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STAT ATTACK: Serie A tops Europe in diving!
That's right, we're talking about diving, and Italy is leading Europe in that category, at least in the punished cases of diving as catalogued by Opta.
With a stunning 25 yellows being handed out to Serie A's great play-actors this season, Calcio is two ahead of La Liga (23), 5 ahead of the Premier League (20) and 7 ahead of Ligue 1 (18). Out of Europe's Top 5, the Bundesliga is remarkably honest, with only 6 total yellow cards.
Oh, and Italy is the defending champion in this category too, with 30 yellows obtained this way last season. 14 out of the 20 sides in the league have been punished for this infraction, compared to 6 of 18 BuLi sides.
Former Palermo and Udinese manager Francesco Guidolin has an answer to this riddle: it's cultural. "I have never seen a dive here," he told the Corriere della Sera "This concept doesn't exist, it's about culture". The Corriere della Sera even gives us the Serie A Top 3: Alejandro Gomez, Anthony Mounier and Suso have all picked up two cards for making a meal of it.
