The 2025-26 Serie B season has drawn to a close, and Frosinone now know that they will be joining Venezia in Serie A in 2026-27, confirming a second-place finish with an emphatic 5-0 win over Mantova on Friday night. 

Confirmed: Venezia and Frosinone promoted to Serie A after one year

Venezia were promoted last weekend, with one round of fixtures left to play, and they have now been confirmed as champions of Serie B for 2025-26. Giovanni Stroppa’s side closed the season with a 2-0 win at home against Palermo on Friday night. 

Venezia will be joined in Serie A by Frosinone, who finished the campaign on 81 points after 38 matches, one shy of the league champions. 

Both Venezia and Frosinone were relegated from Serie A at the end of the 2024-25 campaign and have earned promotion at the first time of asking. 

The Serie B play-offs have now been set as well. 

Monza and Palermo finished the season in third and fourth place respectively, which means that they are guaranteed a spot in the play-off semi-finals. 

Catanzaro finished in fifth, Modena in sixth, Juve Stabia in seventh and Avellino in eighth, and they will all contest in the preliminary round of the play-offs. 

Catanzaro (fifth) will take on Avellino (eighth), and Modena (sixth) will take on Juve Stabia (seventh) in a one-legged play-off match on Tuesday, May 12. 

The play-off semi-finals will be played over two legs, home and away, on Saturday, May 16 and Sunday, May 17, with the return legs set for May 19 and May 20. The play-off final is also a two-legged affair and will take place on Sunday, May 24 and Friday, May 29.

Meanwhile, at the bottom of the Serie B table, it has been confirmed that Pescara, Spezia and Reggiana have been relegated and Bari and Sudtirol will take part in the relegation play-out.

Sassuolo claimed a second-half lead away against Torino in Serie A on Friday evening, but the hosts struck back with two goals within the space of four minutes to extend the team’s unbeaten home run to five matches: Kristjan Thorstvedt, Giovanni Simeone and Marcus Holmgren Pedersen with the goals.

Torino were coming in off the back of a 2-0 defeat against Udinese and decided to make two changes to their starting line-up on Friday evening. Despite beating Milan 2-0 last weekend, Fabio Grosso changed half of his outfielders, with the likes of Andrea Pinamonti, Cristian Volpato and Luca Lipani returning to the starting XI. 

Click here to read more about how tonight’s teams lined up.

Pinamonti registered the first shot on target less than two minutes in after being slipped into the area by Cristian Volpato. Pinamonti tried to find the far corner of the net, but Alberto Paleari was well positioned to make the save. 

Gvidas Gineitis had to improvise for Torino’s first attempt on target 10 minutes in, but Arijanet Muric was able to get down to his left to prevent what turned out to be a relatively tame effort. 

Alieu Njie came within inches of opening the scoring when his header bounced off the crossbar twice from Gineitis’s corner. Part of the ball had crossed the goalline, but importantly, not all of it. 

Down at the other end, Lipani was allowed to dribble his way as far as the corner of the six-yard box, but he then found himself at a difficult angle, and Paleari had come out to narrow the angle. 

The deadlock was finally broken five minutes after the re-start. Nemanja Matic’s shot from the edge of the area was blocked, but fell kindly into the path of Lipani, who managed to squeeze in a cross from the right byline and Thorstvedt was on hand to finish it off in the middle of the six-yard box. 

It took a quarter of an hour for Torino to come up with a response. Ebosse whipped in a perfect deep cross from the left flank and Simeone pulled out a trademark centre-forward’s header, drilled into the floor and bouncing into the corner past Muric.

Simeone has now scored in each of his last five home matches in Serie A. 

It turned out to be a quickfire turnaround for the Granata. Duvan Zapata clipped in a cross from the left-hand side of the penalty area, and Pedersen raced to meet it at the far post. This was the Norwegian’s first goal in Serie A, coming in his 84th appearance. 

Tonight’s result means that Torino jump up one position in the Serie A table into 12th, while Sassuolo keep hold of 10th place.

Torino 2-1 Sassuolo

Thorstvedt (S) 51′, Simeone (T) 66′, Pedersen (T) 70′.

