Thirty years ago, the Italian Serie A was said to be the best and richest league in Europe.
The Italian clubs did well in the European competitions and the league was home to some of the best players in the world. Between 1990 and 2000, Serie A clubs broke the world transfer record fee on numerous occasions.
Today, the clubs there can only look on with envy as the Spanish La Liga and the English Premier League have overtaken them in terms of success and spending power.
This summer, Serie A lost a string of world class footballers, namely Gianluigi Donnarumma, Cristian Romero, Cristiano Ronaldo and Romelu Lukaku.
Arguably the best coach in the league last season, Antonio Conte also left Italy – and so did one of the best right wingbacks in the world, Achraf Hakimi.
Despite the loss of star power in the league, all is not lost. Several top coaches have returned, and they include Jose Mourinho, Massimiliano Allegri, Maurizio Sarri and Luciano Spalletti.
Pre-season, it was tough to pick one team as favourites to win the Scudetto after Inter ended Juventus’ league stranglehold last season. At least six teams are in the running for the Scudetto this time around.
Of all these teams, Inter, Milan, Lazio, Napoli, and Roma scored full points, albeit only two games in the season. The league’s surprise package, Atalanta, have won one game, and was held to a draw the other, while Juventus settled for a draw in one game before suffering a shock defeat in the last round of fixtures.
After the international break, we would get the first two big matches of the season.
Napoli host Juventus at the Stadio Diego Maradona on Saturday (Sunday midnight, Malaysian time).
Juventus will be looking to bounce back from a lacklustre start to the season. One can never write them off as they always find a way to bounce back from adversity.
On the other hand, Napoli will be looking to put down a marker to the rest of the league and boost their confidence by beating Italy’s most successful club.
There is no love lost between both teams either, as they share an intense rivalry. On Sunday (Monday midnight, Malaysian time), two of the most impressive teams so far, AC Milan and Lazio, will battle it out at the majestic San Siro.
Lazio has scored the most number of goals (nine) in their first two matches, while Milan was impressive in their last match against Cagliari. The clash promises to be an exciting, open affair between the two teams. It’s early days yet, but three points for whichever team can provide a big confidence booster.
Here’s hoping that Serie A remains unpredictable yet exciting as the season unfolds.
This is the personal opinion of the writer and does not necessarily represent the views of Twentytwo13.
