Marked for Danilo Bulevardi
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad9 Aug 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Virtus Verona this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Marco Dalle Pezze is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Luca Munaretti has improved at 25, which nobody expected
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Words at Virtus Verona training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Danilo Bulevardi is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Transfer targets9 Aug 2027
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Transfer targets9 Aug 2027
Leones have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
Transfer targets9 Aug 2027
Colón have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
The dugout9 Aug 2027
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
The dugout9 Aug 2027
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Mattia Pagliuca has written the date down.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom2 Aug 2027
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Fabrizio Baldini has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Market2 Aug 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Virtus Verona, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout2 Aug 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Virtus Verona may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Transfer targets2 Aug 2027
The deal with Estudiantes is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Francesco Toffanin was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Danilo Bulevardi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets2 Aug 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Racing Genk have kept their man, and Virtus Verona go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The dugout2 Aug 2027
Every squad is half players the manager chose and half players he inherited. Danilo Bulevardi was chosen, the man who chose him has gone, and he starts again from nothing under the next one.
The dugout2 Aug 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Francesco Toffanin trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom26 Jul 2027
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Virtus Verona is running low.
Transfer targets26 Jul 2027
Fee done, terms next for Luca Galli
Virtus Verona and Bologna have settled on $110.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
Market26 Jul 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Virtus Verona, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets26 Jul 2027
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Virtus Verona have done the hard part with OGC Nice, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Danilo Bulevardi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Hachim Mastour falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad26 Jul 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Michele Raimondi commits to Virtus Verona for another 3 years.
Market26 Jul 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Virtus Verona know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Market26 Jul 2027
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Andrés Jantus may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Transfer targets19 Jul 2027
The deal with Cagliari is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Words at Virtus Verona training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Danilo Bulevardi is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Transfer targets19 Jul 2027
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Marco Amadio was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Virtus Verona are still strangers to each other
5 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
Market19 Jul 2027
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
Market19 Jul 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Michael Fabbro signs something — a contract at Virtus Verona or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Market19 Jul 2027
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Francesco Toffanin may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
The dugout19 Jul 2027
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Mattia Pagliuca has written the date down.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad12 Jul 2027
Mattia Attinasi gets the move he always wanted
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Mattia Attinasi has just signed for Virtus Verona, and for once the answer mattered.
Squad12 Jul 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Virtus Verona this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Jul 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Riccardo Lodovici and Virtus Verona agree another 4 years.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Danilo Bulevardi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets12 Jul 2027
Virtus Verona asked and Lazio said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The dugout12 Jul 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mattia Pagliuca, and the manager let it.
Transfer targets12 Jul 2027
A loan move for Elias Lorenz is in the works
Virtus Verona have made the call to Austria Wien. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Market12 Jul 2027
Mattia Attinasi is 20, and Virtus Verona have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
The dugout12 Jul 2027
Edoardo Cuel asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom5 Jul 2027
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Fabrizio Baldini has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Market5 Jul 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Virtus Verona can pretend not to have heard.
Transfer targets5 Jul 2027
Everything was agreed with Ospitaletto and then the doctor spoke. Virtus Verona have walked away from a signing on the advice of somebody who never saw him play, which is how it is supposed to work.
Squad5 Jul 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Virtus Verona this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market5 Jul 2027
The paperwork is done: David Suazo joins from Altamura in a deal worth $84.0K. Now comes the harder part.
Squad5 Jul 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Marco Amadio commits to Virtus Verona for another 3 years.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Words at Virtus Verona training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Hachim Mastour is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Transfer targets5 Jul 2027
A loan move for Milton Pereyra is in the works
Virtus Verona have made the call to Napoli. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Boardroom5 Jul 2027
4 arrivals, an average age nobody would call a squad, and a set of parents being shown around a building their sons will spend more time in than at home. The scouting has already happened; today is only the paperwork.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom28 Jun 2027
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Virtus Verona is running low.
Market28 Jun 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Transfer targets28 Jun 2027
$120.0K settles it between the clubs for Lorenzo Mazza
Ospitaletto have accepted the money. What Virtus Verona do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Squad28 Jun 2027
At 21 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Nicola Patanè was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Market28 Jun 2027
The fee is $44.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Livorno drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Danilo Bulevardi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom28 Jun 2027
Giana Erminio will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Francesco Lattisi has pre-agreed a move to Virtus Verona, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market14 Jun 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Virtus Verona, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Danilo Bulevardi was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Transfer targets14 Jun 2027
Virtus Verona asked and Torino said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad14 Jun 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Marco Ballarini commits to Virtus Verona for another 3 years.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Words at Virtus Verona training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicola Patanè is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Transfer targets14 Jun 2027
Almirante Brown have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom7 Jun 2027
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Market7 Jun 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Virtus Verona can pretend not to have heard.
