Four more clubs have committed to fair promotion rules for the 3rd division. Schalke sporting director Frank Baumann It cost €700,000 per game: Douglas Luiz, the stages of a total failure
Just twelve months ago, the Brazilian’s signing from Aston Villa seemed like a great coup. But after a season on the sidelines, he has turned out to be a resounding flop for Juventus.
That something was wrong should perhaps have been apparent from the outset. The first day of the 2024-25 Serie A season, August 19: Thiago Motta’s new Juve made their debut at the Stadium against newly promoted Como in an atmosphere of great enthusiasm for what was supposed to be the Bianconeri’s new era of beautiful football and youth. The highest-paid player of the summer (he would later be surpassed by Koopmeiners) was not there. He started on the bench because the Juventus coach preferred a youngster making his debut: Samuel Mbangula. Out at the start and out at the end, Douglas Luiz: out of the pitch first and then out of the project, even if he perhaps never really settled in at Juve. From the attitude with which he arrived in Turin to the one with which he is now leaving in absentia.
A great move, taking advantage of a great opportunity in the transfer market. This was the unanimous opinion among insiders when the then Juve sporting director, Cristiano Giuntoli, put together the deal with Aston Villa: a valuation of €50 million for the Brazilian, but with just under half of that covered by the transfer fees for Barrenechea (€8 million) and Iling-Jr. The English club needed to make a capital gain by June 30 and took home two young players, while Juve brought the best midfielder in the Premier League, fresh from a season with 10 goals and 10 assists, to Serie A. Everything seemed perfect. This is also because the Bianconeri are trying to support him on a personal level and have even signed his (now ex) girlfriend Alisha Lehmann, a social media star with over 16 million followers, who plays for the Women’s team. But there is another side to the coin that the Continassa soon discovers, as soon as Douglas Luiz joins his teammates at work. In training, Thiago Motta finds a fairly indolent player who prefers to have the ball at his feet rather than throwing himself into spaces as his style of play would dictate, responding to the high, attacking pressing demanded by the coach with a slow and measured rhythm.
Add to that his precarious physical condition after the Copa America and you have the perfect storm: four muscle injuries during the season that rendered him virtually useless.
So, instead of the smiling Brazilian who celebrated by miming a fishing rod, Juve fans are left with an awkward and sullen player who has played just 877 minutes out of a total of 4950 (18%), with only six starts out of 27, the last of which was more than five months ago. Between his annual amortization cost (€9.7 million) and gross salary (€9.25 million), he has cost Juve €21,000 per minute. Or, if you prefer, €700,000 per game. And when he plays, he only causes trouble, such as the two clumsy penalties in five days against Leipzig and Cagliari, signs of a player disconnected from the reality in which he finds himself.
Douglas Luiz and his social media outburst— Between a burglary at his home after the match against Lazio and a night out at a nightclub after the 4-0 home defeat to Atalanta, Douglas Luiz’s “ugly duckling” season continues to drag on, from Thiago Motta to Tudor, with a measly 82 minutes played in 10 games under the Croatian coach. His social media outburst at the end of April seemed like a burst of pride. In reality, perhaps, it was just the prelude to the breakup of recent days. “I didn’t come here just to post photos, and I want things to be different. Why hasn’t a signing like me played two consecutive games in this shirt?” the Brazilian snapped in response to a fan on Instagram. “Injuries have held me back, yes. But how long did I sit on the bench when I was healthy? A long time. These injuries weren’t normal. I’ll keep doing everything for this club, even if it’s hard sometimes, it’s not easy, but you can count on me!” However, that wasn’t to be the case, because Douglas Luiz didn’t even show up for the team’s training camp for the next season, three months later. His absence was unjustified, confirming his total failure. Perhaps looking back on that game against Como, one could have imagined that something was wrong. But no one could have thought it would end so badly. Bonicelli awakened and then sedated again: he has edema in his spinal cord. But hope grows
Lorenzo remains in intensive care. Neurological damage has been ruled out, and he is breathing on his own. His parents and the team are with him.
