The players who remain, the 160 away, the teams who lose the most: balance of the break

A Serie A around the world. The last break of 2025 for the national teams brings with it 160 players with suitcases. With various shades. There are those who play fundamental matches for next summer’s World Cup qualifiers, those who have accepted the call but will have to be evaluated and those who will only support a well-paid friendly match. This is the case of Argentina who will have to face the difficult journey to Angola where they will play on Friday but then… everyone is free. So Lautaro Martinez will have a week to think about the derby on Sunday 23rd, immediately after the break. The Inter champion became the fourth scorer in Inter’s history on Sunday and wants to update the abacus. Yesterday three players of Atletico Madrid (Julian Alvarez, Giuliano Simeone and Nahuel Molina), Inter’s next opponent in the Champions League, remained out of coach Lionel Scaloni’s group because they did not complete the health procedures relating to the yellow fever vaccine in time, necessary to enter Angola. No problem however for the “Italians” who are in the meeting in Alicante, Spain: in addition to Lautaro, Maximo Perrone and Nico Paz, both from Como.

Off you go

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Inter will send 11 players, but the team that will lose the most players is Atalanta: 14. Yet the Dea is in the midst of a technical change, the team collapsed against Sassuolo on Sunday and Juric was sacked. Raffaele Palladino, when he takes the helm this weekend, will be able to start working with a few staff. The former Monza and Fiorentina coach will have very tight time to prepare for his first Nerazzurri outing in the delicate away match against Naples, another team in a difficult moment which will donate 12 players this round. Including the injured Billy Gilmour who responded to Scotland’s call and will remain with them in training camp. The midfielder will miss Saturday’s match in Athens against Greece but hopes to recover for the match three days later at Hampden Park: Denmark will be the opponent where he will find his teammate Rasmus Hojlund in what could be a real play-off for first place and consequent passage to the World Cup. Gian Piero Gasperini’s league leaders Roma (along with Inter) will work without ten players these days. And there could have been more if Ferguson and Dovbyk hadn’t been injured.

There are those who stay

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Rafa Leao’s Milan (two matches against Portugal) will lose 12 players but as partial consolation Massimiliano Allegri will be able to prepare the derby with Adrien Rabiot and Santi Gimenez. The Frenchman was spared by Deschamps and will try to put the injury to his left calf behind him completely: for the Rossoneri midfielder it is fundamental. Gimenez, on the other hand, has to get over the ankle discomfort he has been living with for some time and did not go to Mexico. Another team that will have to work with reduced ranks is Torino: 12 players have packed their bags and will return next week.