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Why Serie A is worth watching again

Roar Rookie
11th September, 2014
18

It’s the 23rd of May, 1990. AC Milan have just won their fourth (and second consecutive) European Cup, courtesy of a Frank Rijkaard strike in a 1-0 win over Portuguese powerhouse Benfica.

In only two weeks, Italy are due to host the biggest sporting event on the planet – the FIFA World Cup. Italy is home to comfortably the world’s strongest league full of the best players on the planet, and had won their third World Cup only eight years previously when they held the trophy aloft at the Bernabeu.

Fast forward two decades, and Italian football is no longer what it used to be. Many of us grew up watching football back when Serie A ruled the roost. Serie A was home to the best players, best teams and was the richest league in the world. Do a Napoli side featuring Diego Maradona and a breathtakingly brilliant Milan side featuring Van Basten, Gullit and Riijkaard evoke any memories?

What about the ludicrously expensive Lazio team featuring Juan Sebastian Veron and Marcelo Salas, Roma’s title winning machine with players like Francesco Totti, Gabriel Batistuta, Vincenzo Montella, and Cafu?

Inter’s Ronaldo, Ivan Zamorano and Roberto Baggio frontline, as well as a Juventus team featuring Zinedine Zidane? There was a time when Milan, Napoli, Lazio, Roma, Juventus, Inter, Parma, Fiorentina and Sampdoria would all be fighting for the league.

And you thought the Premier League was competitive!? Okay, I think you get the point – Serie A isn’t what it once was.

However, after being rocked by financial trouble and most notably the 2006 Calciopoli scandal, Serie A seems to be on the rise again. The league’s biggest stars aren’t leaving as frequently as previous years and more money is being pumped into the Italian top flight again.

The 2013-14 Serie A season was one of the best for a number of years, and although Juventus comfortably wrapped up their third consecutive Scudetto, the season saw the resurrection of Roma, not to mention the horrible decline of seven-time European champions Milan.

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However this season could well prove to be one of the best in recent memory, and put Serie A back where it belongs among Europe’s elite.

Let’s begin with Juventus. Despite having Antonio Conte replaced in the Juventus hot-seat by former Milan boss Max Allegri, Juventus should still be favourites to wrap up their fourth successive Scudetto.

With a team boasting the likes of Chilean midfielder Arturo Vidal (arguably the best box-to-box midfielder around), young French powerhouse Paul Pogba and an ageless Andrea Pirlo among others, it’s hard to look past them.

The Bianconeri play great football, and have also signed well in the summer, bringing in Alvaro Morata from Real Madrid, Patrice Evra from Manchester United and young French midfielder Kingsley Coman from PSG.

However Juve’s biggest challenge will again come from Roma. The Giallorossi are being tipped by many to knock Juventus off their perch this season, and with the team they have assembled you can understand why.

Rudi Garcia’s brilliant, pacey attacking team already features the legendary Francesco Totti, Serbian maestro Adem Ljajic, Mattia Destro, Gervinho and Daniele De Rossi.

Although star defender Mehdi Benatia was shipped off to German champions Bayern Munich, Roma signed extremely well, securing the services of English veteran Ashley Cole, young Paraguayan striker Antonio Sanabria, Leo Paredes on loan from Boca Juniors and of course Argentinian wonderkid Juan Manuel Iturbe.

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Touted by many as Lionel Messi’s natural successor, Iturbe lit up Serie A the previous season with Hellas Verona and attracted interest from the worlds biggest clubs before Roma snatched him from under the nose of rivals Juventus.

Blessed with superhuman dribbling ability and phenomenal speed, if you weren’t already convinced Roma were a good team to watch, then Iturbe should convince you.

Milan will begin the season without European football for the first time in a very long time. The Rossoneri replaced Mario Balotelli with Fernando Torres in the summer and still have a good squad including the likes of Stephan El-Shaarawy, Riccardo Montolivo and Keisuke Honda.

Expect to see the world’s best youngster, 16-year-old Hachim Mastour, eventually debut and shine for the first team as well. Mastour is a YouTube sensation, blessed with phenomenal skill and has been compared to Neymar and Wesley Sneijder.

Milan will provide some entertaining football this season, as will Fiorentina, who impressed many last season with their attractive brand of football.

Fiorentina did well to hold onto Colombian speedster Juan Guillermo Cuadrado, who is one of the best wingers in the world currently and combines his blistering speed and vast repertoire of tricks with a tireless workrate.

Expect star striker Mario Gomez to step up as well, after enduring a frustrating 2013-14 campaign plagued by injury.

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Rafa Benitez’ Napoli side should also have another strong season after impressing many in their previous campaign. Featuring a line-up blessed with attacking talent including the likes of Gonzalo Higuain, Lorenzo Insigne, Dries Mertens and Jose Callejon as well as Gohkan Inler and Juan Zuñiga, the Neopolitans should be a threat to any team.

They are well in with a shout of equalling or bettering their third place finish from the previous season.

Finally, Inter Milan will also provide another stern title challenge, backed by new billionaire owner Erick Thohir. The Nerazzuri have assembled a strong squad boasting the likes of Chilean hardman Gary Medel, Serbian veteran Nemanja Vidic, Hernanes, Mateo Kovacić and Argentinian strikers Rodrigo Palacio and Mauro Icardi. K

eep an eye out for young forward Icardi, who has the potential to be one of the deadliest strikers in Italy.

Serie A should be a cracker this season, with all big teams stronger than in previous years. As the money keeps rolling in, the Italian game will only continue to rebuild its tarnished image. Serie A will certainly be worth watching this season, and the league can only get stronger.

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