Although there are still widespread hopes that the football season will be played to a finish, we have to start facing the reality that it may not be possible.

Italy is one of the countries that’s been hit the hardest, so it’s completely understandable that Serie A may have to stay suspended for a long time.

It even looks like we may need to expect the season to be cancelled completely following a report from Football Italia.

READ MORE: Photos: Concern for Jack Grealish as allegations of drink driving and crashing into cars emerge

They say that there’s a conference call tomorrow to discuss things, and the Player’s Chief Damiano Tomamasi has warned that there’s a real possibility that the season would end here.

It sounds like the main topic of that call is what the league should do about wages for now, but it’s suggested that they will discuss an extended lock down and even canceling the season for now.

It’s not clear what would happen with the title and relegation from Serie A if that happened, but you can imagine leagues around the world will be watching on with interest.

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Former Juventus and Italy star Fabrizio Miccoli has been sentenced to three and a half years in jail due to his links with a Mafia boss.

According to sources in Italy, the 40-year-old has failed to get his sentence reduced on appeal, with the final verdict confirmed today.

Miccoli had a fine career at some top clubs in Serie A, having also played for the likes of Palermo, Fiorentina and Lecce, as well as Benfica in Portugal.

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However, it seems his post-playing days have been marred by disgrace, with Miccoli said to have been involved in hiring Mauro Lauricella, son of a Mafia boss, to help him recover some debts owed to him.

Reports state Miccoli was attempting to help out a friend who was owed €20,000 (£17,000) in a business dispute in Sicily, which is well known for its strong Mafia presence.

The former forward was not helped as a recording emerged of him insulting an anti-Mafia judge.

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Miccoli looked a top talent at points in his career, but is widely regarded as having failed to truly live up to his potential at the very highest level.

The former Italy international won just ten caps for his country between 2003 and 2004, despite being labelled a ‘genius’ by manager Marcelo Lippi.

He is also remembered for this absolute wonder-goal…

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Paulo Dybala scored an absolute peach of a free-kick last night as his Juventus side brushed past Palermo.

The Argentine made a name for himself at the Serie A relegation-battlers, and it was his good form in Palermo pink that earned him a big-money move to Turin.

Dybala is well on his way to justifying what the BBC reported as a £23 million transfer fee. If he continues to score goals like this, that figure will be repaid in no time.

WHAT
A
GOAL#Dybala
pic.twitter.com/lAaTOWjtDe

— Juvefc.com (@juvefcdotcom) February 17, 2017

His gorgeous, curling effort looks even better in this fan-footage.

View of Paulo Dybala’s goal from inside the Juventus Stadium ? pic.twitter.com/oqaCc3Cw9i

— ItalianFootballTV (@IFTVXtra) February 17, 2017

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Palermo president Maurizio Zamparini believes that Juventus striker Paulo Dybala is the next Lionel Messi, report Calciomercato.

Dybala showed the Palermo faithful exactly what he can do during his three years at the club. In his final season, he bagged 13 Serie A goals – which earned him a move to Italian giants Juventus.

He reached a whole new level in Turin, finding the back of the net on 23 occasions in his debut season and establishing himself as a cornerstone in his side.

Dybala is set to go head-to-head with his former employers this weekend, with Palermo paying a visit to Turin. Ahead of the game, Zamparini has explained just how highly he rates Dybala.

Calciomercato quote Zamparini, who believes that if Dybala was ever to leave Juventus, he could command a new world-record fee: “He is worth more than € 100 million, maybe € 150 million.”

The Palermo president also compared Dybala to one of his international teammates: “I’ve always thought that he’s the next Messi.”

If Dybala reaches anything near the heights Messi has in his career, the Juventus faithful are in for a treat.

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Juventus’ Paulo Dybala is enjoying his time in Italy, improving year on year to put himself up with the best players in the league, if not the world.

It’s easy to forget, then, that the Argentine is still very young. After successful years at Palermo and now Juve, it’s astonishing to think how good the birthday boy could get in the next few years.

See the Instagram below for an image from his rather classy looking birthday party. Do you want some bigger balloons next time PD?

Quisiera recambiar todo el afecto agradeciendo a cada uno, pero de verdad son muchos! Gracias a todos, hicieron que este día sea aún más especial! Vorrei ricambiare tutto il vostro affetto ringraziando ciascuno, ma siete veramente tanti! Grazie a tutti, avete reso questo giorno ancora più speciale! Thank you all for your wishes, you made my day very special! #birthday #23 #happybirthdaytome #felizcumpleparami #buoncompleannoame

A photo posted by Paulo Dybala (@paulodybala) on Nov 15, 2016 at 12:01pm PST

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Cesc Fabregas is still at Chelsea and still fighting for his place according to reports, but that hasn’t stopped the press finding replacements for him before he’s out of the door.

The Daily Mail have Antonio Conte looking at targets from his former stomping ground in the Mediterranean to replace the Spanish midfielder.

