Serie A Season Preview

Serie A makes its return this weekend as to see who will reign supreme in Italy. Serie A has seen a resurgence in recent years following financial instability, match-fixing scandals, fading superstars and failing to match the standards of other leagues in Europe like the Premier League, La Liga and the Bundesliga. Now, Italian clubs are becoming more competitive in the Champions League and the Europa League and breaking the traditional stereotype of being a defensive league as teams are now playing in a more expansive way. So this is a preview of the 2018/2019 Serie A season specifically these teams in their chances this season for the Scudetto and what we should look out for. Juventus, AS Roma, Napoli, Lazio, Inter Milan and AC Milan.

AC Milan

AC Milan since the turn of the 2010s have fallen into obscurity. They haven’t won the Scudetto since 2011 and haven’t played in the Champions League since 2014. They have also struggled financially over the years as they were recently taken over by Chinese investors in 2017 and spent a lot of money which brought little results on the pitch. They also were banned by UEFA to compete in the Europa League but that was revoked after a successful appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Milan has spent more cautiously bringing the experienced Gonzalo Higuain on loan, Tiemoue Bakayoko, Mattia Caldara, Ivan Strinic and Pepe Reina. Club icon Gennaro Gattuso will be going into his first full season and will be hoping for goals as the Rossoneri scored 56 goals. The same as 10th place Sampdoria. With how volatile things are in Milan, reaching the Champions League would be their number one priority right now.

Lazio

Lazio were one of the best performers last season beat narrowly missed out on the Champions League losing to Inter 3-2 on the final day of the season. Stephen de Vrij, who conceded the penalty, was one of Lazio’s best performers but has gone to Inter Milan on a free transfer. Ciro Immobile, was lethal in front of goal last season scoring 29 league goals while Luis Alberto scored 11 goals and made 14 assists. They will be pressured to match the performances of last season if they want to catch up with the top 4. They also have managed to keep hold of star young player Sergej Milinkovic-Savic who has been courted for his services after scoring 12 goals from midfield last season. Simone Inzaghi would have to sort out his bac-kline as the Biancocelesti conceded the most in the top 5 with 49 goals. It's whether Lazio can match what they did last season with a better defensive record.

AS Roma

Roma have been in the top 4 of Serie A for five seasons now. They have been consistent in the league often challenging Juventus for the Scudetto. Last season, they surprised many reaching the semi-finals of the Champions League as well as their expansive style of play by coach Eusebio de Francesco. They finished third last season with the second best defence in the league keeping 17 clean sheets and conceding 28 goals. However, they lost an important part of their defence in Alisson who moved to Liverpool and Radja Nainggolan who moved to rivals Inter Milan. Roma have brought 12 players in this transfer window including Javier Pastore, Ante Coric, Justin Kluivert, Robin Olsen and Steven Nzonzi. With all these players having to adjust to the club plus not having a suitable alternative to the ageing Edin Dzeko, the Gianrossi could struggle this season to make it into the top 4.

Napoli

Napoli were the team for the hipsters. According to Pep Guardiola and Mauricio Pochettino, Napoli played the best football in Europe last season with their style of play orchestrated by their manager Maurizio Sarri. They challenged Juventus all the way for the Scudetto, getting 91 points. The best points tally in their history and the most from a team that didn’t win the title. Now, Napoli is in a period of transition. Sarri left Napoli to join Chelsea and took Jorginho with him, who was important in how Sarri sets his team out. Carlo Ancelotti was appointed as his successor and is putting his own stamp on the team. Captain Marek Hamsik is likely to take-over the deep-lying playmaker that was left by Jorginho and have done well in keeping hold of important players like Lorenzo Insinge and Kalidou Koulibaly. With a new manager and a new way of playing, Napoli could be in the top 4 but wouldn’t make a strong title challenge from last season.

Inter Milan

Inter Milan finally made into the top 4 for the first time since 2011. The Nerazzuri have built on their success from last season by keeping hold of captain and talisman Mauro Icardi. The striker was the joint top-scorer in the league last season scoring 29 goals and contributed over 40% of Inter’s goals last season. They have made some shmmart business this summer signing Stephen de Vrij, Radja Nainggoaln, Kwadwo Asamoah, Keita Balde, Lautaro Martinez and Sime Vrsaljko. With their rivals in transition, recovering from selling a star player or in financial instability. Inter Milan are the strongest candidates to make a strong assault for the Scudetto this season.

Juventus

The Old Lady have a strong grip on the Serie A. They have won the Scudetto in six consecutive years as well as winning a domestic double for three straight years now. They managed to hold off a strong Napoli side last season winning the league by four points despite their ageing squad. Now they brought a bit of star power bringing in Cristiano Ronaldo for a club record of 100 million euros. They also brought back club favourite Leonardo Bonucci from AC Milan and Emre Can from Liverpool on a free transfer. Maxi Allegri is likely to concentrate more on the Champions League well many seeing their transfers as short term. However, they still have a strong squad with Douglas Costa, Pablo Dybala, Alex Sandro, Miralem Pjanic and Giorgio Chiellini. Their quality and depth is enough for the Old Lady to win the Scudetto again and compete at all fronts this season.