08-05-2026 19:45

MatchDay 36

Olympic Grande Torino Stadium

Torino

Sassuolo

2 - 1

Player statistic

1st half

38'

Luca Lipani

2nd half

Luca Marianucci		51'
		51'		Kristian Thorstvedt (Assist: Luca Lipani)
Matteo Prati		63'
Giovanni Simeone (Assist: Enzo Ebosse)		66'
Marcus Pedersen		70'
		86'		Kristian Thorstvedt
Niels Nkounkou		89'
Gvidas Gineitis		90+3'

Match statistic

48

Possession %

52

18

Total shots

14

4

Shots on target

7

10

Shots off target

4

4

Blocked shots

3

7

Corners

5

13

Fouls

9

Torino

Sassuolo

Starting lineups

1

Alberto Paleari

Goalkeeper

77

Enzo Ebosse

Defender

35

Luca Marianucci

Defender

33

Rafa Obrador

Defender

86'

23

Saúl Coco

Defender

20

Valentino Lazaro

Defender

59'

66

Gvidas Gineitis

Midfielder

4

Matteo Prati

Midfielder

67'

10

Nikola Vlasic

Midfielder

92

Alieu Njie

Attacker

59'

18

Giovanni Simeone

Attacker

86'

49

Arijanet Muric

Goalkeeper

3

Josh Doig

Defender

75'

6

Sebastian Walukiewicz

Defender

80

Tarik Muharemovic

Defender

25

Woyo Coulibaly

Defender

7

Cristian Volpato

Midfielder

63'

42

Kristian Thorstvedt

Midfielder

35

Luca Lipani

Midfielder

63'

18

Nemanja Matic

Midfielder

84'

99

Andrea Pinamonti

Attacker

76'

45

Armand Lauriente

Attacker

Substitutes

34

Cristiano Biraghi

Defender

81

Franco Israel

Goalkeeper

61

Adrien Tameze

Midfielder

8

Ivan Ilić

Midfielder

13

Guillermo Maripán

Defender

19

Ché Adams

Attacker

22

Cesare Casadei

Midfielder

79

Zanos Savva

Attacker

84

Tommaso Gabellini

Attacker

99

Lapo Siviero

Goalkeeper

91

Duván Zapata

Attacker

59'

16

Marcus Pedersen

Defender

59'

6

Emirhan Ilkhan

Midfielder

67'

17

Sandro Kulenovic

Attacker

86'

25

Niels Nkounkou

Defender

86'

19

Filippo Romagna

Defender

12

Giacomo Satalino

Goalkeeper

16

Gioele Zacchi

Goalkeeper

24

Luca Moro

Attacker

44

Edoardo Iannoni

Midfielder

40

Aster Vranckx

Midfielder

66

Pedro Felipe

Defender

33

Christian Frangella

Midfielder

10

Domenico Berardi

Attacker

63'

90

Ismaël Koné

Midfielder

63'

23

Ulisses Garcia

Defender

75'

8

M’Bala Nzola

Attacker

76'

50

Darryl Bakola

Midfielder

84'

Reports in Italy claim that Premier League side Chelsea could be poised to make a move for Milan defender Strahinja Pavlovic in the coming summer transfer window, but they are not the only club interested in a deal for the Serbia international. 

Chelsea and Manchester United interested in Milan’s Pavlovic

Pavlovic has spent the last two seasons in San Siro, joining in a deal worth €18m plus add-ons from RB Salzburg in the summer of 2024. 

He had to wait until the end of the 2024-25 season to become a regular starter for the Rossoneri, but has since gone on to make a strong impression in 2025-26 with four goals and an assist to his name from 31 appearances in the Italian top flight.  

His performances from the left side of Milan’s back three have begun to attract the attention of several Premier League clubs, including Manchester United and most recently Chelsea according to reports from Calciomercato.com. Several Saudi Pro League clubs are also said to be interested. 

Calciomercato claims that it is Chelsea who have shown the most interest in signing Pavlovic this summer, though. 

Milan are reportedly keen to keep hold of Pavlovic for the 2026-27 campaign, but it is unlikely that the Rossoneri would block a move away from San Siro if an enticing offer were to come in, as has been the case with Malick Thiaw, Tijjani Reijnders and Sandro Tonali in recent seasons. 

Milan reportedly value Pavlovic in the region of €50m, which would not be out of the question for a club with Chelsea’s resources. 

Chelsea, meanwhile, are likely to move on centre-back Benoit Badiashile this summer, who has previously been linked with a move to Milan, however, the Rossoneri are not interested in including part-exchange players in a potential deal for Pavlovic, reports Calciomercato. 

