Conte in attendance as Juan Cuadrado wins Derby d’Italia for Juventus

With Chelsea playing the early game on Saturday and the late game next weekend on Sunday, the squad enjoyed a little extra time off this weekend before training resumes later this week.

Thibaut “Phileas Fogg” Courtois, for example, jetted over to New York City to watch the Knicks on Saturday night, then flew to Houston to watch the Super Bowl. Quite the globetrotter, he is.

Others kept it more local, like John Terry who headed out to the Drake concert at the O2 and then hung out with the man himself backstage. It’s good to be the captain.

Antonio Conte, as he’s wont to do, flew to Italy instead and was in attendance for Sunday night’s massive Derby d’Italia between Juventus and Inter Milan in Turin. Given the silly stories from Tuttosport earlier during the weekend, I would not be surprised to see this spun into some more rumor mill nonsense as well, but he and brother Daniele were most likely there simply to catch this massive game for the club where Conte is a legend, both as a player and as a head coach.

The game itself was an intense affair, unsurprisingly for a derby, and was settled by a thunderstrike from none other than Juan Cuadrado in the dying moments of the first half. Not a bad way to score your first goal of the Serie A season!

Which reminds us that Cuadradooooooooooooooooo is technically still a Chelsea player, so while we’re not claiming him as part of the Loan Army anymore — his three-year loan to Juventus is essentially a permanent move with a three-year payment plan — we can still appreciate this goal for all its excellence and wonder. Nice one, Johnny Squared!