TEN THINGS WE LEARNED from Serie A

Olivier Giroud once again rescues AC Milan, Max Allegri reaches another milestone with Juventus, and Rasmus Hojlund is emerging as Serie A’s rival to Erling Haaland…TEN THINGS WE LEARNED from Serie A

• Olivier Giroud showed that age is just a number after his winning weekend goal
• Napoli’s Khvicha Kvaratskhelia is challenging to become the world’s best winger
• While Monza are seriously threatening to clinch a European place next season 

The weekend brought with it more Serie A storylines as Italian top-flight football saw plenty more twists and turns.

Thirty-six-year-old Olivier Giroud showed that age isn’t important when it comes to scoring goals after his late header earned his side a crucial win over Torino, while comparisons are being made to Erling Haaland for one young striker.

Sportsmail delves deeper into Serie A’s weekend action and brings you ten things we learnt.

1. GIROUD IS IMMORTAL

Without Olivier Giroud, Stefano Pioli’s bench would have started to creak dangerously. The Milan coach confirmed the three-man defence by deploying Brahim Diaz and Rafael Leao, and after two games initially spent on the bench the former Chelsea star Giroud, as always, did not disappoint. 

Torino dominated Milan for crosses and ball possession but were less cynical due to their forwards’ lack of accuracy in the final third. After four defeats, captain Davide Calabria’s team managed to secure a hard-fought victory thanks to yet another goal by Giroud who beat the Torino goalkeeper Vanja Milinkovic-Savic in the 62nd minute.

Giroud’s seventh goal in this Serie A season unlocked the game as Pioli’s AC Milan won through the actions of his two best men: a fantastic header by the French forward following a perfect cross by compatriot Theo Hernandez. 

Olivier Giroud rescued a late victory for AC Milan with this stunning header against Torino

The Frenchman proved he is a key asset among the ranks of struggling AC Milan

The match between Milan and Turin perfectly photographed the situation of the Rossoneri team which still has many tactical and technical problems to solve.

Transition to the three-man defence has not yet been metabolised and reveals Pioli’s fear of continuing to concede too many goals. The clean sheet against Torino is encouraging for goalkeeper Ciprian Tatarusanu but without Giroud’s goal, Milan would have left the San Siro to boos from the fans.

2. 250 TIMES FOR MAX ALLEGRI

On Sunday, at the Allianz Stadium Max Allegri reached a prestigious milestone as Juventus coach. Allegri has crossed the historic milestone of 250 matches in Serie A. 

Since the three points for each victory rule was established, only two coaches have achieved this prestigious level of appearances at the helm of a single team: Carlo Ancelotti, 283 with Milan and Marcello Lippi, 258 with Juventus across two different periods.  

Allegri has courage in tactical choices and continues to go against the wishes of the fans, preferring the experience of Angel di Maria and Mattia De Sciglio to the athletic freshness of the young Nicolo Fagioli and Samuel Iling-Junior.

The three points won against Fiorentina show his tactical ideas paid off and reward a team that seems to have returned to play carefree despite being hit with a 15-point point deduction.

In the final minutes Allegri jumped and got angry like Yosemite Sam, a famous imaginary cartoon character from the Looney Tunes series, as he endeavoured to keep Juventus focused. 

The yellow card for the celebration after the disallowed goal against Fiorentina is the perfect photograph of the grit and personality of a coach who wants to return to the top in Serie A.

Juve manager Max Allegri reached a milestone as he took charge of his 250th Serie A game

3. VERDE TRAFFIC LIGHT

If Spezia dreams of conquering Serie A salvation well in advance, credit goes to M’Bala Nzola and above all to Daniele Verde. The player born in Napoli has finally found his definitive consecration in the small Ligurian province and has managed to become a leader. 

The unfortunate experiences lived in Verona, Real Valladolid in Spain and AEK Athens are now a distant memory, the No 10 of Spezia is a crystalline talent that shines in the centre of attack for Luca Gotti’s team. 

Verde has an exceptionally powerful shot and he showed it with his second goal from over 20 metres which left Empoli goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario stranded. 

