, Juventus beat Roma 3-2 with the decisive goal in the 92nd minute. What does that mean? It means the team everyone now considers dominated beat the team currently being celebrated, in a match where Roma twice equalised. A team that equalised twice against Juventus is a team with real quality. And a team that still kept its composure to score in the 92nd minute is a team with the mental stamina to endure pressure at the highest level.

The gap between Roma and Juventus in last season's final, to put it bluntly, was one moment. One stoppage-time moment. And anyone who has followed football at any level knows that a stoppage-time moment is far easier to reverse than a class gap built over many years.

A Power Map: Roma and Juventus Do Not Just Share Trophies, They Share a Whole Football Culture

To understand this final properly, one must understand that it is not just a match. It is the expression of a power structure shaped over many years.

According to match information, Juventus and Roma have "dominated the last five finals in Italian competitions" - including the Coppa Italia, Supercoppa Italiana, and Serie A Women's Cup. Five consecutive finals. Two clubs. No other team has been able to break through. This is not a coincidence. This is structure.

When a football culture has two clubs monopolising the finals for five consecutive seasons, it shows a resource gap - financial, personnel, infrastructure, and the ability to attract the best players - between these two teams and the rest of the league. Sassuolo and Inter, the two semi-final opponents, represent the challenger tier. And both fell in different ways: Sassuolo destroyed 1-7, Inter losing 0-1.

The way they fell carries a meaning worth analysing. Sassuolo fell because they were torn apart. Inter fell because they could not create enough to break the deadlock. These are two sides of the same problem: when you lack the resources to compete directly, you have only two strategies, and both have a ceiling. You can play open and hope to win a crazy match, or you can play defensively and hope to survive to penalties. Sassuolo chose the first and lost 1-7. Inter chose the second and lost 0-1. Both were true to their scripts. Both were insufficient.

For Roma, this means they enter the final as members of the elite tier, but in a match where the opponent is also of that elite tier. The semi-final trap, where Roma could exploit the resource gap to produce an impressive result, disappears in the final. Against Juventus, Roma are no longer the predator with advantages on every front. They are one of two equally matched beasts in the same cage.

And when two equally matched beasts are in the same cage, the match rarely ends in a one-sided performance. It ends with a small bite, a mistake, a moment. Exactly like the 92nd minute of last season.

The Truth Everyone Believes and Its Trap

There is a belief that the fan community and the media share without verification: the team that wins big in the semi-final will win the final. This is the classic "truth everyone believes," and it is one of the most dangerous beliefs in football analysis.

This belief stems from a basic cognitive error: we tend to read the most recent result as an indicator of quality. But in sport, the most recent result is an indicator of state, not quality. State can change from match to match. Quality is more stable.

Consider Sassuolo beating Roma 1-0 in the group stage. At that moment, someone could have written that Sassuolo were superior to Roma. Three weeks later, Roma won 7-1. Both conclusions were based on the same mistaken belief: that one match can reflect a team's essence.

For the Roma-Juventus final, that belief is tilting toward Roma because of the 7-1, and far away from Juventus because of the 1-0. But remember that Juventus won last season's final with a 92nd-minute goal, and both teams belong to the same elite tier with a resource gap much smaller than the gap between each team and the rest of the league.

When the stands are empty, the match begins to speak its true voice. The problem here is that the stands are not empty - they are full of cheers for Roma. And that very fullness is making the truth harder to see.

A Contrarian View: Why Juventus's 1-0 Could Be More Worrying for Roma Than Their Own 7-1

This is the part where I want you to set aside all preconceptions before reading on. I will argue that Juventus's 1-0 carries more positive signals than Roma's 7-1, in the context of the upcoming final.

First, Juventus have proven their ability to win a match without playing well. This is the hardest skill in elite football. Any team can win when everything goes perfectly. But a champion is a team that knows how to win when everything is bad, when there are no beautiful goals, when the match is deadlocked and only a moment remains to decide it. The Juventus-Inter match, despite limited detail, shows Juventus were in a difficult match and still advanced. That is the mark of a team with experience overcoming knockout matches.