First up is Javier Pastore, who had a fabulous career at Palermo in Italy before moving to PSG. The attacking midfielder is out of favour in Paris and would thus be a relatively easy target for Chelsea – if they are willing to meet PSGs asking price.

A potentially more difficult target also mentioned in the Mail is Inter midfielder Marcelo Brozovic. The talented Croatian provides a little more of the box to box muscle that Conte will be keen on, plus plenty of attacking flair to replace the quality Fabregas brings to the team.

Inter are struggling this season and Brozovic may want out of a chaotic situation. Whether Inter will want to sell is a different story.

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It was another thrilling weekend in Serie A, as Week 3 of the season saw wins for Juventus, Napoli, Inter and Roma with a familiar face stealing the headlines.

Torrential rain followed by a hailstorm threatened to call proceedings in Rome to a premature end on Sunday afternoon, with the players waiting 80 minutes for the game to resume at one stage.

Resume it did though, and with the Giallorossi falling 2-1 behind, the introduction of Francesco Totti and Edin Dzeko turned the tide.

After the Bosnian forward had drawn them level, Milan Skriniar caught him in the box in injury time giving Totti the chance to step up and score from the spot.

The Roma icon turns 40 in a couple of weeks, and despite the wealth of experience and big moments in his career to date, he conceded that he ‘felt nervous for the first time ever’ before taking his penalty.

“It was the first time I’ve been afraid of missing,” Totti told Sky Italia. “But I couldn’t miss in front of the Curva, in front of my people.

“Crowning the match with a goal and an assist was the perfect ending.”

That’s the way it turned out as he buried his penalty before charging at the Curva, as he capped another impressive cameo appearance with talk that perhaps he shouldn’t call it a day at the end of this season given that he’s picked up from where he left off at the end of last year.

Nevertheless, time will eventually catch up with him and it’s worth savouring his brilliance on the pitch while it lasts as Roma will hope to have new heroes emerge in the coming years to step up and try to replace the irreplaceable.

Elsewhere, Gonzalo Higuain bagged a brace in his first start for Juventus in their 3-1 win over Sassuolo, with fellow summer signing Miralem Pjanic also getting on the scoresheet.

For those hoping that the Bianconeri would perhaps make a slow start to the season with their new faces to give their rivals a chance, it looks like those prayers will go unanswered.

However, as well as Roma winning, Napoli picked up all three points with a comprehensive victory and performance at Palermo.

There was a historic moment for the Partenopei, with Marek Hamsik surpassing Diego Maradona to move into second place on the club’s list of all-time leading goalscorers in Serie A as the Slovakian midfielder continues to secure his legacy his Naples.

Things didn’t go to plan for Milan who threw away a point late on at home against Udinese in an uninspiring display from Vincenzo Montella’s men, while in contrast Frank De Boer secured his first win in charge of Inter as a Mauro Icardi double saw them come from behind to see off Pescara.

Meanwhile, all eyes were on Torino’s meeting with Atalanta as a certain Joe Hart made his debut, although based on the official team sheets it was ‘John Hart’ between the posts for Sinisa Mihajlovic’s side.

It was a debut to forget for the England international, as he fumbled a cross to allow Andrea Masiello to score an equaliser, before he failed to keep a penalty out shortly after as Torino slipped to defeat to Bergamo.

From the highs of Totti’s winner to Hart’s miserable introduction to Italian football, it’s another great weekend of Serie A football in the bank.

Follow Sumeet on Twitter @SP_Calcio for all the latest Serie A news.

Serie A results:

Juventus 3-1 Sassuolo
Palermo 0-3 Napoli
Bologna 2-1 Cagliari
Chievo 1-1 Lazio
Genoa-Fiorentina (Suspended)
Atalanta 2-1 Torino
AC Milan 0-1 Udinese
Roma 3-2 Sampdoria
Pescara 1-2 Inter

Empoli-Crotone (Monday night)

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La Gazzetta dello Sport have published their calculated list of Serie A salaries and budgets for the 20 teams in Italy’s top flight, with Juventus unsurprisingly top of the list.

The figures have been released in the print version of the pink paper on Wednesday, and have shown up some interesting numbers for various individuals.

As noted by BBC Sport, Gonzalo Higuain joined Juve in a deal worth £75.3m this summer, and the Argentine international has been handed a sizeable contract too as he will earn €7.5m-per-season net.

In turn, he replaces Roma midfielder Daniele De Rossi at the top of the list, with the Italian international on a deal that pays out €6.5m-a-year.

Further, the figures look into salary budgets, not including performance-related bonuses, with the Bianconeri again leading the way with a total of €145m, with Inter in second place at €120m.

Roma come in third at €92m, while AC Milan and Napoli complete the top five after spending €80m and €75m respectively, as reported by Gazzetta.

The paper also sheds some light on how much managers are making with Massimiliano Allegri the top-earner on €5m net per year with Roma boss Luciano Spalletti in second place at €3m.

