The new Serie A season finally kicked off this weekend, and all eyes were on reigning champions Juventus and their new manager, Andrea Pirlo.
There was much mystery surrounding Pirlo — who has no prior managerial experience — but he made quite a first impression as his Juve side had an impressive start to the season.
Meanwhile, Pirlo’s former Milan team-mate Gennaro Gattuso continues his fine work as Napoli also started their new campaign on the right foot.
Those are just two of SBOTOP’s main takeaways from this opening round of Serie A fixtures.
Pirlo’s Juventus put on a show in season opener
The Andrea Pirlo era in Juventus has begun, and what a beginning it was as the champions kicked off their title defence with a 3-0 win over Sampdoria.
Pirlo instantly made Serie A 2020 news with his team selection — a 3-4-1-2 with Aaron Ramsey playing in behind a front two of Cristiano Ronaldo and new signing Dejan Kulusevski. Meanwhile, American midfielder Weston McKennie started alongside Adrien Rabiot.
It was quite a departure from Maurizio Sarri’s formation, and it worked. Kulusevski opened the scoring after just 13 minutes, and Leonardo Bonucci and Ronaldo added two more in the final minutes.
Ramsey and McKennie were particularly impressive as the midfield as a whole made more sense than it did at times under Sarri last season. Ramsey and Rabiot were used sparingly after arriving last season, but it seems they could play more important roles in the squad this time around.
Obviously, there are more challenges to come, but this was a promising start for Pirlo. Despite his lack of managerial experience, he showed that he has a distinct plan for how he wants his side to play.
With the return of the back three, Pirlo seemingly wants to bring back the defensive solidity that Juve enjoyed when he was playing for the club. Meanwhile, they were crisp and incisive in attack. And with Ronaldo still looking as sharp as ever at age 35, the Old Lady will once again be the team to beat.
Gattuso resumes Napoli resurgence
The Serie A 2020 odds don’t quite fancy Napoli as a top title contender, but they could still mount a challenge as Gennaro Gattuso continues to point his side in the right direction.
The Neapolitans kicked off their new campaign with a 2-0 win away to Parma. Veterans Dries Mertens and Lorenzo Insigne scored the goals, showing they are still able to produce despite their advancing age.
Napoli have now won 17 of their 31 matches under Gattuso, who took over last December. He’s already led them to Coppa Italia glory after beating Juventus in last year’s final and will now be targeting a return to the top four in the league.
Napoli have shaken up their attack this summer with veteran Jose Callejon leaving the club and Arkadiusz Milik also expected to be sold. But Hirving Lozano is set to take on a bigger role, while record signing Victor Osimhen should also provide his share of goals.
Meanwhile, the future of star centre-back Kalidou Koulibaly remains in doubt as Manchester City continue their pursuit. But if the 29-year-old does stay at the San Paolo, Napoli have the quality in their squad to become potential Serie A dark horses.
Roma need to settle transfer business
Roma kicked off the Serie A season with their visit to Verona, and they came away with a goalless draw.
While it was a good result considering Verona were one of the best home sides in Italy last season, the match illustrated how much work Roma still needed to do in the transfer window.
Star striker Edin Dzeko opted not to play as his potential move to Juventus remains in the balance. Roma have reportedly lined up Milik as Dzeko’s potential replacement, but Dzeko can’t leave until Roma have the Milik deal in place.
With Dzeko out, Roma played a front three of Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Pedro, and Lorenzo Pellegrini. To their credit, they produced a lot of chances — 21 in total — but they dearly missed Dzeko’s quality in front of goal.
Aside from the Milik deal, Roma have also yet to bring back centre-back Chris Smalling. They could also use another attacking midfielder after sending Cengiz Ünder to Leicester City despite the injury to Nicolo Zaniolo.
With so much uncertainty surrounding his squad, Roma manager Paulo Fonseca faces an uphill battle to repeat their fifth-place finish last season.
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