Second, psychologically, Juventus enter the final as defending champions, but without carrying the burden of media expectation. They won painstakingly. No one is celebrating them. That is an ideal position for a big club: standing outside the spotlight, quietly preparing, while the opponent bears all the pressure of external expectation.

The person on the bench sees most clearly who is acting. In this case, the team on the observation bench - Juventus - sees clearly that Roma are being forced into the role of public hero. And when you must play a hero before the public, your mistakes are remembered far longer than your opponent's.

Third, Roma enter the final with a painful memory not yet erased. Last season, they played well, equalised twice, and collapsed in the 92nd minute. That is a psychological wound. In theory, it can be fuel for revenge. But in practice, it can be a weight. If this year's final is again balanced and tense, the memory of the 92nd minute will return to Roma players' minds in the very final minutes. And when that memory returns, a moment of hesitation can appear. In elite football, a moment of hesitation at minute 90 is all the opponent needs.

I want to be clear so you do not misunderstand me: I am not saying Juventus will certainly win. I am saying the psychological state and match structure are tilting toward Juventus more than the semi-final scorelines suggest. And in a match where every analysis points to balance, non-technical factors such as memory, expectation, and pressure are the decisive ones.

Where the Match Could Take Shape: Three Scenarios and Their Logic

I do not believe in absolute predictions in football. I believe in building scenarios and tracking which one actually unfolds. For the Roma-Juventus final in Viareggio, I see three plausible scenarios.

The first is Roma dominating and winning. This is the scenario the media expects. It rests on the assumption that the 7-1 form will continue and Roma have enough quality to repeat that result against a stronger opponent. This scenario can happen, but I assess its probability as not as high as the public thinks, because Juventus are not Sassuolo and a final is not a semi-final.

The second is Juventus winning through a moment. This is the scenario with the most precedent in the head-to-head history between the two teams. Last season's final is an example. A wise, compact team enduring pressure and exploiting a small mistake. This scenario is not beautiful, not attractive to neutral fans, but it is one of the most effective patterns in knockout football.

The third is a balanced match going to extra time and possibly penalties. This is the scenario I consider most likely. In a final between two teams with an almost zero real quality gap, with the memory of a match decided in the 92nd minute last season, the chance of the match extending beyond 90 minutes is very high. Both teams will play cautiously in the first half, both knowing a conceding goal could be everything. And when a match unfolds that way, it is not decided by who plays prettier, but by who makes fewer mistakes in the final minutes.

What matters is that none of these three scenarios is based on the semi-final scorelines. They are based on the structure of the final, the direct head-to-head history, and the psychology of the two teams. That is the analysis I trust: not starting from results, but starting from conditions.

About Giugliano, Roma's Silent Storyteller

While everyone is talking about Piemonte and her hat-trick, there is a detail few noticed: Giugliano has scored in both editions of the Serie A Women's Cup. She scored in last season's final and scored in this season's semi-final. This is a significant signal about an individual's stability in big matches.

In football, there are players who score when the match is easy and disappear when it is hard. There are also players who do not score hat-tricks but always appear with a goal or an assist in important matches. Giugliano appears to belong to the second group. She is a high-leverage player who does not receive matching attention, because her goals have never been easy ones.

This is the kind of player I always watch, because they are often the ones who decide the outcomes of finals. Piemonte's hat-trick against Sassuolo was impressive, but it happened in a match Roma already controlled. Giugliano's goal in last season's final happened in a match Roma had to chase. That is the kind of goal with far higher diagnostic value.

If this year's final is tense and Roma need a goal from the second line, Giugliano will be the one Roma need. And if Juventus have analysed correctly, they will have noticed this and will be planning to mark her tightly in the decisive moments. The battle between Giugliano and Juventus's defensive system could be the decisive battle very few are watching.

About Those Not Named

There is one thing I always notice in short reports: what is not mentioned. In this report about the two semi-finals, there is a detail appearing as a side note that I consider important: Juventus's coach is referred to by the name "Canzi," but only in the context of "last year's coach."

This is an information gap worth questioning. If Canzi is still in charge, why does the report not say so clearly? If Canzi has left, then Juventus enter the final with a new coach, and that could affect their tactical continuity. In football, a coaching change usually creates a transitional period, and a final is an unideal moment for a team in transition.

