Fixtures that you must keep an eye on in the new Serie A season

(Football news) It has been an offseason of change as the Serie A giants are undergoing a major reshuffle ahead of kick off. Last year's champions Inter Milan won the title after 11 years but before the fans could celebrate their Scudetto, Antonio Conte left his managerial position through mutual consent amid reports that club hierarchy were going to sell players because of their financial constraints. The problems for Inter have opened up the title race wide open in Italy as the likes of Juventus, AC Milan, Napoli, Atalanta will be rubbing their hands off to get an opportunity at the Coppa Campioni d'Italia trophy.

The defending champions will be facing Genoa at home in their first fixture. It's going to be interesting to watch as Inter will be without their two star players Romelu Lukaku and Achraf Hakimi who were integral pieces in last season's title run. This season, Inter’s new manager Simone Inzaghi will have a difficult task on hand to retain the Scudetto but not an impossible task as he still has world class players at his disposal like Lautaro Martinez and Nicolas Barella. With the Inter board in debt they have still managed to get Hakan Çalhanoğlu and Edin Dzeko who may not be very attractive signings but the experience they bring will be invaluable.

Juventus will be taking on Udinese away from home in their first match. After a run of 9 consecutive Serie A titles they finally lost out last season in what was an unenterprising season under Pirlo’s management. It was inevitable that Pirlo got sacked and was replaced by the former “son of Turin” Massimiliano Allegri who has been assigned to bring back parity by winning the Serie A title. With Ronaldo confirming that he is going to stay with the Bianconeri for one more season at least, it should be encouraging news not only for the fans but also for the squad as well. This season, the Juve board have made one notable signing in Manuel Locatelli who can straight up slot into the aging midfield.

Also read: Cristiano Ronaldo slams “disrespectful” media reports linking him back to Real Madrid

AC Milan take on Sampdoria in their first match which could be a tricky fixture. AC Milan, this season have opted for the theme of continuity and development as most of their squad is unchanged. Last season before the winter break AC Milan were leading but a dip in form meant that they finished second behind their city rivals. Paolo Maldini over the last five years has completely revamped the squad with astute signings, mixing youth with experience has been his mantra. Stefano Pioli will be heavily reliant on Ibrahimovic and Giroud to score the majority of goals and offer guidance to the youngsters.

Napoli take on newly promoted side Venezia in the Diego Maradona stadium in their first match. Last season Napoli endured a tough season as they missed out on a Champions league position on the last day of the season to Juventus. This season under the management of Luciano Spalletti, Napoli fans will be hoping to mount an unlikely title challenge as most of their star players like Fabian Ruiz, Lorenzo Insigne and Kalidou Koulibaly will most likely stay at the club.

Atalanta takes on Torino in a mouth watering first match. Atalanta have always been labeled as the underdogs or dark horses for the title but if the last two seasons gave us any indication it is that they are serious title challengers. With an experienced coach in Gian Piero Gasperini who knows how to grind out results against big teams will be an interesting watch on how they go about their season. The players to watch out for will be Duvan Zapata and Robin Gosens as they will be key figures if they are to mount a title challenge.

The match of the week will certainly be AS Roma vs Fiorentina as both these teams along with Lazio who will be facing Empoli will be most likely challenge for the European places. It's certainly going to be an interesting watch on how Jose Mourinho manages a Serie A club after winning the treble with Inter almost 11 years ago when he last managed a Serie A team. 

SHARE:

Share The Article:

Leave A Reply