Genoa, the oldest club in Italian soccer, has been acquired by American investment firm 777 Partners, following long-time owner Enrico Preziosi’s decision to depart from the club. Genoa is now the sixth Serie A team to be acquired by U.S. owners, following in the footsteps of AC Milan, Fiorentina, Spezia, AS Roma, and Venezia.

In a joint statement, it was confirmed that the Miami-based 777 Partners would be purchasing 99.9% of the club’s capital, in addition to assuming certain liabilities and debts and also injecting new funds into the organization. According to Reuters, the deal values the club at €150 million ($175.80 million) including debt.

Josh Wander, founder and managing partner of 777 Partners, expressed his delight following the closing of the deal: “We understand and respect the responsibility we are inheriting; we want to preserve and protect the proud legacy of the Rossoblu by aiming for the best possible placing in Serie A.”

This deal is not the first excursion that 777 Partners has taken into the world of football. The Miami investment firm also owns a stake in the Spanish La Liga club Sevilla.

The post Oldest Serie A Team Purchased By U.S. Investment Firm appeared first on SportzBonanza.

Napoli, an underdog heading into their Coppa Italia final clash against Juventus, managed to bring home a dramatic victory after a penalty shootout that saw them take down the giants of Italian soccer.

Napoli won their first Italian cup and their first trophy since 2014 thanks to their 4-2 shootout win over Juventus. Neither team was able to score in regulation or extra time, but Gennaro Gattuso’s side coolly dispatched of the club that won four straight cups from 2015 to 2018.

The game was back-and-forth throughout regulation, with Juventus goalie Gianluigi Buffon making a number of saves to deny what could have been a series of game-winners for Napoli.

Cristiano Ronaldo almost got Juventus on top early himself, but Napoli keeper Alex Meret denied his team a 1-0 lead.

In penalties, Juventus got into a big hole early after Paulo Dybala’s shot was saved by Meret and Danilo sent his shot high. Napoli’s Lorenzo Insigne and Matteo Politano converted, giving them a 4-2 lead.

While Juventus made its next two shots, Napoli continued to convert and clinched the shootout victory after Arkadiusz Milik coolly slotted a shot past Buffon to take home the crown.

With their victory, Napoli is guaranteed a spot in the 2020-21 UEFA Europa League.

The post Napoli Defeats Juventus in Penalties to Win Coppa Italia appeared first on SportzBonanza.

After seeing the postponement of the season in March bring a sudden halt to the league, Italy’s Serie A soccer competition will allow its teams to return to group training on May 18th.

The COVID-19 pandemic, which had an especially severe impact in the country of Italy, has kept teams away from the field and from practice facilities since March 9th. Players have been forced to train individually at their homes in order to prevent the spread of the virus.

With the number of cases and deaths now falling in Italy and across Europe, the league has now given teams preliminary guidelines about their returns to the pitch.

Teams will begin to be able to work with players on an individual, non-team basis for training on May 4th. However, teams will not be allowed to congregate and practice in a group setting at team facilities until May 18th, over two months after the last time that teams were together.

Italy plans to resume play for its league sometime in June, however, the plans do not include games played with fans in the stands.

Juventus currently holds a one-point lead for the Scudetto in front of upstart Lazio. This race, as well as the race for the final two Champions League spots, are worth keeping an eye on once the league resumes play.

The post Serie A Teams to Return to Training on May 18th appeared first on SportzBonanza.

After a whirlwind career that has seen him play for some of Europe’s biggest clubs and get involved in a handful of controversies, Mario Balotelli is going home.

The polarizing Italian striker has signed a deal on a free transfer with Brescia Calcio, the club from his hometown of Brescia in the north of Italy.

The world-famous striker was linked to a big-money move to Brazilian club Flamengo in recent weeks but reportedly decided to sign with the newly-promoted Serie A squad due to a desire to break into Italy’s squad for the Euro 2020 tournament next summer.

Balotelli has already managed to play for Inter Milan, Manchester City, AC Milan, Liverpool, Nice, and Marseille despite only being 29 years old. The mercurial striker has never been able to stay for a long time at any club due to dust-ups with managers and disciplinary problems that have prevented him from ever realizing his true potential.

The striker scored 8 goals in 25 matches with Nice and Marseille in France’s Ligue 1 last year.

He’ll now have a chance to return home and get his career back on track with a newly-promoted team that will surely look to Balotelli as its main offensive weapon. Could this be the move that he needs?

The post Mario Balotelli Signs with Hometown Club Brescia appeared first on SportzBonanza.

Two of the giants of Italian soccer confirmed plans on Monday to demolish the San Siro Stadium in Milan and replace it with a new, state-of-the-art stadium in the upcoming years.

AC Milan and Inter Milan, two huge names in the world of soccer, might be rivals, but they do share a stadium. Their presidents confirmed plans on Monday to demolish the 80,000+ seat stadium that is nearly a century old and to replace it with a more modern facility.

AC Milan chairman Paolo Scaroni stated on Monday, “We’re building a new stadium near the old one. San Siro will be demolished and there will be new buildings in its place.”

The current stadium has hosted massive events, including countless matches of the Italian National Team as well as nine World Cup games, 3 Euro games, and two Champions League Finals.

While it might be time to move on from the aging concrete structure, the new digs won’t be cheap. The plan for the new stadium suggests that the price tag for the new stadium will exceed $800 million.

An iconic soccer stadium is set to go away, but AC Milan and Inter hope that their new cathedral will be just as magical as the current one.

The post AC Milan, Inter Confirm Plans to Demolish San Siro and Build New Stadium appeared first on SportzBonanza.

