Euphoria swept over Italy after they won the 1982 World Cup in Spain. A 44-year drought was broken and the team went home in the private jet of Italian president Sandro Pertini. One of the most iconic images after the tournament is of Coach Enzo Bearzot playing cards with several of his players on the…

Italy was awarded the right to host the 1980 European Championship, the first edition to have eight teams, and as a result, they only played friendlies prior to the tournament. Between September 1978 and April 1980, the Azzurri won most of their games by close margins, but they also had a couple of heavy defeats; a…

Not only did an era end when Italy were eliminated from the group stage at the 1974 FIFA World Cup, but the Italians also suffered a blow in the battle of football ideologies.   Catenaccio was still the prevalent tactic of choice for many Italian teams of that epoch, but the tournament played in West…

At the time of writing, Barcelona have just concluded their final match of the 2019/20 La Liga season and defeated Alavés 5–0.  They finished second, five points behind a defensively sound but by no means stellar Real Madrid.   Barcelona seems to be in a state of turmoil, as a disorganized squad seems to be…