Instead, Milan are said to be interested in a deal for Lazio’s Mario Gila, and a sale of Pavlovic may provide the funds to pull that move off. 

Torino and Sassuolo have made a handful of alterations each as the 36th round of 2025-26 Serie A fixtures gets underway on Friday night. 

Torino began April in encouraging form with wins against Pisa and Hellas Verona, before recording back-to-back draws against Cremonese and newly-crowned champions Inter, but slipped to a 2-0 defeat away against Udinese last weekend.

Roberto D’Aversa’s side find themselves in 13th place ahead of kick-off. 

Sassuolo have been in decent form over their last six matches. They have only lost once in that period, are currently three games unbeaten and have picked up encouraging results against Juventus, Como and most recently, a 2-0 win over Milan.

Fabio Grosso’s side are 10th in the league in their first season back in the top flight after promotion. 

Torino have opted to make a handful of personnel changes: Cesare Casadei and Emirhan Ilkhan dropping out of the line-up to make way for Matteo Prati and Alieu Njie. 

Despite their victory over Milan last weekend, Sassuolo have also made changes with Jay Idzes, Ulisses Garcia, Ismael Kone, Domenico Berardi and Mbala Nzola dropping out of the side. Woyo Coulibaly, Josh Doig, Luca Lipani, Christian Volpato and Andrea Pinamonti are all brought back into tonight’s starting XI. 

Kick-off is due at 19.45 BST.

Torino vs. Sassuolo: Confirmed line-ups 

Torino (3-5-2): Paleari; Coco, Marianucci, Ebosse; Lazaro, Prati, Gineitis, Vlasic, Obrador; Njie, Simeone. 

Sassuolo (4-3-3): Muric; Coulibaly, Muharemovic, Walukiewicz, Doig; Lipani, Matic, Thorstvedt; Volpato, Pinamonti, Lauriente. 

08-05-2026 19:45

MatchDay 36

Olympic Grande Torino Stadium

Torino

Sassuolo

2 - 1

Player statistic

1st half

38'

Luca Lipani

2nd half

Luca Marianucci		51'
		51'		Kristian Thorstvedt (Assist: Luca Lipani)
Matteo Prati		63'
Giovanni Simeone (Assist: Enzo Ebosse)		66'
Marcus Pedersen		70'
		86'		Kristian Thorstvedt
Niels Nkounkou		89'
Gvidas Gineitis		90+3'

Match statistic

48

Possession %

52

18

Total shots

14

4

Shots on target

7

10

Shots off target

4

4

Blocked shots

3

7

Corners

5

13

Fouls

9

Torino

Sassuolo

Starting lineups

1

Alberto Paleari

Goalkeeper

77

Enzo Ebosse

Defender

35

Luca Marianucci

Defender

33

Rafa Obrador

Defender

86'

23

Saúl Coco

Defender

20

Valentino Lazaro

Defender

59'

66

Gvidas Gineitis

Midfielder

4

Matteo Prati

Midfielder

67'

10

Nikola Vlasic

Midfielder

92

Alieu Njie

Attacker

59'

18

Giovanni Simeone

Attacker

86'

49

Arijanet Muric

Goalkeeper

3

Josh Doig

Defender

75'

6

Sebastian Walukiewicz

Defender

80

Tarik Muharemovic

Defender

25

Woyo Coulibaly

Defender

7

Cristian Volpato

Midfielder

63'

42

Kristian Thorstvedt

Midfielder

35

Luca Lipani

Midfielder

63'

18

Nemanja Matic

Midfielder

84'

99

Andrea Pinamonti

Attacker

76'

45

Armand Lauriente

Attacker

Substitutes

34

Cristiano Biraghi

Defender

81

Franco Israel

Goalkeeper

61

Adrien Tameze

Midfielder

8

Ivan Ilić

Midfielder

13

Guillermo Maripán

Defender

19

Ché Adams

Attacker

22

Cesare Casadei

Midfielder

79

Zanos Savva

Attacker

84

Tommaso Gabellini

Attacker

99

Lapo Siviero

Goalkeeper

91

Duván Zapata

Attacker

59'

16

Marcus Pedersen

Defender

59'

6

Emirhan Ilkhan

Midfielder

67'

17

Sandro Kulenovic

Attacker

86'

25

Niels Nkounkou

Defender

86'