Genoa, the oldest club in Italian soccer, has been acquired by American investment firm 777 Partners, following long-time owner Enrico Preziosi’s decision to depart from the club. Genoa is now the sixth Serie A team to be acquired by U.S. owners, following in the footsteps of AC Milan, Fiorentina, Spezia, AS Roma, and Venezia.

In a joint statement, it was confirmed that the Miami-based 777 Partners would be purchasing 99.9% of the club’s capital, in addition to assuming certain liabilities and debts and also injecting new funds into the organization. According to Reuters, the deal values the club at €150 million ($175.80 million) including debt.

Josh Wander, founder and managing partner of 777 Partners, expressed his delight following the closing of the deal: “We understand and respect the responsibility we are inheriting; we want to preserve and protect the proud legacy of the Rossoblu by aiming for the best possible placing in Serie A.”

This deal is not the first excursion that 777 Partners has taken into the world of football. The Miami investment firm also owns a stake in the Spanish La Liga club Sevilla.

The post Oldest Serie A Team Purchased By U.S. Investment Firm appeared first on SportzBonanza.

Napoli, an underdog heading into their Coppa Italia final clash against Juventus, managed to bring home a dramatic victory after a penalty shootout that saw them take down the giants of Italian soccer.

Napoli won their first Italian cup and their first trophy since 2014 thanks to their 4-2 shootout win over Juventus. Neither team was able to score in regulation or extra time, but Gennaro Gattuso’s side coolly dispatched of the club that won four straight cups from 2015 to 2018.

The game was back-and-forth throughout regulation, with Juventus goalie Gianluigi Buffon making a number of saves to deny what could have been a series of game-winners for Napoli.

Cristiano Ronaldo almost got Juventus on top early himself, but Napoli keeper Alex Meret denied his team a 1-0 lead.

In penalties, Juventus got into a big hole early after Paulo Dybala’s shot was saved by Meret and Danilo sent his shot high. Napoli’s Lorenzo Insigne and Matteo Politano converted, giving them a 4-2 lead.

While Juventus made its next two shots, Napoli continued to convert and clinched the shootout victory after Arkadiusz Milik coolly slotted a shot past Buffon to take home the crown.

With their victory, Napoli is guaranteed a spot in the 2020-21 UEFA Europa League.

The post Napoli Defeats Juventus in Penalties to Win Coppa Italia appeared first on SportzBonanza.

After seeing the postponement of the season in March bring a sudden halt to the league, Italy’s Serie A soccer competition will allow its teams to return to group training on May 18th.

The COVID-19 pandemic, which had an especially severe impact in the country of Italy, has kept teams away from the field and from practice facilities since March 9th. Players have been forced to train individually at their homes in order to prevent the spread of the virus.

With the number of cases and deaths now falling in Italy and across Europe, the league has now given teams preliminary guidelines about their returns to the pitch.

Teams will begin to be able to work with players on an individual, non-team basis for training on May 4th. However, teams will not be allowed to congregate and practice in a group setting at team facilities until May 18th, over two months after the last time that teams were together.

Italy plans to resume play for its league sometime in June, however, the plans do not include games played with fans in the stands.

Juventus currently holds a one-point lead for the Scudetto in front of upstart Lazio. This race, as well as the race for the final two Champions League spots, are worth keeping an eye on once the league resumes play.

The post Serie A Teams to Return to Training on May 18th appeared first on SportzBonanza.

After a whirlwind career that has seen him play for some of Europe’s biggest clubs and get involved in a handful of controversies, Mario Balotelli is going home.

The polarizing Italian striker has signed a deal on a free transfer with Brescia Calcio, the club from his hometown of Brescia in the north of Italy.

The world-famous striker was linked to a big-money move to Brazilian club Flamengo in recent weeks but reportedly decided to sign with the newly-promoted Serie A squad due to a desire to break into Italy’s squad for the Euro 2020 tournament next summer.

Balotelli has already managed to play for Inter Milan, Manchester City, AC Milan, Liverpool, Nice, and Marseille despite only being 29 years old. The mercurial striker has never been able to stay for a long time at any club due to dust-ups with managers and disciplinary problems that have prevented him from ever realizing his true potential.

The striker scored 8 goals in 25 matches with Nice and Marseille in France’s Ligue 1 last year.

He’ll now have a chance to return home and get his career back on track with a newly-promoted team that will surely look to Balotelli as its main offensive weapon. Could this be the move that he needs?

The post Mario Balotelli Signs with Hometown Club Brescia appeared first on SportzBonanza.

Two of the giants of Italian soccer confirmed plans on Monday to demolish the San Siro Stadium in Milan and replace it with a new, state-of-the-art stadium in the upcoming years.

AC Milan and Inter Milan, two huge names in the world of soccer, might be rivals, but they do share a stadium. Their presidents confirmed plans on Monday to demolish the 80,000+ seat stadium that is nearly a century old and to replace it with a more modern facility.

AC Milan chairman Paolo Scaroni stated on Monday, “We’re building a new stadium near the old one. San Siro will be demolished and there will be new buildings in its place.”

The current stadium has hosted massive events, including countless matches of the Italian National Team as well as nine World Cup games, 3 Euro games, and two Champions League Finals.

While it might be time to move on from the aging concrete structure, the new digs won’t be cheap. The plan for the new stadium suggests that the price tag for the new stadium will exceed $800 million.

An iconic soccer stadium is set to go away, but AC Milan and Inter hope that their new cathedral will be just as magical as the current one.

The post AC Milan, Inter Confirm Plans to Demolish San Siro and Build New Stadium appeared first on SportzBonanza.