Nicky Bandini
@NickyBandini
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Writer, broadcaster and presenter. The Guardian, ESPN, BBC, Stan Sports & more. Co-host @serieachronpod DM for work and voice-over enquiries.
Joined January 2010
I was on Match of the Day last night. Now there's a sentence I'd not have guessed I'd ever say as a kid! . Great fun covering the Champions League games with @markchapman @kickback_nedum and @chris_sutton73 . Up on iPlayer if you missed it! @BBCMOTD.
How Diego Simeone's man-management is delivering new rewards for Atletico. ✨. Watch Champions League highlights on BBC iPlayer: . #UCL #BBCFootball
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Absolutely refuse to believe (sadly!) that Tottenham are going to win a game that could hand Arsenal the title. Reminds me of 2010 when Roma needed Lazio to do them a favour against Inter. Instead they lost 2-0 and fans unfurled one of the all time iconic banners
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Maurizio Sarri was making case the other day that Italian football was undervalued in Europe because it lacked a "reference point" teams at top that could win Champs Lg. He argued that the teams in the middle of Serie A were "clearly stronger" than some other top leagues (1/2).
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Terribly disappointing if the Ronaldo to Juve deal is made official today. Thought a man of his ambition would try to upstage the World Cup final rather than just settle for the semis.
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Thanks for some lovely messages about the ESPN broadcast last night. I had a reflection that I shared on a private social channel but, sod it, some things are right to shout about and visibility isn't just for anointed days in the calendar
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Mancini even sending Sirigu on for a few minutes in goal. His approach with this squad speaks to his own regrets as a footballer. Went to a World Cup in 1990 and didn't play. Says it's still his greatest regret that he never got to play in one.
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Spain won 7 out of 7, never needing penalties, beating hosts Germany, Mbappe's France, this England of all the talents, Croatia and defending champs Italy (ok maybe that last one not so impressive this time 😅). Despite losing Pedri to injury and Rodri at HT of this final.
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Last April, Ronaldo got an ovation from Juventus fans for carrying a team from Madrid to a 3-0 win over their own side. Eleven months later, Ronaldo gets an ovation from Juventus fans after carrying their side to a 3-0 win over a team from Madrid.
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One year since I wrote this piece. It feels like a different lifetime. Still here though, still telling stories, still making it work as a freelancer in a pandemic. Thank you to everyone who's come along with me and made that possible
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Atalanta are no midtable team. If it wasn't for cup runs & playing every 3 days I suspect they'd be 2nd or 3rd. But they aren't a team who anyone outside Italy was paying attention to before Anfield and their confidence against opponents who haven't lost all season is so striking.
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Quite the most surreal spectacle unfolding in Italy right now as Juventus prepare as normal - team bus to the stadium, starting XI posted on Twitter - to face a Napoli team that everybody knows is not going to show up, seeing as they are still back home in Naples.
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Imagine winning 3-0 against both Klopp's Liverpool at Anfield and Xabi Alonso's unbeaten Leverkusen in a cup final, all in the space of 6 weeks. Come on now.
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These Euros are going to ruin me. Can't remember a major tournament where just *every game* drew you in like this.
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This is unspeakably charming. Young Federico Chiesa is asked who will score goals after Batistuta leaves Fiorentina. Initially says 'Toldo', but dad points out that he's a keeper. Changes answer to 'me'. Turns out, he was right. (via @sottolacurva).
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There are prettier stadiums, slicker stadiums, more modern stadiums and better maintained stadiums. But there aren't many stadiums that give me goosebumps like San Siro
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Thanks for so many kind words about my 'life & times' episode on Football Weekly. And thank you above all to @maxrushden, @bglendenning, producer @Joel_Grove.and the whole cast who make the pod the sort of place where it feels ok to have these convos.
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On the one hand, I'm delighted with the outcome. On the other, just wondering if everyone who was so appalled with Italy players exaggerating contact the other night still feels the same way?.
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The criticism of Kane makes my head spin a bit sometimes as an Anglo-Italian who has been watching the Azzurri struggle to find a No9 for more than a decade. Do ppl understand how rare that strike rate is at international level? Did they forget he scored *in this game*?.