The draw does not detract from the merits of Verde’s performance, who left the field due to Gotti’s choice to cover the team after Salvatore Esposito’s expulsion. 

Spezia occupies 17th place in the league standings on 19 points and still has considerable distance to go if they are obtain Serie A salvation that would be miraculous considering the quality of their team. 

Gotti has great faith in him and now Spezia will cling on even tighter in the hope of cementing their place in the Italian top-flight.

All credit must go to Daniele Verde if Spezia manage to avoid relegation from Serie A this term

4. KVARATSKHELIA DESTROYS CREMONESE

Right now Khvicha Kvaratskhelia is the best winger in the world, a No 7 so important that he deserves a ‘double 7’ as his shirt number. In Naples, according to the cabal of the city, that number means ‘woman’s legs’, a lucky number in which all the fans hope to be able to place their dreams of the Scudetto.

At the moment the Georgian player is arguably the best winger in the world, there is no player as strong as him and comparisons with great passing stars is not enough to describe the impact of Kvaratskhelia in modern Serie A football. 

His numbers are exceptional and his desire to become the best in the world in the city once blessed by Maradona seems to seal his destiny as a top player. 

Cremonese players tried to stop him in every way throughout the game but ‘Kvara’ produced another exceptional performance in a period where every action seems to result in a goal. On his 22nd birthday, the Georgian star placed the seal on the Napoli Scudetto.

Khvicha Kvaratskhelia is one of the best wingers in the world based on his current form

The Napoli winger is in a rich vein of form and showed his superior class against Cremonese

5. HOJLUND IS HAALAND’S YOUNGER BROTHER

Rasmus Hojlund looks like Erling Haaland’s younger brother. The Atalanta striker who turned 20 at the start of February plays with the ferocity and tranquillity of a veteran and continues to score important goals for his career and for Atalanta. 

Today Gian Piero Gasperini’s team is in the middle of the race for one of Serie A’s three Champions League spots available behind Napoli. 

If he succeeds, he will try to keep the Danish striker who seems to have already conquered Serie A after a few months of running in Italy for another 12 months. 

His powerful physique and deep running are exceptional characteristics that opened up Lazio’s defence like a can of tuna.

Gasperini spoke to Sky Sports immediately after the success at the Olimpico against Lazio, and celebrating his Danish centre-forward, said: ‘The characteristics between him and Haaland are very similar, especially in accelerations. He is a very fast player, on 100 meters he is under 11 seconds. 

Rasmus Hojlund (left) is showing all the trademarks of a world-class attacker

‘For his stature, he has a low centre of gravity and an incredible step frequency. I am convinced that he will have a great career, it doesn’t take long to figure that out. He technically always shows different and better things’. 

Gasperini manages to achieve a precious record which adds to that of having shaped a striker that scores at least 20 goals a year: Atalanta has scored 101 goals with their defenders in Serie A from 2016-17 to present day.

Atalanta can now think of a future without Luis Muriel and Duvan Zapata knowing they can count on an exceptional striker who, over time, could become one of the best goalscorers in European football. 

The Atalanta forward is drawing comparisons to Manchester City’s Erling Haaland

6. WIJNALDUM COME BACK

Six months after a bad bone injury Georginio Wijnaldum returned to the field in the away game against Lecce. Roma has finally found the quality midfielder they have been missing this season.

In the 84th minute and with the game locked at 1-1 Wijnaldum returned to action 181 days after his first and so far only appearance in Serie A. The Dutchman, who arrived in Italy on loan from PSG in the summer, will finally be able to come in handy in the last three months of the championship. 

Many weeks lie ahead before he is able to return to full fitness but his reappearance is certainly positive for a team that lost Nicolo Zaniolo.

Jose Mourinho will be able to start letting Wijnaldum play by offering more tactical solutions in a midfield that hasn’t yet found tactical stability.

Georginio Wijnaldum marked his return from a long-term injury in Roma’s clash with Lecce

7. JOVIC AND CABRAL ARE FIORENTINA’S WEAK POINT

Luka Jovic and Arthur Cabral are the real weak point of Fiorentina which, after 18 months, has not yet managed to find the heir to Dusan Vlahovic. 