Market7 Jun 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Virtus Verona is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad7 Jun 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Virtus Verona this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets7 Jun 2027
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Words at Virtus Verona training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicola Patanè is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad7 Jun 2027
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Virtus Verona can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Andrés Jantus wants one last season at home
Every long career reaches the week the last one is thought about. He would like it to be where he started, and Virtus Verona know now that the thought has arrived.
The dugout7 Jun 2027
Every squad is half players the manager chose and half players he inherited. Danilo Bulevardi was chosen, the man who chose him has gone, and he starts again from nothing under the next one.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match24 Apr 2027
11 matches without a win for Virtus Verona
The run now stands at 11, and the questions being asked around Virtus Verona are no longer polite ones.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Danilo Bulevardi and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Words at Virtus Verona training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicola Patanè is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Player ratings26 Apr 2027
Successful dribbles: 14. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Fabrizio Baldini chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
The manager makes an example of Federico Fanini
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Match24 Apr 2027
Ninety minutes, two goalkeepers with clean gloves, and not one finish worth keeping. Alcione Milano will be the happier side with the point.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
Nobody at Virtus Verona is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
Samuele Lerco asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match17 Apr 2027
10 matches without a win for Virtus Verona
The run now stands at 10, and the questions being asked around Virtus Verona are no longer polite ones.
Player ratings19 Apr 2027
Up for the corner, and Francesco Toffanin delivers — 7.82
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Francesco Toffanin scored, was marked 7.82, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Danilo Bulevardi and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Virtus Verona pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
Match17 Apr 2027
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Edoardo Cuel, and the manager let it.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Fabrizio Baldini chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
Squad19 Apr 2027
One booking too many, and Danilo Bulevardi sits out. Virtus Verona lose him for the sort of avoidable reason that makes a manager's week longer.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Words at Virtus Verona training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Andrés Jantus is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match3 Apr 2027
8 matches without a win for Virtus Verona
The run now stands at 8, and the questions being asked around Virtus Verona are no longer polite ones.
Boardroom5 Apr 2027
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Virtus Verona
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Manuel Daffara was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings5 Apr 2027
Successful dribbles: 18. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
The dugout5 Apr 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mattia Pagliuca, and the manager let it.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Hachim Mastour falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Player ratings5 Apr 2027
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.22 on the card, and the Virtus Verona support went home talking about one name.
The dugout5 Apr 2027
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Fabrizio Baldini after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Match3 Apr 2027
Point won or two lost for Virtus Verona?
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Lumezzane? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market15 Mar 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Virtus Verona can pretend not to have heard.
Match13 Mar 2027
No end in sight to Virtus Verona's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Virtus Verona has to find a result from somewhere.
Market15 Mar 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Virtus Verona is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Match13 Mar 2027
4 matches without a goal for Virtus Verona
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Danilo Bulevardi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Words at Virtus Verona training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Francesco Toffanin is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Match13 Mar 2027
Pro Patria left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
The manager makes an example of Sheikh Sibi
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad15 Mar 2027
100 games in these colours. Service of that kind gets rarer every season, and the crowd knows it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match6 Mar 2027
No end in sight to Virtus Verona's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Virtus Verona has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad8 Mar 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Danilo Bulevardi and Virtus Verona agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad8 Mar 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Virtus Verona this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match6 Mar 2027
3 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Player ratings8 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 16. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Player ratings8 Mar 2027
Marked 7.64. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
The dugout8 Mar 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout8 Mar 2027
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Virtus Verona will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match27 Feb 2027
0‑3 against Renate, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Danilo Bulevardi was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Francesco Toffanin falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Boardroom1 Mar 2027
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑3 defeat, delivered by Fabrizio Baldini to a room that had heard them before.
Market1 Mar 2027
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Samuele Lerco has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Virtus Verona.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Gianmarco Ingrosso, and the manager let it.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
Player ratings1 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 12. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings25 Jan 2027
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.62, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Squad25 Jan 2027
7 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Market25 Jan 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Danilo Bulevardi and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Transfer targets25 Jan 2027
Virtus Verona asked and Red Bull Salzburg said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Match23 Jan 2027
It finished 2‑1, and it was Iacopo Cernigoi’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Virtus Verona.
The terraces25 Jan 2027
He is 22 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Transfer targets25 Jan 2027
A loan move for Leon Klanac is in the works
Virtus Verona have made the call to Bayern Munich. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Fabrizio Baldini on a 2‑1 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market18 Jan 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Virtus Verona can pretend not to have heard.