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Atalanta were founded in 1907. Their only major trophy in 117 years was the 1963 Coppa Italia. They'd never played in a European final. What a way to arrive on that stage, winning 3-0 against a team of 'invincibles' who had not lost in 51 games.
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It's so rare to see an English player go abroad and integrate into a new football culture as seamlessly as Fikayo Tomori at Milan. So it was really a treat to sit down with him and hear his experiences of the differences from England, on and off the pitch.
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Well. Blimey. Took myself off Twitter for most of this weekend but honestly blown away by the warmth and support I've returned to. There's no way I'm going to be able to reply to everyone individually but thank you. It means the world. 🏳️🌈❤️.
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Italy haven't played a knockout game at a World Cup finals since winning the whole thing in 2006. And they won't play one before 2026, at the soonest.
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I have seen so many people on here trashing Max Allegri in the last four days. Juventus fans sincerely calling for the sacking of a manager who has won 3 straight titles, gone to 2 CL finals in 3 years. For a guy who gets it wrong every game, he wins an awful lot.
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Maurizio Sarri, who worked for bank at the start of his 40s, just won Serie A for the first time at the age of 61.
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Antonio Conte won the Derby d'Italia as manager of Juventus, and he won it as manager of Inter. And now he's somehow won it as manager of Napoli😅.
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Jose Mourinho back in Italy and trying to take down his former club, Inter, coached by Antonio Conte, who just took down his former club, Juventus. Nobody does storylines like Serie A.
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I hope at least some of the people (rightly) scorning Sunak today will reflect that it shouldn't require the presence of grieving parents to see that the callous language used by politicians and other public figures to discuss trans people has an impact on actual human beings.
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Some words on Vialli, whose joy I will miss the most: “Happiness depends on the perspective with which you look on life, that you shouldn’t put on airs, that you should listen more and speak less. Laugh often, help others. That’s the secret of happiness.”
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I don't want to be mean to hear Frank Lampard say during the HT analysis that good players just naturally understand how to work off each other and share the space does feel like some kind of historical gaslighting 😅.
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The greatest privilege of my work, I think, is getting to sit down with the people who make sport magic and hear what makes them tick. So it was a treat to hear from Francesco @Totti about Rome, destiny, and growing up "on the same street" as Gigi Buffon:
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Koulibaly played for Senegal in Congo on Tues, then twice rebooked flights to get back to Naples quicker & went straight to training without going home first. Now scores late to put Napoli 2-1 up over Juve. As Spalletti said:'life would be easier if we all had a bit of Koulibaly'.
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Donnarumma the only part of this Italy team performing at the level of a defending champion, sadly.
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Italy went to the quarter finals of this tournament (& only went out on penalties) with Graziano Pelle and Eder up front. The narrative that this is the worst the country has had things talent wise doesn't sit with me at all.
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Happy Trans Day of Visibility! ♥️🏳️🌈#tdov (second attempt! Twitter cut off the video first time around! 😅)
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Gasperini might never be in best manager conversations with the likes of Klopp - that's the deal when you stay so long at a club that lacks resources to really fight for trophies - but taking Atalanta regularly to latter stages of European competitions is honestly extraordinary.
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I honestly love the Europa Conference League. Teams who don't get to play in cup finals every year remembering that football is meant to be about the glory. Jarrod Bowen will remember his (brilliant) winner forever, isn't that what it's all about?.
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It's not just that England keep pulling these rabbits out of hats at the end of matches. It's that every time it's a different magician and making it their own personal trick. What a strike from Watkins.
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Why does there always have to be a commentary remark about 'certain nationalities'? Why is it not possible to just talk about two football teams? Why do we have to pretend no English clubs engage in time wasting, moaning, diving and and the rest?.
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Atalanta have done it! Third in Serie A: highest they've finished in their 112-year history, and enough to qualify for the Champions League for 1st time. This with a wage bill less than 1/4 that of Milan or Inter. Serie A's top scorers & finished season on a 13-game unbeaten run.
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(writing all this before Leverkusen's inevitable injury time comeback of course 😂).
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The good news is that Group C can only happen for 45 more minutes (plus injury time).