I do not have enough information to conclude on Juventus's coaching situation. But I raise this detail because it illustrates a principle: when you read a short report, what is not clearly confirmed is sometimes more important than what is stated. And an unanswered question about Juventus is a variable every final analyst should include in their model.

Similarly, Sassuolo are led by coach Colantuono. The 1-7 defeat is a shocking result for a team that had just beaten Roma in the group stage. But as I said, that is a Sassuolo story, not a final story. I only raise it because it reminds us that in football, any team can collapse on a bad day. And the same could happen to Roma or Juventus this Saturday.

A Note on Source Quality and Analytical Humility

I need to be honest about one thing: the report I am analysing is a short wire dispatch, with no interviews, no direct quotes from players or coaches, and even typographical errors in player names. This is a common situation in sports journalism, where speed is prioritised over accuracy.

This imposes a limit on any analysis. I have no data on passes, shots, ball recoveries, or any advanced metric that could enable deeper analysis. I have no information on injuries, suspensions, or player fitness before the final.

So every judgment in this article rests on structure, history, and the logic of knockout football, not on detailed data. That is a valid approach, but it is not a complete one. If you read another analysis, based on detailed data, reaching a different conclusion from mine, consider it seriously. I do not trust my eyes, I trust what the eyes cannot see. And in this case, what the eyes cannot see is still very much.

About the Broader Context of Italian Women's Football

This final in Viareggio takes place in a broader context I consider important. The Serie A Women's Cup is a young competition - this is only its second season. Its emergence alongside the Coppa Italia and Supercoppa Italiana shows a clear direction: expanding the Italian women's football product, creating more ticketed and broadcastable matches.

Viareggio, a coastal town in Tuscany, is not a centre of Italian football. Choosing this venue for the final could reflect a geographic expansion strategy: bringing women's football to areas not yet fully reached, rather than concentrating only in big cities. I have no direct evidence to assert this, but it is a reasonable hypothesis based on the fact that organisers chose a location outside traditional centres.

But the limits of the current structure must also be stated plainly. When two clubs dominate five consecutive finals, Italian women's football has a competitiveness problem. It is like a tennis tournament with only two players contesting the title each season. This concentration may help those two clubs build resources to compete in Europe, but it also reduces the domestic league's attractiveness and may narrow the pipeline of high-quality players for the national team.

This means Saturday's final is not just a match. It is an expression of a system. And if you want to understand the future of Italian women's football, you need to follow not only the result of this match, but also whether any other club can break into the final in years to come.

About How I Read a Match

For those not familiar with how I work, I want to share a personal principle. I began seriously following Italian women's football in 2026, when I joined the sports desk of Belgrade Television. Before that, I had watched the 2026 World Cup and began noticing how commentators often said things that fans in the stands did not think.

That taught me there is a gap between what is said on air and what actually happens on the pitch. That gap is where the truth resides. And to find the truth, you must learn to listen to what is not said.

In the case of the Roma-Juventus final, what is not said includes: Roma's fatigue after a tense semi-final, despite the 7-1 scoreline; the fitness of key players; Juventus's tactical preparation for a match where they will have to endure pressure; and Roma's psychology facing the memory of the 92nd minute last season.

These factors do not appear in the scoreline. They do not appear in the headlines. But they will appear on the pitch, on Saturday, at 6 p.m., in Viareggio. And when they appear, those who looked only at the semi-final scorelines will be surprised.

What Will Prove Me Right - or Wrong

Since I do not believe in unverifiable predictions, here are the signals I will track to determine whether my argument holds.

First, I will watch how Roma start the match. If they push high from the start and score in the first 20 minutes, that could confirm their semi-final form remains intact and my argument will be challenged. If they play cautiously and let Juventus control possession in the first half, that confirms Roma are aware of the match's balanced nature, and my argument will be reinforced.

Second, I will watch how Giugliano moves in the first half. If she frequently appears in dangerous receiving positions, Roma are looking to exploit her as a primary attacking source. If she is isolated, Juventus have done well to neutralise her, and that will reduce Roma's ability to break through.