19

Filippo Romagna

Defender

12

Giacomo Satalino

Goalkeeper

16

Gioele Zacchi

Goalkeeper

24

Luca Moro

Attacker

44

Edoardo Iannoni

Midfielder

40

Aster Vranckx

Midfielder

66

Pedro Felipe

Defender

33

Christian Frangella

Midfielder

10

Domenico Berardi

Attacker

63'

90

Ismaël Koné

Midfielder

63'

23

Ulisses Garcia

Defender

75'

8

M’Bala Nzola

Attacker

76'

50

Darryl Bakola

Midfielder

84'

Former Roma and Juventus defender Medhi Benatia is reportedly among the options to replace Ricky Massara as Giallorossi sporting director according to the latest updates, but a clear first choice is already beginning to emerge. 

Benatia joins list of potential Massara replacements at Roma

Roma are widely expected to part company with sporting director Massara at the end of the season. The Giallorossi have recently decided to ‘side’ with head coach Gian Piero Gasperini after a public falling out with former senior advisor Claudio Ranieri, and it is likely that Massara will also depart in the near future. 

Several names have already been linked with the vacant position at the Stadio Olimpico. Reports on Thursday indicated that Roma had approached Inter’s Piero Ausilio, but he is highly unlikely to leave San Siro immediately after winning the Serie A title. 

Daniele Prade, formerly of Fiorentina, is also among the names linked with a move to Roma, as is former Napoli and Juventus man Cristiano Giuntoli and Atalanta’s Tony D’Amico. 

However, according to the latest updates, Napoli’s Giovanni Manna is the preferred option to replace Massara this summer. 

There is one another situation to keep an eye on, though. Benatia, who spent the 2013-14 season with Roma before joining Bayern Munich and later Juventus, could also be an option to replace Massara. 

The former Morocco international will leave his position as sporting director of Olympique de Marseille this summer after one season in the role. The 39-year-old has been part of the Marseille management since 2023. 

In fact, according to TMW, there is a potential scenario where Roma and Marseille end up ‘swapping’ directors, as Massara could potentially be an option to replace Benatia at the Stade Velodrome.

Inter and Italy striker Pio Esposito says that Cristian Chivu has given him ‘unconditional confidence’ and has spoken about the relationship that he has enjoyed with the coach dating back to his time with the U14s, and says that captain Lautaro Martinez’s numbers speak for themselves. 

Esposito has won the Serie A title in his first full season with the Inter first team, chipping in with six goals and four assists from his 33 appearances in the league this term. Across all competitions, the 20-year-old has provided 15 goal involvements from 46 outings. 

The youngster, now a nailed on member of the Italy national team squad, spoke about his impressive breakthrough season in an interview with Cronache di spogliatoio. 

Esposito on Chivu relationship, first impressions with Inter and Lautaro Martinez insipration

For Esposito, the appointment of Chivu as head coach following the departure of Simone Inzaghi at the end of last season was fate. Chivu began his coaching career in the Nerazzurri youth ranks, where he crossed paths with Esposito on numerous occasions. 

“I’ve known him since I was with the U14s, it was his first ever year as a coach,” Esposito said (via Calciomercato). 

“He already had me playing, I immediately took a liking to him and a beautiful bond was born. I met him again in the Primavera and he started giving me the captain’s armband even if I was ‘underage’. The first time against Cagliari, I scored a hat-trick. 

“We continued to talk over the years and it was lucky that we got to meet again this year. His presence has been decisive. He’s given me unconditional confidence since day one.” 

It is easy to forget that Esposito’s senior debut with Inter came less than a year ago, during the FIFA Club World Cup in June, 2025. 

“I felt like I was in a movie when we flew to America,” Esposito recalled. “I was there with them, in the hotel, with the group, I worked alongside the champions I was used to watching on TV every Sunday.” 

Esposito also had nothing but positive things to say about his captain and fellow centre-forward Lautaro Martinez. 

“The numbers speak for themselves, and for us, seeing him never settle for anything in training is an inspiration. He returned after quite a long break against Roma and immediately made the difference.” 

• Read more: Agent warning : ‘Pio Esposito wants to stay at Inter for next 10 years’

Reports on Thursday suggest that Rafael Leao is coming to the end of his time with Milan, and updates from La Gazzetta dello Sport claim that he could be reunited with his former partner in crime Theo Hernandez at Al-Hilal. 

