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.
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.
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.
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.
Evan Askew
Guest
When I originally signed up to Setanta they had the SPL, Bundesliga, Eredvivise, Serie A, La Liga, Ligue 1 and the Portugues Liga. They also had the Russian league and J league as various times. By the time I dumped them they still had the Bundesliga but that was it. They had replaced all the aforementioned leagues with English Championship, Blue Square premier and the Copa Libertadores. The Copa and the championship are good copetitions and I want to watch the Copa but to me these changes were unacceptable and I told them so when I cancelled my subscription.
asanchez
Roar Guru
Good article Daniel. Should be a good season in the Serie A. While I agree that it should be a better season to watch this year, I'm still not convinced that anybody can beat Juve for the title, the squad they have is pretty hard to beat IMO. Napoli, Roma will surely challenge, and Inter should also be up there. Lazio and Fiorentina will properly be challenging for a top 4 place. As for AC Milan, it's a lottery whether they improve or not this season, but it's pretty safe to say that they won't be challenging for any titles again. As for the state of Italian Football, that's another matter all together. While on the pitch domestically it may be improving and becoming more competitive, that's actually not saying much. Off the field they are a shambles! The racist noises coming from the stands is a disgrace and so many empty seats in the stands show a sorry state. The 1st round of the Serie A last week threw up a telling stat, every stadium was on average only half full. 1 out of every 2 seats were empty. This is not the Serie A of old. The very best players no longer want to play in Italy, even Italians are leaving, as the wages are higher in England, Spain and even Germany in some cases. And in Europe the Italian clubs are no longer feared, and under performing in European competitions. This was shown last season when Portuguese giants Benfica knocked Juventus out of the Europa League over 2 legs. Juve would've wanted to make the final, as it was held at the new Stadio delle Alpi. But they weren't good enough. 15 years ago, there would've been widespread condemnation for the top Italian club losing to anybody from the Portuguese Superliga, but today I guess it's a sign of the times. I hope the Serie A does improve this season, as it's a great competition with great tradition and history, but in terms of the continent, they have lost their lustre. It'll be a hard road back!
Rellum
Roar Guru
Roma and Juve should be favourites again this year, Roma has strengthened in depth but I think the first team is a little weaker with that defender we shall not name gone. Juve has a very strong roster but a less stellar manager so that will be interesting if he drags them down. Napoli is the only other real threat but I can't see them pushing for the Scudetto.
Rellum
Roar Guru
Yeah I hate the EPL white wash on here too, but there are cultural reasons for that. Still with all the Italian migration here in the past you would think Serie A would have a bigger following in Aus. A big reason that the EPL has is it went big just as the internet become part of modern life so it has an advantage for attracting viewers. Add to that Serie A's low wage bill which has lowered the standard of player quite a bit, outdated Stadia, out of control ultras, no HD in most broadcasts and calciopoli you don't have much to sell any more. Juve and Roma are in prime position now to become the dominate two in Italy with the new Stadiums giving them a much bigger cash advantage over the other teams. If they sure up the top two spots in the next few years then it may well be a period of long dominance until the other clubs decide they need to catch up. Pallotta has said they need to drag the rest of Serie A along with them if Roma wants to be a Euro power house.
Peter
Guest
The main problem with Serie A is the stadiums, nearly every problem with the Serie A comes down to stadiums, money, tv rights, attendance, sponsors, revenue, fan base etc but now Juventus have their own stadium, Roma are building a new one, Udinese, Cagliari & Fiorentina are fixing their stadiums right now and just this week Inter & Sampdoria have announced that they too plan on building their own stadiums. Things are looking up for the Serie A.
Colin N
Guest
"That oxygen thief Platini from UEFA has been doing his darnedest to ensure Italian football suffers when you consider how hard the CL play off games have been for the Italian clubs in recent years compared to the easier draw that Arsenal (they are usually in this play off game of late) have had in the same period of time." You do realise how it is seeded? Teams that finish third or fourth in their league will face each other in the play-off rounds (generally teams from England, Spain, Italy, Germany, France, Portugal, Turkey etc), while teams that finished as champions will also face each other. It's not Platini's fault that the Italian teams aren't always competent enough to defeat their opponents while Arsenal always is. Napoli lost to a team this season that have a self-imposed transfer policy of only signing Basque players. Surely a team that can manage to spend big money on the likes of Gonzalo Higuain would back themselves to win that? Fiorentina had a tough draw when they faced Sporting Lisbon and Sampdoria had Werder Bremen, but then you think to yourself, with respect, how did a team like Sampdoria qualify for the Champions League? In 2011, Udinese faced Arsenal, a tough draw for both teams, but it was Arsenal that came out on top quite comfortably. In 2012, Udinese lost to Braga, hardly a powerhouse of European football.
Andrew Macdougall
Roar Pro
Have always enjoyed Italian football. While it has lost its place as the biggest and best league in the world, there is still plenty of quality football on offer. As a Chievo supporter I am looking forward to the season as I feel we have assembled a decent squad to avoid relegation. Our early fixture against the big clubs won't help though.