Third, I will watch how Juventus react when conceding. If they remain calm and continue playing to plan, that confirms they are an experienced, resilient team, as I argued. If they panic and lose structure, that will show the 1-0 semi-final was a sign of attacking weakness rather than tactical caution.

Fourth, I will watch the final minutes. If the match reaches the 85th minute level and Roma appear hesitant, that confirms the memory of the 92nd minute is exerting psychological influence. If Juventus score in that period, my argument will be proven almost perfectly.

I offer these signals not to claim I can predict the future, but to show you that every analysis can be verified. If I am wrong, I will be wrong clearly. If I am right, I will be right clearly. That is the only way football analysis has meaning.

About Not Fearing to Go Against the Crowd

I know my stance in this article will be controversial. Some will say I am deliberately going against the consensus to attract attention. Others will say a 7-1 scoreline cannot be ignored and Roma are clearly the strongest team.

I accept those criticisms. But I want to be clear that my argument does not stem from a desire to go against the crowd. It stems from carefully examining the data and context, and reaching the conclusion that the current consensus rests on a weaker foundation than it claims.

In football, consensus is usually formed from the most recent matches. That is a systemic error, not a participant error. But it means those who wish to analyse seriously must separate themselves from that consensus, at least long enough to see the bigger picture.

And the bigger picture in this case is very clear: a final between two clubs that have dominated Italian women's football for five years, decided last season by a 92nd-minute goal, between two teams with an almost zero real quality gap. No semi-final scoreline can change that structure.

What I Believe Will Not Happen

Sometimes the best way to clarify an argument is to state clearly what you do not believe. So here is what I do not believe will happen on Saturday.

I do not believe Roma will win by a large margin. Not because Roma are not good enough, but because Juventus are not weak enough. A team that won last season's final and reached this season's final will not allow an opponent to crush them in a single match, unless an unusual factor occurs, such as an early red card or a serious injury.

I do not believe Roma will enter this match as relaxed as in the semi-final. The pressure of a final is completely different. And with the memory of the 92nd minute, that pressure will be even greater. This is why I do not expect a dominant first half from Roma.

I do not believe Juventus's 1-0 semi-final is a sign of weakness. It could be a sign of weakness, but it could also be a sign of tactical caution and the ability to endure pressure. With two equally probable possibilities, there is no basis to choose one as fact.

I do not believe the final will end in 90 minutes. This is my most specific prediction and also the easiest to verify. I consider the probability of extra time to be above 50%. If that happens, it will confirm the balanced nature of the match I have argued. If Roma win in 90 minutes by a clear margin, I will need to reconsider my analysis.

About the Trap of Premature Celebration

There is a psychological mechanism I have observed many times in football. When a team impresses in the previous round, they enter the next match with a new kind of pressure. No longer the pressure to win, but the pressure to repeat the performance. And that pressure is often far heavier, because it does not come from the opponent but from what the team has already done.

Roma beat Sassuolo 7-1. In the press, they are praised as a destructive team. Their players are celebrated as stars. And when they walk onto the Viareggio pitch on Saturday, they will carry an enormous burden of expectation.

Every misplaced pass will be remembered longer. Every failed shot will be compared to the 7-1. And if Sassuolo could beat Roma 1-0 just three weeks before being destroyed 1-7, then Juventus - a much stronger team - can absolutely do the same if Roma misjudge the nature of the match.

This is not a far-fetched scenario. This is a scenario with direct precedent in the head-to-head history between the two teams: a final decided by a 92nd-minute goal, after Roma had twice equalised. In that match, Roma were not inferior. They simply did not score the final goal.

If Saturday's final repeats that script, then the 7-1 story will become a story about what Roma failed to do, not about what Roma did. That is the cruelty of football. And that is why I am always cautious about perfect performances before finals.

About Looking at What Happened in the Live Match

My experience following football has taught me one thing: the result of a live match is often decided by factors you can only see if you watch it live. Those factors include: players' body language, how they react after a mistake, how they move off the ball, and how they interact with each other on the pitch.

The scoreboard does not capture these. Advanced metrics do not capture these. Only the human eye, watching live, can capture them. And that is why I always want to watch live any match I analyse, rather than relying solely on reports and figures.

