Can anyone
stop Juventus?
(^) SERGEI MILINKOVIC-SAVIC
(Lazio)
Had a disappointing, injury-
interrupted season last year
but, at his best, he is a big,
tough and skilled attacking
midfielder who is still on the
radar of many top clubs.
(^) NICOLO BARELLA
(Internazionale)
Finally got a big move this
summer when Inter paid
€45m to Cagliari for a player
who is clearly a fundamental
part of Roberto Mancini’s plans
for Italy’s Euro 2020 team.
(^) EDIN DZEKO
(Roma)
The 33-year-old Bosnian
striker may be nearing the end
of his career but he could yet
go out with a bang if a much-
touted move to Inter were to
come to pass.
(^) AARON RAMSEY
(Juventus)
Juve will be expecting much
from the hardworking Wales
international and his ability to
adapt to Italian football could
be crucial to the success of a
new-look side.
(^) DIEGO GOMEZ
(Atalanta)
The embodiment of all that is
good about Atalanta’s game:
organisation, pace, intensity
and skill. He wins the ball, sets
up goals and scores – he is a
complete talent.
T
he Italian Serie A football
championship is an annual
competition, featuring 20
clubs, which runs from August
to May, and which is won every year by
the Turin-based club Juventus.”
When it comes to the new Serie A
season, it is hard not to think of Gary
Lineker’s splendid joke about how
Germany always wins the World Cup.
As Juventus set off in pursuit of a
ninth consecutive league title, one could
be forgiven for observing that the Serie
A title contest risks becoming just a
trifle boring.
In recent years, the same scenario,
with a few minor variations, has played
itself out. Every year we go looking for
pretenders to the throne. We suggest
that maybe the time has come for
Internazionale and Milan to step up to
the plate and honour their own best
traditions. Or we point out that Roma
and/or Napoli have been knocking on
the door, suggesting that maybe this
year their hunger for success will make
the difference.
Yet by Christmas, Juventus have the
title wrapped up, Roma, Inter and Milan
are struggling to hold onto a Champions
League qualification, and Torino, Lazio,
Sampdoria, Fiorentina et al are fast
disappearing into mid-table obscurity.
Just to make matters boringly worse,the season’s newly promoted sides
inevitably go up and down from Serie
A to Serie B and back again with all the
alacrity of a fiddler’s elbow.
Will it be any different this time? It’s
unlikely. Juventus still look far and away
the strongest team in the land, and
at this point you can only look to two
factors in order to argue credibly that
a halt might be put to Juve’s gallop.
First, there is the law of averages, the
realm of probability which suggests even
Juventus cannot keep on winning for
ever...can they? Well, nothing suggeststhat they cannot, actually.
Secondly, there is Antonio Conte,
one-time coach of Juventus, Italy and
Chelsea, a man who now sits on the
bench at arguably the most enigmatic,
under-performing Italian club of all
time, namely Internazionale. And an
intriguing aspect of this season is the
fact that Inter, Milan, Roma and Juventus
have all changed coaches.
No one who followed Italy’s progress“
I
T
A
L
Y(^) S
E
R
I
E
(^) A
(^2)
0
1
9
- 2
0
(^)
Every year we go looking for pretenders...yet by
Christmas, Juventus have the title wrapped up,
while Roma, Inter and Milan are struggling to
hold onto a Champions League qualification
Chelsea old boys...
Sarri (left) and Conte
Hunger...Napoli