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Could Leao reunite with Theo Hernandez at Al-Hilal?

Thursday’s reports claim that Milan will look to sell Leao this summer after seven seasons in San Siro. Leao has been one of the stars of the Rossoneri camp for several seasons, but has struggled to impress at centre-forward under Massimiliano Allegri this term, and the growing feeling is that the summer may be the right time to part company with the Portugal international. 

Leao still has a staggering €175m release clause in his contract, and there had previously been reports of an offer in the region of €100m from Chelsea, however, these figures are now considered unattainable for Milan. 

Instead, the Rossoneri are looking at a sale for figures in the region of €50m-€60m according to La Gazzetta dello Sport. 

Even at a discounted price, Leao doesn’t seem to have an enormous number of options in front of him. Thursday’s report claims that there is interest from both Manchester United and Barcelona, but nothing particularly concrete on either of those fronts. 

La Gazzetta dello Sport claims that there is still interest from Saudi Pro League side Al-Hilal, who has explored the possibility of signing Leao last summer as well. Al-Hilal are led by former Inter head coach Simone Inzaghi and also have Leao’s former left-flank partner Theo Hernandez on their playing staff. 

It remains to be seen whether or not Leao is ‘open’ to the idea of leaving Europe for the Saudi Pro League at the age of 26. 

As things stand, the other available option to Leao is to try and convince Milan into continuing their relationship together, but La Gazzetta dello Sport claims that this is a ‘less likely’ scenario and that a sale this summer is the most likely conclusion. 

Thursday’s reports claim that Juventus have been offered the opportunity to sign Real Madrid defender David Alaba on a free transfer once his deal at the Bernabebu comes to an end at the close of the 2025-26 season. 

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Could Juventus make a move for Real Madrid’s Alaba?

The 111-time Austria international has spent the last five seasons in Madrid, having joined on a free transfer after 10 trophy-laden seasons in the Bayern Munich first team. 

The 33-year-old is expected to leave Madrid this summer, his contract expiring on June 30, following a tough three years of fitness struggles after a torn cruciate ligament (ACL) in December 2023. 

Despite his injury troubles, Alaba’s experience, trophy cabinet and versatility are attractive characteristics for the Bianconeri. Alaba has 10 Bundesliga titles to his name, four Champions League titles, six DFB Pokal trophies, three German Super Cup wins, two LaLiga titles, a Copa del Rey, a Supercopa de Espana, three UEFA Super Cups and three Club World Cups. 

The fact that he is able to play as a left-sided centre-back, as a left-back and as a central midfielder is also encouraging.

 According to reports from Tuttosport, Juventus are carefully considering a potential move for Alaba this summer. They are, of course, aware of his injury record and of the fact that he will need to lower his salary given that he earns in excess of €10m per season after tax in Spain. 

However, Tuttosport claims that conversations between Juventus and Alaba’s agent, Pini Zahavi, are underway and that the player’s camp has ‘opened up’ to the idea of moving to Turin next season.

Antonio Conte and Massimiliano Allegri remain the frontrunners to land the vacant Italy national team head coach role, but with decisions not yet made either way, several other coaches in Serie A are facing uncertain futures as well. 

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The Italy CT role has been left vacant for the last month following the departure of Gennaro Gattuso shortly after the World Cup play-off final defeat against Bosnia and Herzegovina at the end of March. 

FIGC President Gabriele Gravina and delegation chief Gianluigi Buffon also left their roles after the failure to qualify for the World Cup, and with an election to appoint a new FIGC President set for June 22, a new head coach will not be appointed before then. 

Dominos expected to fall once new Italy CT is chosen

Thursday’s reports indicate that a series of dominos in the Serie A coaching world could begin to fall once the new Italy head coach role is filled. 

The Corriere dello Sport and Calciomercato.com report that if Allegri is appointed the next Italy head coach, then Milan could potentially turn to Bologna’s Vincenzo Italiano, or even to Conte, who had been linked with a move to join the Rossoneri before landing in Naples. 

If Italy go with Conte, then Maurizio Sarri would be first in line to return to the Stadio Maradona to take over. 

This leaves Bologna and Lazio with uncertainties as well. 

Thursday’s reports suggest that if either find themselves in need of a new head coach this summer, they could turn to Atalanta’s Raffaele Palladino, who is said to be uncertain about his long-term future with La Dea. Paolo Vanoli could also be available as Fiorentina are said to be considering a potential move for Sassuolo’s Fabio Grosso. 