For the final in Viareggio, I will watch live. I will watch how Roma react if they concede first. I will watch how Juventus react if they concede first. I will watch the body language of players in the final 15 minutes, when physical and mental strength begin to drain. And I will watch what is not said in post-match interviews.

That is how I work. And that is how I differ from those who simply read the scoreboard and draw conclusions.

About the Possibility That I Am Wrong

I want to end this analysis by stating clearly the possibility that I am wrong. This is not a form of artificial humility. It is a mandatory part of any serious analysis.

If Roma win the final by a large margin, for instance 3-0 or 4-1, then my argument about the balanced nature of the match is wrong. That would mean Roma's 7-1 form genuinely reflected a quality superiority over Juventus, and I underestimated the gap between the two teams.

If Roma win within 90 minutes by a single goal while controlling the match from start to finish, then my argument about psychological pressure is wrong. That would mean Roma handled the memory of the 92nd minute and entered the match fully confident, unaffected by the past.

If Juventus win in dominant fashion, then I judged Juventus's ability correctly but perhaps misjudged the degree. A dominant Juventus win would suggest they prepared a superior tactical plan and Roma had no answer.

But in all those scenarios, my argument about not reading too much into the semi-final scorelines retains value. Because even if Roma win 3-0, the 7-1 semi-final was still not a basis for predicting that outcome. It would be a coincidence, not a causal relationship.

What Is Really Being Staked on Saturday

If you only look at the final as a single sporting event, you are missing a large part of the story. This match stakes much more than a trophy.

It stakes the psychological balance between the two teams. If Roma win, they do not just win a title. They erase the memory of the 92nd minute. They prove they can overcome Juventus in an important match. And that is a shift that could reshape the dynamics of both teams for many seasons to come.

If Juventus win, they do not just defend the title. They prove they are still the number one club in Italian women's football, and that last season's victory was not an exception. That is a power statement in a race where both teams are trying to assert their dominance.

It also stakes the future of Italian women's football in general. An attractive final, with two top clubs playing their best, will raise the commercial value of the competition. A one-sided final will reduce its appeal. As someone interested in the development of women's football in both Europe and Asia, I hope for a balanced and dramatic match.

And perhaps, I am also staking a small personal bet on going against the consensus. That is the nature of this work. If I always agreed with the consensus, I would write nothing, because anyone can do that.

A Reminder About How We Watch Football

Before I conclude, I want to remind of an important principle I mentioned at the start of this article. In football, we are often obsessed with numbers. Goals, assists, scorelines, points. But football is not a game of numbers in the way we think.

It is a game of moments. And moments cannot be pre-calculated. A sudden play, an inexplicable mistake, a moment of individual brilliance. Those are what decide finals. Those moments happen outside all statistical tables. And precisely for that reason, every analysis has its limits.

With that awareness, I offer my prediction for Saturday's final with humility.

Conclusion: What I Am Waiting For

I believe the Serie A Women's Cup final between Roma and Juventus will not end in 90 minutes. I believe it will be a balanced, tense match, possibly decided by a moment. I believe anyone who thinks Roma will crush Juventus based on the 7-1 result is relying on a belief that does not hold.

This is not a statement of certainty. It is a judgment based on the match structure, the head-to-head history between the two teams, and the psychological signals I have analysed. If I am wrong, I will learn something about the interaction between semi-final form and final outcomes. If I am right, I will have another example proving that consensus can be emotionally correct but analytically wrong.

But whatever the result, this match will still be a final of Italian women's football, and that alone is reason enough for me to care. Italian women's football is growing. It is creating new products, new venues, and new stories. Whether Roma or Juventus win, the bigger story remains the story of a football culture trying to find its place on the world sporting map.

And perhaps, what we should really watch is not who wins but how many watch. Because every new viewer is a step forward for the whole game. When the stands are empty, the match begins to speak its true voice. But when the stands are full, a different future is written.

This Saturday, in Viareggio, I will watch not only the scoreboard but what lies behind it. And I will remember that in football, the winner is not the one who scored the most goals in the previous round. The winner is the one who keeps a cool head in the moment when everything falls apart.