After a difficult fortnight for club and country, Riccardo Calafiori found relief in Arsenal’s Champions League quarter-final first-leg win over Sporting on Tuesday night.
The Italy defender was still buoyed by Kai Havertz’s late winner when he looked back on a spell that had brought successive defeats for Arsenal, along with fresh frustration for the Azzurri after another failure to qualify for the World Cup.
For Calafiori, the contrast between those lows and the result against Sporting captured what he sees as the relentless swing of football. One night can leave a player searching for answers; the next can restore belief, at least for a while.
“It’s been tough, but that is the beauty of football: it is 100% better now,” Calafiori said. His comments reflected not only the significance of Arsenal’s victory, but also the emotional toll of the days leading up to it.
The pain had started with the club’s shock FA Cup loss at Southampton on Saturday, a result that added to the frustration already building around Arsenal’s recent form. Three days later, the team had the chance to respond immediately in Europe, and that timing mattered to Calafiori.
“This chance to play three days later rather than just stay home and think about it [was welcome],” he said. The quick return to action gave Arsenal an opportunity to reset rather than dwell on disappointment, and Calafiori made clear how much that mattered after the events of the previous week.
His remarks also hinted at the wider burden of representing a country still coming to terms with another missed World Cup. Italy’s repeated failure to reach the tournament has become a familiar source of anguish, and for players involved, the disappointment lingers well beyond the final whistle.
Calafiori did not hide his reaction to that situation, saying: “Of course I’m really disappointed, but I’ve got a lot to play for with Arsenal.” The line summed up both the setback and the opportunity in front of him. While one part of his football life has brought frustration, another has offered a chance to keep competing for major honours.
That is the balance Calafiori is now trying to manage. At international level, Italy’s absence from the World Cup remains a heavy blow. At club level, Arsenal’s progress in Europe has given him a fresh target and a route to channel that disappointment into something constructive.
The win over Sporting did not erase the pain of the previous days, but it offered perspective. In Calafiori’s telling, football can be brutally difficult one moment and deeply rewarding the next. Arsenal’s late success delivered exactly the sort of response he needed after a period in which little seemed to go right.
For now, the defender can turn back to the challenge ahead with Arsenal, carrying the memory of a difficult fortnight but also the momentum of a significant European victory. In a season that has already tested him, he insists there is still plenty to chase.