Whatever happens with the Italy CT position, there are at least seven Serie A coaches whose futures are not nailed down as things stand between Conte, Allegri, Sarri, Italiano, Palladino, Vanoli and Grosso.

Former Juventus goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny has joked that his long-term Poland colleague Robert Lewandowski should retire instead of joining the Bianconeri this summer ‘because that’s when the best offers come in’. 

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Szczesny jokingly advises Lewandowski against Juventus

Juventus and Milan are among the Serie A sides that have been linked with a summer move to sign Lewandowski, who is expected to leave Barcelona at the end of the 2025-26 campaign and will turn 38 in August.

The veteran centre-forward has still been in productive form over the last two seasons – 27 goals from 34 LaLiga appearances last season and 13 from 27 in the Spanish top flight so far this term, and his age is not a particular concern to clubs in Italy following the success that the 40-year-old Luka Modric has been in Milan this season. 

Lewandowski still has plenty of options available to him approaching the summer transfer window, but former Juventus goalkeeper Szczseny, speaking from his own experiences, jokes that Lewandowski should retire this summer. 

“If I had to give him advice from my experience, I would tell him to retire, because that’s when the best offers come in,” Szczesny joked in an interview with Eleven Sports (via Tuttosport).

Szczesny decided to call time on his playing career after leaving Juventus upon the expiry of his contract in the summer of 2024, before coming out of retirement less than two months later to sign with Barcelona until the end of the 2024-25 season following an injury to first-choice stopper Marc-Andre ter Stegen. 

Szczesny has since gone on to sign a two-year extension to that deal, which will keep him tied to Barcelona until the summer of 2027. He has made 40 appearances across all competitions with the Cataland Giants since joining last October.

Thursday’s reports confirm that Napoli captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo is ready to return to Antonio Conte’s starting line-up in Serie A this weekend as the Italy international marks 100 days since his most recent injury. 

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Di Lorenzo finally set for Napoli return

Di Lorenzo has been out of action for exactly 100 days, dating back to his side’s 2-1 victory against Fiorentina in Serie A on January 31. The Partenopei captain was taken off with a knee injury during that game with fears that he might have damaged his cruciate ligament (ACL). 

Fortunately for Di Lorenzo, the issue was diagnosed as a hyperextension, significantly less severe than an ACL tear, but, the right-back decided to have surgery anyway in order to fix a foot injury which had been causing him pain for much of the 2025-26 season. 

The knee injury and surgery on Di Lorenzo’s foot have kept him out of action for the last 12 Serie A matches. He returned to the matchday squad for Napoli’s 0-0 draw against Como this weekend, but remained an unused substitute. 

Now, according to updates from Corriere dello Sport, Di Lorenzo is now in line to return to the Napoli starting line-up for this weekend’s match against Bologna. The 32-year-old had played for the full 90 minutes in all 22 of Napoli’s Serie A matches prior to his injury.

Former AC Milan legend and current president of the Ukrainian Football Federation, Andriy Shevchenko, believes Italy will return to the top level of world football despite the disappointment of missing out on another FIFA World Cup qualification.

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Shevchenko on Italy’s World Cup failure: ‘They will find a way to come back and compete at the highest level’

“I’m sure Italy will adjust, Italy will find a way to come back and compete at the highest level,” Shevchenko said at the Portugal Football Summit Podcast presented by Pedro Pinto.

“I was very sad about that because a country like Italy is a football country, and this is the third time that they didn’t qualify for the World Cup,” Shevchenko said.

The former Ballon d’Or winner revealed that Milan’s former sporting director Ariedo Braida played a decisive role in convincing him to move to Italy in 1999. “He came to visit me to watch one of the games of Dynamo Kyiv. After the game, he brought me a present: an AC Milan shirt. He told me that if I wanted to win the Ballon d’Or, the only chance was to join AC Milan and wear that shirt. That was a clear message for me that I should choose AC Milan.”

The Ukrainian striker would go on to become one of the greatest forwards in Milan history and win the UEFA Champions League. “It was a dream come true,” he said.

