Forza calcio.
Serie A kicks off its new season on Aug. 30, with three-peat Italian champions Juventus travelling to the Stadio Marcantonio Bentegodi in Verona to begin defence of their 30th league title—depending on who you talk too—against Chievo.
Here are the top five stories to watch this season.
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The ‘Max Factor’ in Turin
The ‘Old Lady’ is equipped with the finances to runaway with a fourth successive Scudetto. However, the off-season arrivals have been few and far between; 21 year-old forward Alvaro Morata (€22 million) being the club’s marquee signing from Real Madrid, with ageing left-back Patrice Evra (€1.7 million) rounding out the Bianconeri’s summer splurge. It’s not exactly the optimal situation for incoming manager Maximilliano Allegri, who already has a mountain to climb in gaining Juve supporters’ trust. Antonio Conte’s resignation came as a tremendous shock to the football world, but the hiring of Allegri was even more of a head scratcher. Granted, the former AC Milan boss was hung out to dry by the club’s hierarchy and he became the scapegoat for poor results. Another potential banana peel is his relationship with Andrea Pirlo, which was strained during his Milan days. Pirlo moved to Turin and has been instrumental in the club’s three successive titles. The exodus of players has been minor, though the uncertainty in Arturo Vidal’s future casts a huge shadow.
Rudi & Rafa: Contenders or pretenders?
Rudi Garcia produced a near miracle with Roma in 2014, beginning with 10 straight victories to kick off his debut campaign in the Italian capital. They suffered their first defeat in Turin (3-0 to Juventus), which ended a 17 match unbeaten run. Roma was unable to keep up the pace with the runaway leaders, finishing 17 points behind the current title holders. However, the gap has significantly decreased over the summer. Astute signings have added the necessary depth for a two-front battle—Juan Iturbe, Kostas Manolas, Seydou Keita and Ashley Cole. The Scudetto race will be much closer this time around.
Rafa Benitez weaved his magic to start his reign in Napoli last season—seven games unbeaten—but by matchday 12, the Azzurri dropped to third spot in the table and never budged from that position. A year ago, Gonzalo Higuain, Raul Abiol, Jose Callejon and Pepe Reina were presented at the Stadio San Paulo with much fanfare. This season’s arrivals—Kalidou Koulibaly, Jonathan De Guzman, Mariano Andujar and Michu—didn’t receive the same type of spectacle after landing in Naples, and for good reason. It almost seems like Napoli have taken two steps back instead of continuing their forward progress as promised by owner Aurelio De Laurentiis.
The tale of two Milans
Inter Milan has never quite been the same since Jose Mourinho departed following their treble winning campaign four years ago. However, Walter Mazzarri did guide the team up four places in the table (fifth) and six points superior than his predecessor in his debut campaign. A return to the Champions League is a reasonable ambition when you factor in Napoli’s decline. The focus in the off-season was strengthening the team’s spine, and bringing in Gary Medel, Yann M’Vila and Nemanja Vidic will help stabilize the defensive zone without breaking the bank.
AC Milan is in shambles, absent of the necessary financial backing to revamp an inadequate squad, mainly due to Silvio Berlusconi having no agenda to promote. To make matters worse, the Rossoneri will be led by an inexperienced manager (Filippo Inzaghi). What type of style or system Milan will deploy is anyone’s guess, having recently sold Mario Balotelli to Liverpool, and plugged obvious holes with free transfer signings (Alex, Jeremy Menez and Diego Lopez) that seem to be done out of necessity rather than with a specific plan in mind. Recent reports have the club targeting Fernando Torres. Even if the Spaniard somehow manages to rediscover his best form in Italy and forms a formidable partnership with Stephane El Shaarawy, that’s only one of the problems solved from a long list of glaring issues.
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On the European prowl
As usual, Fiorentina will be in the hunt for European places, despite minimal additions over the summer. The investment made in the last couple of seasons created a solid foundation that produced decent results under manager Vincenzo Montella—back to back fourth place finishes. The addition of Marko Marin (on loan from Chelsea) and the return of fully fit Giuseppe Rossi will help the Tuscan club’s drive for a top-six spot.
Despite finishing sixth last season, Parma was denied entry to the Europa League by UEFA due to an outstanding tax debt. It was a tough pill to swallow for Roberto Donadoni, who considerably overachieved with the Gialloblu. The arrival of Antonio Cassano on a free transfer will be a welcome addition to the attacking line. Without the distractions of a European campaign, Parma will benefit from focusing on the domestic front.
Stefano Pioli replaces the outgoing Edoardo Reja at Lazio. The Biancocelesti underwent a torrid 2013-14 campaign, finishing ninth and falling well short of the top-six. A healthy Miroslav Klose will likely better his goal tally (seven) from last term, having scored 15 in 2013. Regardless of their poor results, Lazio somehow convinced Stefan De Vrij to spurn suitors Manchester United and depart Rotterdam for Rome. The Dutch defender’s signing was one of the most shocking transfers of the summer.
End of days
Recently promoted Cesena and Empoli are the odds on favourites to go straight back down to Serie B—the two minnows simply can’t hang with the big boys of Italian football. Strong candidates to follow them down are Cagliari and Sassuolo, though, the one club who are poised to have the biggest drop off are Hellas Verona. After 11 years outside the top-division, Andrea Mandorlini guided his side to a top-half finish (10th) last season, as the ageless wonder Luca Toni turned back the clock by scoring 20 goals. Verona will find it difficult to repeat last term`s sizeable achievement and should fall back down to earth.