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Italy had never scored three at a Euros . under Mancini they've done it twice in two games. Chapeau, Mister
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In Serie A, that's a penalty. I'm not saying it should be or shouldn't be, but if you're wondering why the Italy players are so worked up about that last one it's because they've seen those given every week for the last couple of seasons.
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Not tweeting tonight (other than this) because I'm helping my brother to celebrate a big birthday. Forza Azzurri! @AAB_AFC
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So now we know. Italy would be out right now if it wasn't for that 98th minute goal from Zaccagni. #fiuuu.
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Absolutely cannot fathom the mindset of flying yourself to a final in a different country just to throw things at players who spent their whole year working to get here. Foul behaviour.
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Every team in Serie A's top 3 as soon as someone says they can win the Scudetto.
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Another improbable stat for the evening: Italy have lost twice in 42 matches over the last three-and-a-half years. To Spain, and North Macedonia.
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Just caught the news about Jakub Jankto's coming out. So, so happy for him. "Like everyone else, I want to live my life with freedom, without fear, without violence, without prejudice, but with love.".This. This right here. This is what matters. This is why it has to be said.🏳️🌈.
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World Cup: Hey, wanna watch four games back-to-back in a single day? . Serie A: Hold my beer.
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The Italian talent pool is not what it was. But it is not as poor as this team is making it look either. 3/11 starters played (well) in Champions League final 12 months ago. Europa League winner (scored 2 at Anfield) up front. It should be so so much better than this.
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Reviving an old tradition interrupted by the pandemic: watching the Sunday night Serie A game inside a Super Bowl stadium ⚽🏈
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Every time we get the 'VAR is the worst' convo on here, I think about situations like the one we just saw, that saved Shakhtar from having a sensational win unjustly taken away from them. Yes, sometimes it's horrible. So work on making it better, don't burn it to the ground 🤷♀️.
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Today is Trans Day of Visibility so here's me, being scruffy but visible even on lockdown with Ross. And trying to support @FvHtweets's #bintransphobia campaign while I'm at it (they're the ones behind this natty shirt). #TDOV2020
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People enjoyed it last year, so here it is again: my annual (one-person 😅) Serie A watch party inside a Super Bowl stadium
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Di Lorenzo was 30 years old at kick off but I think every time Nico Williams takes a run at him adds another 12 months.
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Disappointing to learn that this Qatar team hasn't improved much since I was introduced to it by my brother's copy of Fifa International Soccer at Christmas 1993.
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Not the first to think it, nor say it, but Serie A's biggest games having no studio show around them on British TV is just such a shame. None of the buzz, none of the reaction, none of the analysis these games deserve. Feels like a missed opportunity for league & broadcasters.
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This is beautiful news to wake up to. I have mixed feelings sharing it because Carl says he's looking forward to a time when this wouldn't be a big deal and I really relate to that, but for now it still is. Be happy & most of all be yourself, folks ❤️🏳️🌈.
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I appreciate I might have some national bias, but this is a flipping brilliant game of football.
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I will never not love how English stadiums can be blood and thunder and lots (and lots) of swearing for 45 minutes but then at half time we still get the gentle parochial notices on the PA with birthday wishes to Becky in the west stand.
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Oh nothing, just a backheel volley lob from the edge of the box by Ciro Immobile. 👀
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Feel like that Olmo header off the line should count for one in the golden boot.
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Pretty neat that Juventus went out and spent €100m on Ronaldo this summer to distract opponents from defending Mandzukic properly 😉.
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(How long do I have to leave it until I casually observe that Italy who 'haven't beaten a good team' on their unbeaten run did beat that Switzerland team who just knocked out the world champions 3-0. And the Czech team that knocked out the Netherlands 4-0? 😇).
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Atalanta going to their first European final in club history, led by a manager, Gasperini, going to his first European final at 66 years old. Just the small matter of an unbeatable Bayer Leverkusen team in their way!.
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Imagine literally winning a World Cup, the greatest competition a person can win in football, and having not only that moment tarnished by someone forcing a non consensual kiss on your lips, but then the whole aftermath taken over by that person's false narrative of what happened.