Squad18 Jan 2027
6 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Transfer targets18 Jan 2027
The deal with Feyenoord is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Match16 Jan 2027
4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Match16 Jan 2027
4 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Virtus Verona can tell you which week it ends in.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Danilo Bulevardi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Words at Virtus Verona training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Francesco Toffanin is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Transfer targets18 Jan 2027
Virtus Verona asked and Agropecuario Argentino said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Match16 Jan 2027
0‑1 to Cittadella, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad11 Jan 2027
9 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Squad11 Jan 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Virtus Verona this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match9 Jan 2027
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Virtus Verona can tell you which week it ends in.
Transfer targets11 Jan 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Colón have kept their man, and Virtus Verona go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Match9 Jan 2027
0‑1 to Ospitaletto, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mattia Pagliuca, and the manager let it.
Match11 Jan 2027
Halfway: Virtus Verona sit in position 16
18 points at the turn. The first half of a season is a promise; the second is a bill, and the town is about to find out which of the two this one was.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Fabrizio Baldini after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Words at Virtus Verona training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Hachim Mastour is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match5 Dec 2026
9 matches without a win for Virtus Verona
The run now stands at 9, and the questions being asked around Virtus Verona are no longer polite ones.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Danilo Bulevardi was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Francesco Toffanin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad7 Dec 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Mattia Pedrett commits to Virtus Verona for another 3 years.
Squad7 Dec 2026
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Hachim Mastour has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Hachim Mastour, and the manager let it.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Match5 Dec 2026
Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. Arzignano came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.
Looking ahead7 Dec 2026
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Marco Melchionda’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Virtus Verona needing him to play as if none of it matters.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match28 Nov 2026
No end in sight to Virtus Verona's wait for a win
8 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Virtus Verona has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Danilo Bulevardi and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
Marco Amadio gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑2 defeat, delivered by Fabrizio Baldini to a room that had heard them before.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 15. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Boardroom30 Nov 2026
Wages swallow 86% of the Virtus Verona income
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words at Virtus Verona training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Federico Fanini is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Looking ahead30 Nov 2026
Arzignano next, and one man in the Virtus Verona dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market23 Nov 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Match23 Nov 2026
11 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Match21 Nov 2026
No end in sight to Virtus Verona's wait for a win
7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Virtus Verona has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Danilo Bulevardi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match21 Nov 2026
Lumezzane left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Fabrizio Baldini after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Market23 Nov 2026
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Enrico Alfonso has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Virtus Verona.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
The plan did not have a place for Hachim Mastour
Nobody at Virtus Verona is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
The manager makes Samuele Lerco a promise
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Virtus Verona. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad19 Oct 2026
Manuel Daffara damages knee ligaments — 21 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 21 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Squad19 Oct 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Iacopo Cernigoi and Virtus Verona agree another 3 years.
Squad19 Oct 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Virtus Verona this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nicola Patanè was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match17 Oct 2026
Late, late show earns Virtus Verona a point
Minute 94, against Renate, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.
Match17 Oct 2026
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Samuele Lerco, and the manager let it.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 14. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Fabrizio Baldini was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the Virtus Verona dressing room was either.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad12 Oct 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Manuel Daffara
31 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Virtus Verona lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Danilo Bulevardi was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Match10 Oct 2026
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Market12 Oct 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Giovanni Fabbri has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Market12 Oct 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Mattia Parise has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
Sheikh Sibi gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Fabrizio Baldini after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Looking ahead12 Oct 2026
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Marco Amadio’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Virtus Verona needing him to play as if none of it matters.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad5 Oct 2026
38 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Virtus Verona lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Danilo Bulevardi and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Francesco Toffanin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match3 Oct 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Iacopo Cernigoi. 1‑0 against Pergolettese, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Marked 8.09 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Hachim Mastour
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
109% of the income goes out in wages at Virtus Verona
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 16. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Fabrizio Baldini kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad31 Aug 2026
Leandro Antonucci damages knee ligaments — 25 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 25 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Danilo Bulevardi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
Virtus Verona asked and Monaco said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
Marco Amadio gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Match29 Aug 2026
The board was up, the win was priced in, and then Ospitaletto scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 15. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
A loan enquiry to Olympiacos: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Match29 Aug 2026
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Fabrizio Baldini after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad24 Aug 2026
33 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Virtus Verona lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad24 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Virtus Verona this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Francesco Toffanin falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
Virtus Verona have made the call to Alcione Milano. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Boardroom24 Aug 2026
Virtus Verona say no to the training-ground money
The plan went upstairs and came back down. Nothing about that will make a headline anywhere else, and everybody who works at the training ground will remember it for years.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Ascoli have kept their man, and Virtus Verona go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Market17 Aug 2026
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Danilo Bulevardi is a Virtus Verona player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Danilo Bulevardi was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad17 Aug 2026
He is doing things every Saturday that nobody around him can answer. It is flattering for a season and a problem after that, and Virtus Verona know which stage they are at.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
Liverpool have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
A loan enquiry to Nueva Chicago: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.