The 2016/17 season of Serie A began with a bang, as all the drama returned to Italy, with some crazy games involving red cards, world class goals and last minute drama. The opening round of fixtures have left Roma on the top of the table, with Inter Milan in 19th, while Juventus’ narrow win leaves them in 6th.
It’s early doors, but all the pre-season predictions of a Juventus romp to the title look well-founded after Gonzalo Higuain’s heroics, but there was plenty of drama around Serie A with both Milan clubs and Napoli playing out some eventful games.
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What a start to Italian football’s annual extravaganza!
1) Roma are Serie A’s best hope for a Title Race
The Giallorossi were considered to have been considerably weakenend when Juventus prised Miralem Pjanic away from the capital side, but watchers of Luciano Spalletti’s side would have known that the Lupi had already moved on from him tactically in the fag end of last season.
With Mo Salah and Diego Perotti at their best, Roma terrorised Udinese and controlled the game with a canny certainty about their style of play. A 4-0 drubbing of a side that barely escaped relegation and lost their legendary striker, Antonio di Natale, in the summer is hardly surprising, but the ease with which Roma dismantled Udinese’s defence points to a potential title race contender.
Udinese failed to expose any weakness in Roma’s new look defence, and the Giallorossi will face tougher tests over the course of the season. However, with Napoli struggling against Pescara, Roma are the only hope left for Serie A to have a title race and prevent Juventus from winning a sixth successive Scudetto.
2) Lolito’s crazyness extends to the pitch for Lazio
Marcelo Bielsa joined and quit Lazio as manager within 48 hours, thanks to owner Claudio Lolito breaking a few promises. Recalling former boss Simone Inzaghi has resulted in a very public spat with Keita Balde, one of the best young talents in football, with the player being accused of faking an injury to force through a move.
Lazio are entertaining enough off the pitch, but were as nuts on the pitch as well. Some swift interplay around the box meant that Ciro Immobile, Wesley Hoedt and local boy Cristiano Lombardi gave the Biancocelesti a 3-0 lead going into the break. However, this is Lazio after all – Atalanta pulled two goals back to set the cat amongst the pigeons only for Cataldi to make the game safe in the final moments.
A 4-3 win away in their season opener could mean that Lazio could possibly be the most entertaining team to keep an eye out for in Serie A. Watch this space – Lazio’s Serie A campaign is only just beginning to warm up, and we could see some stunning reverses from the unpredictable side as well.
3) Pipita is well worth his €90 million fee
For all those decrying his fee, Gonzalo Higuain had pretty much the perfect debut for Juventus, firmly shoving the words of his detractors back down their throats. Yet, for somone who cost €90,000,000, Higuain had a spectacularly awful summer. The striker endured the abuse of Napoli officials and fans alike, in addition to that of Argentina, after missing another crucial chance in the Copa America final, before returning back looking rather worse for wear.
Yet, Juventus weren’t paying that much for just a goal-scorer – they paid that fee for a hero. When Nicola Kalinic pulled a goal back for a hugely impressive Fiorentina to cancel out Sami Khedira’s opener, the nervousness in the Turin air was palpable. All those predictions of invincibility and a romp to the league title looked rather foolhardy.
Up stepped El Pipita, just 9 minutes into his Bianconeri debut to give the Juventus fans a moment they’ll remember forever. Higuain’s sense for the occasion remains and he turned in a goal from the narrowest of angles to send the gathered Juve fans wild. With one swipe of his boot, Higuain brought the swagger back to Juve – a quality they will need if they are to win the UEFA Champions League this season, if not just the Serie A.
4) The Milan clubs are quickly becoming the laughing stock of Italian football
AC Milan and Inter Milan’s misfortunes over the last few seasons has been viewed with glee by their rivals, but this was the supposed to be the season of rebuilding. Fresh from a sale to Chinese owners, the hope of both Milanese clubs was a relatively stable season.
Sacking Roberto Mancini just 2 weeks before the start of the season was hardly ideal, but Frank de Boer represented a forward thinking appointment. Nerazzuri fans celebrating Antonio Candreva’s arrival were swiftly brough back to earth by Valter Birsa’s double for the Flying Donkeys. Chievo did represent a tough opening fixture, but the sheer lack of competitiveness from Inter in a 0-2 loss points to a long season ahead.
AC Milan’s 3-2 win over Torino was the most exciting game of the week, but served to expose the failings in Milan’s lineup. Carlos Bacca’s perfect hat-trick ought to have resulted in a comfortable win for Milan, but a foolish goal conceded in injury time followed by a daft penalty and red card by Paletta meant that Milan could have given ex-manager Sinisa Mihajlovic a dream return, only for Donnarumma to bail them out yet again.
How one of Italy’s most storied clubs have come to depending on a 17-year-old to save their season, again, is anyone’s guess.
5) Sarri faces an uphill task for Napoli to repeat their great season
It’s easy to forget that a decade ago, Napoli were languishing in Serie B. Partonopei fans were in dreamland last season as Gonzalo Higuain looked all set to fire them to a historic Scudetto, but as we all know – fate has taken the cruelest turn for the Southern Italian club.
The challenge that Maurizio Sarri faces in his second season is keeping spirits up. When newly-promoted relegation candidates Delfino Pescara took a two-goal lead, the exalted ideas of a title challenge looked very, very far away. Dries Mertens’ heroics to bring the game back on level terms, were tempered by a missed penalty and a chance to win the game.
Napoli are very clearly hurting, and a salvaged draw against relegation candidates, however enterprising, is hardly the way to begin a campaign when their most favourite son left for hated rivals in the summer. Maurizio Sarri’s side looked far from title candidates, and Napoli face a tough season ahead.