In the big match against Juventus, coach Vincenzo Italiano chose a light attack by positioning Christian Kouame in the centre of a trident with Nico Gonzales on the right and Jonathan Ikone on the left: a resounding defeat for the two central forwards who entered the field and failed to score.

Fiorentina needs goals from its forwards but neither of them seems to be able to keep the ghost of a top player like Vlahovic away from the fans’ heads. 

Luka Jovic is failing to fill the goals void left by former striker Dusan Vlahovic

They fought and produced many crosses (25) against Juventus, without ever being able to find the goals needed to win. 

Without goals, Fiorentina risks experiencing a mediocre second half of the season which would exacerbate diplomatic relations between the city and President Commisso. 

The approximately £124m deriving from the sale of Federico Chiesa and Vlahovic have not been properly invested in the transfer market and today the team coached by Italiano is incomplete in defence and attack.

While Arthur Cabral (centre) is failing to win over supporters at Fiorentina as well

8. ALEX SANDRO FLOP, A PLAYER ON THE FREELIST WHO WILL HAVE STRUGGLE TO FIND A TOP CLUB

Alex Sandro is an unrecognisable player who in recent years seems to have lost the physical strength and concentration that had allowed him to become one of the top left backs in Serie A. 

In the first 45 minutes against Fiorentina he made trivial mistakes and was shown a yellow card for a useless dangerous intervention. The former Porto full back seems to play in slow motion and misses numerous opportunities to speed up Juventus’ counter-attack.

It’s as if he had the plug pulled out, sometimes Sandro is so irritating that he looks like a tourist who has taken the field to complete the line-up. If he continues to play so badly it will be difficult for him to find a top club willing to offer him a contract at the end of the season. 

The agreement with Juventus will expire in June and at the moment there is no intention of trying to evaluate the possibility of the South American defender staying in Turin. 

According to Tuttosport, if Sandro plays 51 per cent of the matches this season, he will be automatically renewed for another 12 months: in this case the only man who will be able to decide his future is Allegri.

Alex Sandro (right) has been terrible for Juventus this season and looked like a tourist playing

9. MONZA, A BET WON BY BERLUSCONI

After five games in their debut year in Serie A, Monza had obtained zero points. From that moment, with the decision to change Giovanni Stroppa as coach with Raffaele Palladino, the team began to fly and win. 

In the first two games of the club’s history against Juventus, they won six points and today can confidently look at the possibility of gaining a place in Europe after their away win against Bologna.

Now Monza is a Cinderella who can participate in the Serie A waltz with great courage. Monza built by Palladino is cynical and manages to entangle any opponent in its tactical web. 

The ability to take advantage of the few opportunities during the match against their opposition demonstrates how Monza are now a mature and effective team even away from home.

The man who always believed in the strength of the team was the 84-year-old president Silvio Berlusconi who spent millions of euros in the summer to be able to set up a competitive team. 

Matteo Pessina, Gianluca Caprari, Armando Izzo and Andrea Petagna are players with a lot of experience in Serie A and represent  key players that Monza can rely on in the future.

Monza are quickly becoming Serie A’s story of the season and can now challenge for Europe

10. HJULMAND IS A TOP PLAYER

All the market operations made by Lecce to try to keep a place in Serie A cost of £2.2m, which is the only salary of a normal player like De Sciglio in a top club like Juventus. 

In midfield, the central pivot on which director Pantaleo Corvino and coach Marco Baroni are building a miraculous season is Morten Hjulmand. 

The Danish midfielder cost only £150,000 but today his value potentially fluctuates between £13-15m. 

His tactical intelligence was noticed by the talent scout Corvino who in January 2021, decided to buy him from Admira, a club where he made 68 league appearances and registered just one goal and two assists. 

Their 1-1 against Roma demonstrates the strength of a player who deserves a more important stage and who will most likely be sold to the best buyer at the end of the year. In this Serie A season he has played 20 games collecting four assists and has proved he can be a protagonist in Serie A even while playing for a small club like Lecce. 

Morten Hjulmand is enjoying a spectacular season at the heart of Lecce’s engine room

The Danish midfielder only arrived in 2021 for £150,000 but has certainly increased his value

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