Serie A: A Message to the Detractors—After Three Matchdays, an Unprecedented Statistic
Matchday 3 of Serie A is now in the books, with statistics that are sure to give the many critics of Italy’s top league pause for thought. Following the Udinese-Lazio match, which ended in a 2-1 victory for the Biancocelesti, there are two statistics that are impossible to ignore. And one of them is truly unprecedented. The season’s triple-header opening weekend (extending into Monday) in fact featured only matches without penalty kicks, while the first 0-0 draw of the year has yet to occur. And while three rounds without scoreless matches had already occurred (in 2020–2021, the first 0–0 was Verona vs. Genoa in the fourth round), there had never been three consecutive matchdays without a penalty since Serie A expanded to 20 teams in 2004–2005.
This is a fitting response to those who have long accused Serie A of being overly tactical, producing few goals, and engaging in an excessive pursuit of penalty kicks. This criticism has been echoed by fans, analysts, and even players who have played in Italy over the years. Two stand out in particular: Jamie Vardy and Valentin Castellanos.
The Argentine forward, who moved from Lazio to West Ham last January for approximately 30 million euros, made some rather explicit remarks on the “Yo Nunca Nunca” podcast during the 2026 World Cup. “Serie A is very defensive. Very, very defensive. As a forward, I found it very tough from that perspective. Teams sit very deep, then look to counterattack. There’s often no open play; tactics prevail, whereas the Premier League is 100% physical,” Castellanos explained, adding that in England he felt like he was “in the NBA of soccer.” These words carry some weight when re-examined in light of this season’s start.
Vardy, fresh off his stint at Cremonese, echoed these sentiments. The English forward, on his podcast “Jamie Vardy’s Having A Party,” summed up his year in Italy this way: “Italian soccer is much slower and much more defensive. And then the training sessions are nonstop: run, run, run—then you show up for the game and there’s nothing left to give.” A blunt assessment that the current season seems determined to disprove on the field, game after game.
Making this on-field response even more significant is Lazio—Castellanos’s former team—which leads the standings with a perfect record alongside Roma and Inter. The Biancocelesti, led by Davide Frattesi—who already has three goals in as many games—also won on Udinese’s tough home field thanks to goals from the Roman midfielder and new signing Gudmundsson, who arrived on loan from Fiorentina with an option to buy. In short, the attack led by Gennaro Gattuso is anything but ineffective or defeatist—marking the first time in his career that he’s secured three wins in the first three Serie A matchdays at the helm of the capital club, a feat Lazio hadn’t achieved in 14 years.