“When I was a little kid, I was always dreaming about becoming a professional player and playing for Dynamo Kyiv. I had a chance to win the Champions League with them, but it didn’t come through. Then, finally, when I joined AC Milan, I had such a big chance to win the Champions League. And when that happened, I felt like my dream had come true. I also felt like I had written something important in the book of football.”

Shevchenko also spoke warmly about his friendship with former Milan teammate Rui Costa, now president of Benfica. “I’m very happy that Rui chose to stay involved in football. It was a great pleasure for me to share the pitch with him. Our relationship has continued.”

Now serving as president of the Ukrainian Association of Football, Shevchenko also addressed the ongoing situation in Ukraine. “When I talk to the players, I try to explain that we have to stick together. We have to help each other,” he said.

Shevchenko reserved special praise for the Ukrainian armed forces, acknowledging their sacrifices during the ongoing conflict. “Thank you for your service. It is the reason we are still playing football in Ukraine.”

The Portugal Football Summit is a programme organised by the Portuguese Football Federation that promises to bring together a number of leading figures from the world of football ahead of the second edition of the event, which will take place from 23 to 25 September at Cidade do Futebol in Oeiras.

Reports in Italy confirm that Italy internationals Sandro Tonali and Nicolo Fagioli have been handed their final punishments as the investigation into their illegal gambling activity finally comes to a definitive end. 

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Tonali and Fagioli betting investigation reaches definitive conclusion

Tonali and Fagioli both served lengthy bans between 2023 and 2024 for their involvement in illegal gambling practices, which involved betting on football matches, which is prohibited for professional players. 

In October of 2023, the FIGC confirmed that Tonali would have to serve a 10-match suspension for his involvement, as well as being ordered to pay a fine of €20,000 and to attend a series of events warning others against the dangers of gambling addictions. Fagioli was also handed a seven-month suspension and a fine of €12,500. 

These were ‘sporting’ punishments handed out by the Italian football association, but that is separate from the criminal investigation that was opened in April 2025. Tonali and Fagioli were accused of gambling on illegal betting sites, of promoting these platforms among other professional athletes, and of opening accounts and delivering payments on behalf of their colleagues. 

Reports from various outlets in Italy on Thursday, including the Corriere dello Sport, confirm that the investigation into the illegal gambling case has now drawn to a conclusion, which means that the matter is now definitively over. 

Tonali will have to pay a fine of €78,000, while Fagioli has been handed a one-month suspended prison sentence. 

Reports in Italy claim that Rafael Leao is at risk of being dropped from Massimiliano Allegri’s starting line-up and that the Rossoneri could look to sell the Portugal international in the upcoming summer transfer window. 

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Could Leao be dropped and then sold by Milan?

Leao and his Milan teammates are on a disappointing run of form heading into the final few games of the 2025-26 season, with just four points to their name from their last five Serie A matches. 

Leao is without a goal in over two months, dating back to the 2-0 win over Cremonese on March 1. The Portugal international is yet to cross double figures in the league, currently on nine goals, heading into the final three Serie A matches of the season. That is despite the fact that he has spent most of the season playing as a centre-forward in a 3-5-2.

According to updates from La Gazzetta dello Sport, Milan are ‘growing tired’ of waiting for Leao to become a consistently reliable player. 

It has been said that the 26-year-old is not impacting games in the way that he used to in years gone by, and his lack of defensive effort has constantly been a complaint among Rossoneri supporters. His icy reactions to being substituted off in recent matches has not gone down well, either. 

For these reasons, La Gazzetta dello Sport claim that Leao is at risk of losing his place in the starting XI for Milan’s upcoming Serie A match against Atalanta on Sunday evening. Thursday’s report explains that Leao still has another few days to convince Allegri to keep the faith in him, but as things stand, he is ‘a step behind’ Christian Pulisic and Santiago Gimenez in the pecking order. 

La Gazzetta dello Sport predicts that this could be the summer that Milan decide to part ways with Leao as well. The Pink Paper claims that Milan ‘will not only evaluate, but encourage’ offers for the winger-turned striker this coming window. 

Leao has a staggering €175m release clause in his Rossoneri contract, which is not expected to be activated. In fact, Milan might be looking at offers of less than a third of the value of the release clause. 

La Gazzetta dello Sport’s prediction is that offers in the region of €50m-€60m could be enough to convince Milan into a sale this summer.

Reports on Thursday claim that former Italy national team head coach Gennaro Gattuso could potentially be offered a three-year contract to return to Serie A as head coach of Torino, but he is not the only candidate that the Granata have in mind. 

