The game plan envisaged in the movie, which theorises four centre forwards moving diagonally on the pitch giving to the team the "one man up" advantage, is inspired by the tactic that Ezio Glerean applied to his team, A.S. Cittadella.
The two songs performed by Antonio "Tony" Pisapia, "La Notte" and "Lunghe Notti da Bar", are original tracks co-written by Peppe Servillo (Toni Servillo's brother) and Paolo Sorrentino for the movie. Toni Servillo sings these two songs in the movie, without post production dubbing.
Paolo Sorrentino has disclosed in an interview that the character of Antonio "Tony" Pisapia, created thanks to Toni Servillo's performance, inspired him to create the main character of his book "Hanno Tutti Ragione", the singer Tony Pagoda. For this reason, Sorrentino acknowledges Toni Servillo in the book.