Given the fact that they’ve won five consecutive Scudetti, it’s no surprise to see Juve’s squad strength reflected in these numbers as the club hierarchy have assembled a dominant team.

With the likes of Higuain, Gianluigi Buffon, Leonardo Bonucci, Giorgi Chiellini, Miralem Pjanic and others set to extend that dominance this season, they will be looking to make a splash in Europe too to ensure that the investment continues to result in progress on the pitch.

As for Higuain himself, he won’t feel any more pressure as a result of the money he’s earning, as after sealing a move from Napoli in the summer following on from a season in which he scored 36 Serie A goals in 35 games, he’ll be fully focused on ending his wait for silverware.

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Week 2 of Serie A produced plenty more goals, drama and talking points as Sumeet Paul runs through the action from the weekend.

Napoli find new heroes as they overcome AC Milan

If Napoli fans were still left angry and heartbroken over Gonzalo Higuain’s decision to move to Juventus, the current crop of stars are doing a decent job of helping them forget.

Dries Mertens was the hero last weekend as they clawed their way back from behind to earn a 2-2 draw at Pescara, and while the Belgian played an integral role in their thrilling 4-2 win over AC Milan on Saturday, it was summer signing Arkadiusz Milik who was beaming after bagging his first goals for the club.

It appeared as though the hosts had thrown away a two-goal lead after stunning individual efforts from M’Baye Niang and Suso had drawn the Rossoneri level, but back came Maurizio Sarri’s side, albeit without their coach who had been sent to the stands, as they made it four points from their first two games.

It was a match full of positives and negatives for Vincenzo Montella. While he could argue they deserved a point from it, red cards for Niang and Juraj Kucka ended any hopes of returning home with anything to show for their efforts.

Juventus march on as Inter struggle

Elsewhere, it was business as usual for Juventus as Sami Khedira’s goal earned them all three points at Lazio, while Frank De Boer’s Inter continued to toil after being held at home by Palermo.

The Dutchman hasn’t been in charge long but after last weekend’s defeat to Chievo, the pressure is already ramping up at a tense Stadio Giuseppe Meazza as the jeers become more audible the longer they were behind.

Antonio Candreva’s introduction sparked them into life though with Mauro Icardi off the mark as he scored the equaliser to earn them a share of the spoils.

Strootman on target but Roma can’t hold on

One of the best sights of the weekend was seeing Kevin Strootman find the back of the net. The Dutch midfielder has suffered with injury after injury in recent years, but he finally looks as though he’s put it behind him.

Having scored away at Cagliari to put Roma 2-0 up, he would have been forgiven for thinking that he had sealed all three points. However, in a week to forget for the capital club, they surrendered their two-goal lead to suffer further misery after their Champions League elimination in midweek.

Sassuolo win while Belotti bags hat-trick

Elsewhere, Domenico Berardi was on the scoresheet for Sassuolo as they sit with maximum points after two games along with Juve, Genoa and Sampdoria, although they will now be without their talismanic striker through injury. In addition, there was a celebratory hat-trick for Torino striker Andrea Belotti in his side’s 5-1 win over Bologna as he now links up with the Italy squad over the international break.

Results: Cagliari 2-2 Roma, Crotone 1-3 Genoa, Fiorentina 1-0 Chievo, Inter 1-1 Palermo, Lazio 0-1 Juventus, Napoli 4-2 Milan, Sampdoria 2-1 Atalanta, Sassuolo 2-1 Pescara, Torino 5-1 Bologna, Udinese 2-0 Empoli.

Follow Sumeet on Twitter @SP_Calcio

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Palermo have reportedly given Liverpool forward Mario Balotelli 24 hours to make his mind up on their contract offer and accept a move to the club.

The 26-year-old has a chance to join the Rosanero on loan and return to the place of his birth to try and get his career on track as his opportunities continue to diminish.

However, the biggest stumbling block in negotiations is his wage demands, with the Serie A outfit raising their proposal to pay €1m of his €5.8m salary per year, with Liverpool paying the rest, according to La Gazzetta dello Sport.

The pink paper goes on to add that the offer will only be in place for 24 hours as Palermo need an answer to ensure that they aren’t left empty-handed when the transfer deadline passes.

Davide Ballardini is also targeting Diego Falcinelli, but with the Sassuolo striker attracting interest from elsewhere too, they are keen to avoid a situation in which they miss out on both of their top attacking targets.

It appears as though the move would make sense for Balotelli, as he evidently doesn’t have a future at Anfield under Jurgen Klopp.

Instead of sitting on the sidelines for the rest of the season, he needs to secure a move away from the club to play regular football, and the opportunity to become a focal point at Palermo could be the kind of setting that gets the best out of him.

Having failed to impress AC Milan enough last season to warrant a permanent return to the San Siro, the Italian international will be desperate to put his injury woes and disciplinary issues behind him and get back to playing at the level that many believe he is still capable of reaching.

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