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Gattuso has been out of work since leaving his position as head coach of the Italy national team at the beginning of April, shortly after the failure to qualify for the World Cup for the third time in a row. 

The 48-year-old has not coached in Serie A since leaving Napoli in 2021. Since then, he has had experiences with Valencia in LaLiga, Marseille in Ligue 1, Hajduk Split in the Croatian Football League, and most recently with Italy. 

Could Gattuso return to Serie A with Torino after short-lived Italy stint?

According to reports from Tuttosport, Torino are keen on the idea of appointing Gattuso as their head coach for the 2026-27 campaign. 

If Torino are to head down the Gattuso route, Tuttosport reports that he will likely be offered a three-year contract at the Stadio Olimpico Grande. 

The ex-Italy CT is a figure that club President Urbano Cairo is said to like, as does sporting director Gianluca Petrachi, and Thursday’s reports claim that this is not the first time that Gattuso has been sounded out for the Torino job. Tuttosport claims that the Granata had also looked at the possibility of appointing Gattuso before and after Ivan Juric’s spell in charge. 

A return to Torino for Juric can’t be ruled out either. The Croatian has been without a job since leaving Atalanta earlier this season. Torino had also looked at bringing Juric back to the club before he decided to move to Bergamo, which led the Granata to appoint Marco Baroni ahead of the 2025-26 campaign instead. 

There is also a possibility, albeit an increasingly slim one, that Torino decide to stick with current head coach Roberto D’Aversa, who is on a short-term contract that expires at the end of June. Thursday’s front page claims that the current head coach is at the bottom of the pecking order as things stand, though.

La Gazzetta dello Sport 

Leao, you’re out 

Two cases in the race for the Champions League 

He’s at the end of the line with Milan: Future elsewhere. At risk of being benched in San Siro on Sunday

Vlahovic, what frost 

He wants to go abroad, renewal with Juve slipping away 

The last dribble

Brilliance and wit, the symbol of Interismo. His Scudetto teammates: ‘He used to run away from training camps’.

PSG in the final again for the double 

Champions League 

Just a 1-1 against Bayern. The battle with Arsenal in Bdapest on May 30 

Corriere dello Sport 

Conte moves everyone 

If he doesn’t stay at Napoli, could Sarri return and Allegri be CT?

The dugout domino | Antonio, more than Max, could set off the Serie A coaches 

The meeting with ADL is the key to start the rotation of the coaches. Milan also left without certainties. Just like Bologna, Atalanta and Fiorentina. It will hot up from Tuesday

Champions League, Lucho for the treble 

Luis Enrique in the final with PSG: Looking for his third triumph 

No goal fest this time, it finishes 1-1 in Munich with goals from Dembele and Kane. Kvara the best on the pitch. The coach won it last year with the Parisians and with Barcelona in 2015: They will take on Arsenal in Budapest on May 30

Now the world has lost its fantasy 

Farewell to Beccalossi: He was 69 years old. Altobelli: ‘I died with him’ 

Referees, the FIGC votes for change 

Commissioner at the AIA 

The decision from the federal council is expected next week. Pinzani and Butti met with the prosecutor yesterday 

Tuttosport 

‘Dusan, Juve is already your top’ 

Interview with Pantaleo Corvino 

The Lecce general manager, who is playing for survival against Juventus on Saturday, is the man who discovered Vlahovic: ‘They still have a lot to give each other. He could score more than 20 goals a season with Spalletti. He’s a gem: I brought him to Florence amidst great scepticism’. Alaba, who is leaving Madrid, has been offered for the defence. Atletico offering Cardoso to keep Nico Gonzalez. Surveys underway for Pisilli

And who could beat these?

Champions League, PSG draw 1-1 on Bayern’s turf, final against Arsenal 

Dembele strikes after three minutes, the equaliser from Kane doesn’t arrive until the 94th. The champions of Europe will defend their title in Budapest on May 30

Toro, three-year deal for Gattuso

The Granata proposal for the former CT. The alternative remains Juric 

Petrachi supports the move, Cairo also keeps the Croatian option open. D’Aversa at the bottom of the pack. Relegated Wolverhampton tempt Adams with a maxi-contract. Ferrante: ‘Winning the derby would at least give some meaning to the season’

Evaristo and the art of football 

Farewell to Beccalossi