Daniel Gartner
Roar Rookie
Cheers mate, I have noticed that there is an awful lot of EPL content here! Which frustrates me a little because so many fans treat the EPL as the be-all and end-all! I recall watching the Turin derby on foxtel last season but unfortunately I have no idea what happened with the broadcasting of Serie A games after that! I do agree, Italian football has a long way to go but it's on the improve which is great to see. Platini is a clown in my opinion, yes he was one of the greatest footballers of his generation but he's not cut out to be president of UEFA. Arsenal have had it very easy, no doubt about that and this is coming from a lifelong Gooner. It is about time Napoli won it again though! I'll be covering Serie A, La Liga, Bundesliga, Champions League, South American football, basically anything other than EPL (because every man and his dog seems to be covering it). My interests go so much further than just the English game. There will be plenty more from me :)
Ian
Guest
all i can say is it was about the time i was first getting foxtel - so september last year just before the A-League season kicked off. Bosnich even tweeted it in advance saying 4 serie a games - 2 live and 2 delayed - each week - same with la liga. foxtel even had a press release. but they had jumped the gun and the deal must not have been signed off. which is quite unprofessional. something about the agents for serie a were making other demands. in the end it was probably about the money involved. i think i recall seeing in the fox program with a couple of serie a games ready to go they were that confident. then it fell through and only la liga was signed up.
Mazzalenko
Guest
Well done Daniel on the article about time Serie A got a look in here in the sea of EPL Someone posted above that Foxtel had won the right to show some Serie A towards the end of last season (from memory they were going to show the Turin derby) so can you Daniel or anyone else on here tell me what happened in that regard and why it feel through? As an unabashed Serie A fan I feel Italian Football still has a long way to go before we are up among the elite.....heck UEFA have us ranked 5th in the latest co-efficient rankings FFS but I'm optimistic that it will get better one day! That oxygen thief Platini from UEFA has been doing his darnedest to ensure Italian football suffers when you consider how hard the CL play off games have been for the Italian clubs in recent years compared to the easier draw that Arsenal (they are usually in this play off game of late) have had in the same period of time. As a Napoli supporter I feel and hope that this season we will finally lift our 3rd scudetto from under the noses of Juve & Roma and end our 25 year wait. We have been consistent in the last 4 seasons finishing in the top 3 in 3 seasons out of the 4 with two 3rd places and a 2nd place so stuff Roma they can wait and I feel Juve has well and truly had their time. I feel injuries to key players could stuff them around. Hopefully Daniel you can be a regular Serie A blogger this season please :)
Ian
Guest
regards to an earlier post above - you can get the Rai channel on fox for $20/month and they have a handful of serie a games. but they are in italian obviously.
Alex Chisholm
Roar Pro
Top article Daniel! You are very right there, should be a cracking season of Serie A. I'm tipping Roma to get the title off Juventus, as Allegri won't cut it as Juve manager despite the world class squad he's got there. He struggled throughout his time at Milan and I think it will be the same at Juventus. I don't think Milan will bounce back, even with Pipo in charge. The squad is still full of ego's and no apparent direction in terms of football philosophy. Inter on the other hand should be qualify for Europe along with Napoli. I'm hoping Fiorentina make it into the top three, because they play some of the best football in the league and Brilliante is there as well haha!
Franko
Guest
The Serie A is back, it's time to vesti la giubba (put on the costume) The 7 sisters dueling it out each year like the aristocracy of old. The fans in Italy, always pessimistic, always tribal, remember when they brought in the Sunday lunchtime kick off and some Juve fans unfurled a banner reading "You wanted to take away our passion. Instead you just took away our minestrone" Of course it always sounds better in Italian, Rossoneri as opposed to Red & Blacks for example. Carlo Tavecchio looks set to play the part of Canio, leader of the Commedia dell’Arte clowns, if his recent comments regarding Black players weren't so offensive they'd be hilarious. So sit back on a Sunday with a Campari & Soda to watch some of the worlds best players in another rigged fixture, listen to the fans go wild and wait for that famous line... ...La commedia è finita!
Daniel Gartner
Roar Rookie
It's very frustrating and I only think that's the case because it's a British channel (run by a mob of Irish clowns). Setanta used to show Eredivisie, Serie A, Bundesliga, Ligue 1 and even the Portuguese league. What ever happened to those!? To have such leagues replaced by competitions such as the Blue Square Premier is total madness. We can only hope that the expansion of Fox Sports brings more of Europe's elite leagues back to our shores.
AZ_RBB
Guest
The problem I have with Setanta's coverage of the Bundesliga is that when you have a Championship game clash with Bundesliga, they choose the former. For example, this Saturday night Bayern play Stuttgart and Dortmund play Freiburg at 11:30. Instead of showing either of those games live, they will be showing Charlton v Millwall. I think even SPL often gets preference over Bundesliga on Setanta. Without a multi-channel function, they'll struggle to juggle all this comps. Which is why Fox Sports, which is soon to become 5 channels, is a much better fit.
Daniel Gartner
Roar Rookie
I have Setanta as well as the foxtel sports package and the only good European league on there now is the Bundesliga. I watch Copa Libertadores on Setanta as well and those two leagues are the only reason I still have Setanta, other than that it's a waste of money. One day's time you had access to Serie A on Setanta and ESPN and La Liga on ESPN. It's good to see La Liga back on foxtel however, even though most of the games aren't even live.
AZ_RBB
Guest
I try and watch Juve each week through dodgy streams so yeah would be great if it returned to pay tv here. But Bundesliga is the one I want to see the most on Fox.
Ian
Guest
Would be great if Foxtel could acquire the rights to a couple of games each week but this time don't announce it before the deal is sealed which happened last year.