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. For those who haven't been following: Napoli did not travel because 2 members of their first-team squad have tested positive for covid since they faced a Genoa team that has had (at last count) 17 players test positive. At the time when those teams played, Genoa had 2

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 theguardian.com/football/2019/… As rotten as 2020 has been overall, I am a million times more comfortable within myself than a year ago. For those who need to hear it, I would love you to know things can get better when you open up. None of life's struggles are made easier by having to hide a part of yourself

It's that time, folks: the end of season Bandini awards for Serie A are here: theguardian.com/football/2020/… For the record, it took all of my will to keep that goal of the season shortlist to fewer than 30 goals. What a season of absolute gems.

(And I disagree already with the order that *I* put them in. So feel free to do the same)

A thread about my greatest career regret (prompted, improbably, by news of the imminent retirement of an American brand of pancake syrup edition.cnn.com/2020/06/17/bus…). In the summer of 2014, I travelled with the American Outlaws – the US soccer team’s biggest fan group – to the World Cup in Brazil. The idea was to write a book that would be part gonzo yarn, part travelogue, and part exploration of the growth of soccer fandom in the States.

Second full day of quarantine and already overwhelmed by craving for biscuits. Didn't think that was an acceptably 'necessary' reason to go to the shops so made @FelicityCloake's digestives instead. Despite fudging about half the ingredients, a triumph for dunking in tea (And let's face it, when life has become one long sequence of Zoom meetings, you're going to consume a lot of tea)

Milan have been suspended from European competition next season due to FFP violations. Was initially reported in some places as 2 years, but that appears to be a misreading. Essentially, the ruling looks like an off-the-shelf deal where it's 'one European competition in the next two years'. Seeing as they already qualified for next year's Europa League, that'll presumably be the one.

Happy birthday to @gianluigibuffon, 40 today. I had the privilege to spend time with him recently for @8by8mag. That interview is now online, and I hope you'll read it. An extraordinary, thoughtful man, who happens to be the greatest keeper of all time: instagram.com/p/Befxn7HhGT2/ Gigi is always a treat to interview, but this really felt like a particular moment in his career and his life: we talked about growing up, when you stop being a kid and become an adult - and what that means in practical terms.

Anti-semitic 'gags' are vile. But neither reading Anne Frank nor making a show of Lazio will get them off the Curve: theguardian.com/football/blog/… I'm not going to propose a simple alternative because there isn't one. These are deeply embedded cultures... (mini-thread coming)

An interview with England Under-23 international @katiezel, chatting about her move to Juventus's new women's team: theguardian.com/football/2017/… @katiezel Always love speaking to people who've had the courage to step outside their comfort zone - within the world of sports or otherwise.

Why does Italy produce the best football managers in the world? I went to Coverciano to find out: bleacherreport.com/articles/27060… Absolutely incredible to spend a couple of days at the Scuola Allenatori for that piece. No other place like it in the world.

Fun new series over @FourFourTwo celebrating the seasons when great footballers made their leap toward superstardom .@FourFourTwo I've kicked things off with a piece on Zidane at Juventus in 1996-97: fourfourtwo.com/features/year-…