Serie A 2019/2020 Season Preview
The Italian Serie A starts this weekend as the defending champions Juventus play against Parma on Saturday at the Ennio Tardini. Serie A looks set to different as Juventus' rivals are stepping up their game to challenge the Old Lady for the Scudetto. Here's the preview on the top six this upcoming season.
- AS Roma
- Lazio
Lazio's year was no something to write home about. They finished a disappointing 8th, seven points behind their city rivals Roma and ten points behind the final Champions League spot despite being in the conversation on finishing in the top four for much of last season. However, they salvaged their season winning the Coppa Italia beating Atalanta. Coach Simone Inzaghi is still at the Stadio Olimpico despite speculation of his future having been linked with the job at AC Milan and Juventus. The former Italian international has taken the Biancocelesti very close to the Champions League places in his first two seasons making last season quite underwhelming. Lazio have signed Bobby Adekanye, Jony Rodríguez, Manuel Lazzari and Denis Vavro to freshen up the squad. They have managed to keep hold of midfielders Luis Alberto and Sergej Milinković-Savić which is a big plus for their chances this season as they are key assets. Ciro Immobile is still going to Lazio's go-to guy. The 29 year old striker has 15 last season and has been prolific since joining the club in 2016 with 29 league goals his best tally, earning the Golden boot. With no European football to distract them this season, Lazio has a good shot on qualifying for the Champions League and was last season a one-off or was it a sign for this to come?
- AC Milan
AC Milan finished 5th with 68 points, narrowly missed out on the Champions League this season. This led to coach and former player Gennaro Gattuso resigning and a lot of changes behind the scenes with club legend Paulo Maldini appointed as technical director and Zvonimir Boban as Chief Football Officier. Milan have experienced financial difficulties for close to a decade now from the changes in ownership and it has caught up to them as they were banned from participating in the Europa League this season for breaching Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules. However, things don't look all doom and gloom at the San Siro. They appointed Marco Giampaolo from Sampdoria who's already a lot of confidence in Milan. Gattuso did quite well under his tenure despite the circumstances around him but many felt that he wasn't going to be the man to take AC Milan forward. Milan have let go off young striker Patrick Cutrone and Tiémoué Bakayoko has returned to Chelsea after a season long loan deal. They have signed Theo Hernández, Léo Duarte and Ismaël Bennacer. All eyes will be on striker Krzysztof Piątek, who had a great debut season in Serie A, scoring 22 goals for both Genoa and Milan. Now that he's going into his first full season for the Rossoniri, Milan will be looking the goals don't dry up this season. Champions League football is what AC Milan want but with some of their rivals either getting better or changed managers, Milan need to make that a reality.
- Napoli
After finishing 2nd with 91 points in 17/18, Maurizio Sarri left and Carlo Ancelotti was brought in to replace Sarri who has left his mark in Naples for his distinct style of play often dubbed as "Sarri-Ball". Ancelotti didn't do a complete change to the way Napoli played which was wise and has done enough to keep the Napoli owner Aurelio De Laurenitis happy, enabling him to stay for another season after finishing second with 79 points. They have signed defender Kostas Manolas from AS Roma following the departure of Raúl Albiol and looked to have signed Mexican forward Hirving Lozano from PSV Eindhoven. They have also been linked with Colombian midfielder James Rodriguez, who played under Ancelotti at Real Madrid and Bayern Munich, which could be a major coup for Napoli to pull off. Following the departures of Jorginho, Hamšík, Albiol plus the ageing of Dries Mertens, Napoli will be looking to hometown hero Lorenzo Insigne, Allan, Kalidou Koulibaly and Arkadiusz Milik to be the new guard that will take Napoli forward and sustain them as a force in Italian football. Napoli have challenged for the Scudetto over the past three season with the 17/18 season their closest to winning the league since 1990. However, with the rise of Inter under Antonio Conte, there aren't the only one that will challenge Juventus this season.
- Inter Milan
Inter Milan just about made it in the Champions League for a successive season but the season was dominated by the strained relationship between the club and Mauro Icardi. The Argentine was stripped of the captaincy after failed negotiations between Inter and his wife/agent Wanda Nara. The club's performances on the pitch were all affected as well. They failed to qualify for the knockout stages of the Champions League and given how close they were in making out on the Champions League, Inter decided to sack Luciano Spalletti. Former Juventus coach Antonio Conte was appointed which excited the Nerazzurri given Conte's track record. He has stated that Icardi will not be in his plans this season which was evident by the acquisition of Belgian striker Romelu Lukaku. They have also signed midfielder Nicolò Barella, who will more dimension to Inter's midfield and Uruguayan centre-back Diego Godín. With things looking to be in order and some signings over the summer, Inter looks ready for a title challenge this season and with Conte's success with Juventus and Chelsea, it could come sooner rather than later.
- Juventus
Speaking of Juventus, The Old Lady have dominated Italian football since winning the Scudetto back in 2012 and have won it for seven consecutive seasons. Despite winning the league with ease last season finishing 11 points ahead of Napoli, they, in particular manager Massimiliano Allegri, received criticism for their passive approach and defensive first attitude which made unpleasing to watch. Their failure to go far in the Champions League and a quarterfinal exit in the Coppa Italia made last season feel quite disappointing with Allegri resigning at the end of the season. Maurizio Sarri was appointed to be Allegri's successor. Sarri's job will be making Juventus exciting to watch and take Juventus to success in all fronts. They have made some big business, signing Aaron Ramsey, Adrien Rabiot, Matthjis de Ligt, Danilo, Gianluigi Buffon and Luca Pellegrini. Cristiano Ronaldo had an okay season in terms of his ridiculous standards with 22 league goals last season. With Sarri's way of playing, it would potentially get the best out of the Portuguese but also the supporting cast. Douglas Costa and Paulo Dybala regressed last season under Allegri and will be looking to rejuvenate their careers at the Juventus Stadium. Juventus have improved with new signings, a good coach and a new way of playing as they look to dominate for the foreseeable future.
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