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Final thought. Since coming out I have covered a Euros final, Super Bowls, and Champions League semi finals live for national TV broadcasters and international print outlets. Don't ever let the voice in your head tell you that 'people like you' don't get to chase dreams
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Why does Italy produce the best football managers in the world? I went to Coverciano to find out:
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That said, some things to remember: 8 out of 11 Milan starters tonight were 25 or younger. 4 out of 11 21 or younger. This is an inexperienced team that only recently found its feet under Gattuso. Headed in the right direction despite this result.
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A year ago, Andrea Agnelli questioned whether teams like Atalanta ought to have direct access to Europe's top competition. On Sunday, his Juventus lost to Atalanta, hours before announcing their plan to join a competition that would freeze such sides out:
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One of the most fun/odd parts of major tournaments as someone who covers European football is watching the world discover players who already blew your socks off ages ago. Yes, Riccardo Calafiori is That Guy. 👀 Reinvented by Motta from full-back to a ⭐️ roaming CB at Bologna.
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Maybe United should have just hired Conte and saved him having to revive everyone at Inter.
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I think it's honestly the right final. Spain have played the best football, but who can be more scary for them to face than an England team with this ridiculous roster of closers: Watkins, Saka, Bellingham, Kane. And now you even know you don't want them to get you to penalties.
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So many visits to this incredible stadium but this is my first time down with the sideline reporters. Looking forward to chiming in for @StanSportAU from San Siro
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A brilliant overhead kick, by a player who should have been sent off, in off the player whose Achilles he raked with his studs in the incident that he should have been sent off for. .
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It's always a treat to chat to @gianluigibuffon (even via Zoom) and it was fascinating to hear good thoughts on lockdowns, working with Andrea Pirlo and the importance of messing up. Oh, and his excuses for fibbing* to me about retirement.
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Juventus 2-2 Atalanta, a result that almost certainly seals Juve’s ninth consecutive Serie A title. But there’s no doubt left for me that Atalanta are the best team in Italy right now. This was the first game in 12 that they haven’t won between Serie A & the Champions League.
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Of course, the actual important thing that you should all take away from last night is that I correctly predicted Inter's title before this season began, and everyone on @ESPNFC who gave me grief for it should not be allowed to forget.
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Work has kept me ridiculously busy for the last month, so I shouldn't lament not having more but it only just struck me that, despite doing a whole bunch of TV/radio/podcast bits since Sunday, not one of them really asked me to talk about how bloody brilliant Italy were.
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Top of Serie A and dreadful in Europe. It's like Antonio Conte was never away.
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This is the sort of game where Juve dig a 93rd minute winner out of nowhere. And then we all nod sagely and agree that this is why they finish every season as champions. But if it doesn't happen, big big opportunity for Napoli coming up.
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Standing ovation from Juventus fans for Ronaldo. What else can you do after a goal like that?.
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Buffon last March: "When they ask me how my last game will go, I tell them I don't think about that stuff. Maybe I'll close out like Zidane, giving someone a headbutt. ".
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I have been a professional writer for 14 years and I fear it will be at least 14 more before I manage to spell the word 'manoeuvre' correctly at the first attempt. 😅.
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Sat down with Miralem Pjanic this week for an interview ahead of Juve's trip to Man Utd. Shared an incredible story about how his family escaped war when he was a baby, but I also found his thoughts on what he admires most in a footballer fascinating:
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Such a shame how cagy these first legs are since got rid of the away goals rule.
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(Also, I predicted the winners of Euro 2020 and this World Cup correctly, how do I get that Paul The octopus gig where someone brings me two lunches to choose from every day?).
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All five pens brilliant. But that Toney stare-down is something else 👀.
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Italian banners are still the best, though. "No sangria, nor Estrella. We're drunk on Barella" . 👏 @InterClubLondon
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Napoli are another level to the rest of Serie A. Seasons are long, things can change, but the 10 point advantage they'll have at the end of tonight is no accident and anyone thinking they'll collapse just because 'history' is kidding themselves.
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If you go a goal down to City in the second half of a cup final you're just hoping you'll be able to carve out that *one* chance. Inter had at least two (three?) chances that they know they should score. This one's going to hurt them for a long time.
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The 'couldn't have scripted it' trope is overdone, but honestly, the story of how Messi finally gets his World Cup is just too perfect. Right down to his 'rival', team mate and heir to 'world's greatest' acclaim Mbappé throwing down the gauntlet again and again in this final.
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