Europe’s Most Balanced League Is Back; Expect Fireworks

Last weekend saw the beginning of the PremierPINC
League, Ligue 1 and Bundesliga and the usual results flowed in: Man City won; Bayern thrashed Frankfurt 6-1 away, and Paris Saint-Germain handed out a similar treatment to Clermont Foot, with Lionel Messi in vintage Messi form doing spectacular Messi things.

Some joked on social media that the title races in England, Germany and France were sown up already, such has been the dominance of those three sides in their country’s respective top flight over the last half-decade (and for Bayern, since time immemorial, it seems).

To that end, this weekend sees the return of the most balanced of Europe’s top five leagues, Serie A. This was certainly the case last season, and looks to remain the case going into 2022/23.

Last season’s title race between Milan and Inter was the most exciting Italy had seen in years and, for the first time since 2008, it went down to the wire on the final day. However, it wasn’t just at the top that had issues unresolved going into the last day, Salernitana and Cagliari were slugging it out to stay in Serie A, with the the former, who had at one staged seemed dead and buried after taking a hammering each and every week at the beginning of the season, keeping their head above water for another year thanks to mini-miracle worker Davide Nicola.

While Serie A last season was as enthralling and exciting a league as there was in Europe, that’s not to say that the quality was remarkably high. Indeed, the Milan side that won their first Scudetto in 11 years will arguably go down as the weakest side to win the league in decades, with they, Inter and Napoli taking turns at folding under the pressure of leading the table throughout the winter and early spring. For a period of time, it seemed nobody wanted to win the title.

It’s likely to be the same ahead of the new season. Just as a year ago, Serie A has lost more stars this summer, with clubs still reeling from the effects of the pandemic and in need of cash. Matthijs de Ligt, Kalidou Koulibaly, Franck Kessie and Lorenzo Insigne have all departed, and there still could be more, with Fabian Ruiz likely to leave for PSG and Inter duo Milan Skriniar and Denzel Dumfries attracting attention from the Premier League.

Juventus and Inter have taken comfort in past glories by re-signing Paul Pogba and Romelu Lukaku, bringing the pair back to the scene of their greatest successes. Yet the experience of Pogba 2.0 has already been soured somewhat by the Frenchman suffering a knee injury in Juve’s US pre-season tour and a two-month absence diagnosed. One suspects that Lukaku will be the best of the reheated soup.

Out of the top four, Juve are the must curious case at present, and it’s still difficult to decipher just how good, or bad, they will be next season. De Ligt was replaced by Torino defender Bremer, who was one of the best defenders in the league last season, while the club dipped back into the free agent market they cornered for a period of time in the 2010s to sign Angel Di Maria.

Yet there are still holes in Max Allegri’s squad that needs addressing. Another midfielder was needed even before Pogba’s untimely injury; a substitute for Dusan Vlahovic is also required, as is a better left-back than Alex Sandro, who has managed to escape being sold for the better part of four years.

Juve’s pre-season has been nothing short of disastrous, and while there will be more signings in the remaining weeks of the window, the club face Sassuolo and Roma at home and Sampdoria away in the opening rounds, and there’s a real chance of Juve ending August with minimal points, just as they did 12 months ago.

The pressure will be on reigning champions Milan to retain their newly-acquired crown, and their summer has proved a frustrating one. Long-standing transfer targets slipped through their grasp and so far the club have only spent money in signing Charles De Ketelaere from Club Brugge, which was a saga in itself. Alessandro Florenzi’s loan move from Roma was turned into a permanent one, and Divock Origi joined on a free from Liverpool. They are all smart signings, but the loss of Kessie hasn’t been answered (as of writing) and a right-sided attacker is very much needed.

With Inter strengthening while not losing any key players (again, as of writing), it remains to be seen if Milan can hold their city neighbours off a second time.

Much has been made of Roma’s pre-season, which has contrasted sharply with Juve’s. There’s an air of optimism in the capital that hasn’t been felt since the Fabio Capello era, with the after glow of winning the UEFAEFA
Europa Conference League still very much in effect.

The signings of Gini Wijnaldum and Paulo Dybala have got pulses racing in the Eternal City, and given Jose Mourinho’s track record of generally doing better in second seasons, Roma’s fanatical fan base are beginning to believe in a title tilt.

Yet the truth is that despite the arrivals of Dybala and Wijnaldum, getting into the top four is the main objective, and they still look a side short of winning a fourth Scudetto. Much will also depend on keeping Dybala fit, but a top four finish and a deep cup run, or perhaps winning one of the Europa League or Coppa Italia, would represent another step in the right direction under Mourinho.

The side most likely to make way for Roma are Napoli, with president Aurelio De Laurentiis ripping the heart out of the side that led the table for a portion of last season. Club stalwarts like Koulibaly, Insigne and Dries Mertens have all been offloaded, as has experienced goalkeeper David Ospina. Ruiz is seemingly next on the list.

De Laurentiis appears to be scaling back the club’s ambition, and they will be almost unrecognisable from the side we’ve become accustomed to seeing over the last few years, but Napoli still contain enough quality to qualify for Europe, with the likes of Lazio and Fiorentina only improving marginally over the summer.

From the newly promoted sides, all eyes will be on Monza. The legendary duo of Silvio Berlusconi and Mr. Yellow Tie Adriano Galliani will be back in Serie A for the first time since selling Milan in 2017. Monza have made quite the splash, in the customary Berlusconi way, by making some deft signings.

Solid pros like Alessio Cragno, Andrea Ranocchia, Stefano Sensi, Matteo Pessina – surprisingly let go by Atalanta – and Gianluca Caprari all arrive with bagfuls of top flight experience and will play a pivotal role in Monza’s maiden Serie A voyage. Given the backing by Berlusconi, Monza are likely to perform the best from the promoted sides, but it’s nice to see Gianluca Vialli’s old side Cremonese back in Serie A for the first time since 1996 and Lecce making a return to represent the Pugilese, a region usually short of top level football.

Just like last season, the quality on show won’t be Serie A circa 1990s, or even Serie A of the late 2000s, but the league is about as evenly balanced as any league in Europe, and the one thing that is guaranteed is drama.

And plenty of it.