Hope and silence in the meantime. Lorenzo Bonicelli, the 23-year-old Italian national gymnast who fell badly while dismounting from the rings during the artistic gymnastics competition at the Summer Universiade in Essen, Germany, remains in intensive care but is not in danger of dying. The Italian athlete, who underwent surgery on his cervical vertebrae on Wednesday, is with his parents, the president and coach of his club – Ghislazioni Gal in Lecco – as well as his teammates, who did not want to return to Italy. Not many other details are filtering through from the German hospital, as is understandable while waiting for the first MRI scan to check the effectiveness of the operation, although the Consul General in Cologne, Luis Cavalieri, has said that Lorenzo “opened his eyes yesterday because the doctors temporarily withdrew him from the induced coma to see if there was any irreparable neurological damage, which fortunately does not appear to be the case. However, there is extensive edema that has formed on the spinal cord and must be reabsorbed,” he added. Hope remains clinging to the testimony of those who were present at the sports facility at the time of the accident, namely that Bonicelli never lost consciousness after the fall, so much so that the doctors were able to explain the operation to him before sedating him. Others claim to have seen him move his arms despite the harness with which he was immobilized for transport to the hospital. We need to have faith.
Lorenzo is in excellent hands, as was clear from the moment of the accident, when the Italian was rescued and then operated on with the utmost speed. Neurosurgeons stabilized his spine by applying plates and screws to the fractured fifth cervical vertebra: the entire operation took less than two hours. A second operation may also be necessary, this time from behind to stabilize the area completely. In the meantime, Bonicelli’s recovery continues and he was extubated on Wednesday night and is now breathing on his own. As soon as possible, he will return to Italy and will be taken into the care of a rehabilitation facility, probably near his home in Lecco.
Dynamics— “Lorenzo is in a moment of absolute apprehension,” said his father, who is expected to return to Italy tomorrow. His mother remains by his side. The hope is that he will quickly forget Wednesday’s fall as he was exiting the rings exercise. The triple somersault, which he had practiced hundreds of times, starts from a height of over three meters and, probably due to a problem with his knee grip, he lost his balance during the second and a half rotation, falling headfirst onto the mat. This is not the first injury of his career. In early 2019, he fractured his femur, but with great determination, he returned to the platform.
Affection— “If there is a fighter, it is our Lorenzino,” said coach Alberto Busnari, hugging him virtually. “This morning (yesterday, ed.) there was a surreal atmosphere at the Academy with his teammates. Everyone knows that he is one of the best guys in the team, someone who is a team player and never says a word out of place. He is to be admired.” The hug posted in a story by freestyle world champion Nicola Bartolini was very moving. Meanwhile, federal president Andrea Facci has decided to travel to Essen, so as not to leave the boy and his family in the lurch. He may be followed by the president of the medical commission, Andrea Ferretti, after the emergency was initially handled by Dr. Filippo Ferrari (FederCusi). “Lorenzo is a person who infects you with his zest for life,” said Ghislanzoni Gal president Paolo Gilardoni. “We can’t wait to hug him again.” There are now 40 clubs that have committed to fair promotion rules from the Regionalliga to the 3. Liga. Two second division clubs are new additions: FC Schalke and 1. FC Magdeburg have joined the alliance, along with third division promoted club 1 FC Schweinfurt and TSV Schwaben Augsburg.
Frank Baumann, sporting director at FC Schalke 04, explains the club’s commitment to the reform movement: “We firmly believe that sporting success must also be rewarded with deserved promotion. A championship title in the Regionalliga should automatically mean promotion to the 3rd division. Anything else undermines the integrity of the competition and hinders the long-term development of sporting prospects.”
A championship title in the Regionalliga should automatically mean promotion to the 3rd league. Anything else undermines the integrity of the competition and hinders the long-term development of sporting prospects.
Frank Baumann
The movement was founded on February 12, 2025, in Chemnitz and sees itself as a cross-club alliance for more fairness, planning security, and sporting justice in the German league system. The aim is to fundamentally reform the current promotion rules. While currently only three of the five regional league champions are allowed to be promoted directly to the 3rd league, two title holders from the north, northeast, or Bavaria must compete against each other in a relegation match—a format that deprives at least one champion of their deserved promotion every year.
“The initiative can count on the support of 1. FC Magdeburg,”
Otmar Schork, sporting director of 1. FC Magdeburg, explains his club’s decision to join the initiative: “We are joining the initiative with the aim of finally changing the promotion rules to the 3rd division. We are calling for a reform that creates genuine equality of opportunity for all regional leagues and guarantees that all champions will be promoted directly in future – regardless of the final league structure. We want to take responsibility, push ahead with structural reform and actively work towards a sensible solution. The initiative can count on the support of 1. FC Magdeburg with immediate effect.”
