This weekend, the 2023/24 season of Serie A is about to kick off, iQIYI Sports brings you the [New Season Serie A Rankings] -
No.6: Roma (last season's ranking: 6th)
Under Jose Mourinho, Roma were desperate to focus on the Europa League title at the end of last season, but unfortunately fell short and finished runners-up, leaving the league to finish sixth in Serie A.
Roma may not be impressive this season, with Dybala struggling to support the injury-ridden Dybala in the summer window. On the defensive end, the team sold the main central defender Ibáñez to Jeddah Nationals in the Saudi League, veteran Nemanja Matic moved to Rennes at a low price, and Wijnaldum returned to Paris after the loan expired. Although he got the former Ligue 1 talents Ojal and Eintracht Frankfurt central defender Ndika in a visa-free form, and brought in Paredes and Renato Sanchez from Paris on a low-cost + loan basis, as well as Leeds United defender Rasmus Christensen, except for Ndica, the rest of the players in the new signing are giants or relegated team mainstays. It will not be easy to rely on a patchwork squad to achieve good results, and can Mourinho break the "three-year curse" that has plagued him for so long this time?
No.5: Lazio (Last season's ranking: 2nd)
In stark contrast to their arch-rivals Roma, Lazio were eliminated from the Europa League and UEFA League early last season, and reached the quarter-final in the Coppa Italia, but they were ultimately runners-up with a focus on the league. However, in the summer window of this year, midfielder Milinkovic-Savage, who has played for the team for eight years, traveled to Saudi United to join Riyadh Crescent, and the new signings, whether it is Daichi Kamata, Akpro or Rovira, are obviously far from him in terms of strength, and Lazio, who has lost his backbone, may find it difficult to find a suitable replacement for him in a short period of time.
Considering that captain and number one striker Immobile is 33 years old and another veteran Pedro is over 36 years old, the performance of the two has dropped significantly last season compared to the past, and it is imperative to change the attacker. However, Castellanos, imported from Girona, although it has played a crazy "big four" against Real Madrid, it remains to be seen whether it is a flash in the pan, Isaksen and Diego Gonzalez seem to be only positioned as rotation candidates, and the current "Blue Eagles" want to fly to new heights, the difficulty can be imagined.
No.4: Juventus (last season's ranking: 7th)
The Bianconeri finished only 7th in the league last season, but this result was obviously greatly affected by the penalty points due to the financial fraud case, in fact, the team once entered the top of the table in the second half of the season with a wave of 7 wins in 8 consecutive games, and could even win the runner-up if not deducted points.
However, this year's summer window club is almost in a state of immobility in the transfer market, and the "highest spend" so far has only spent 11.3 million euros to bring in Timothy Weah from Lille, but knowing that the former Milan legend did not earn in 32 games last season, only two assists, he is likely to be transformed into a wing-back to replace the veteran Cuadrado who left Inter. In addition, Bonucci who was the former captain of the team is reported to have been abandoned by the club, and his departure from the team is almost a foregone conclusion. Among the existing squads, the most concerned is naturally Pogba's injury recovery progress, if the former "Mr. Billion" can return to his peak form, it will help the team is nothing less than a blockbuster signing, and Federico Chiesa, who also returned from a serious injury, is also expected by fans to regain confidence as soon as possible.
No.3: AC Milan (last season's ranking: 4th)
Despite several setbacks in the middle of last season, AC Milan were lucky enough to qualify for the Champions League thanks to a slippery record by rival Juventus due to penalties.
In the summer window this year, the original main forward Brahim Dias returned to Real Madrid after the loan period, and the new nuclear Tonali in midfield was sold to Newcastle United at a high price, causing the fan base to inevitably set off doubts and even "defect" to the Red Birds. But then, refusing to repeat last season's mistakes, they gradually showed a "low open, go high" situation in the transfer window - including Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Christian Pulisic, Reindes, Chukuadze and Yunus Moussa who joined at a reasonable price.
Among the new signings, Cheek and Reindes are expected to rebuild the midfield with Bennasser's temporary injury, and the latter has the "B2B" attribute to hand in 13 goals and 12 assists in the last two seasons. Up front, given that the main centre-forward Olivier Giroud is 36 years old, Milan have brought in Okafor, who had a high spot in the group stage of the Champions League last season, from Red Bull Salzburg as a reinforcement. In terms of wing reserves, two new signings of similar age but with very different technical characteristics are expected to rotate between Christian Pulisic and Chukuadze; Among them, Chucuez has repeatedly played amazingly in the strong dialogue with Real Madrid and Barca during his time with Villarreal, and he is expected to surprise the fans as he can be called "Mr. Big Scene".
No.2: Inter Milan (last season's ranking: 3rd)
Inter finished third in Serie A last season and reached the final again in the Champions League after many years, and although they missed the trophy, it is gratifying enough to reach such heights as dark horses.
However, since entering the summer window, the team has faced extremely serious blood loss - up front, veteran Dzeko moved freely to Fenerbahce, and Romelu Lukaku, who once prided himself as "blue and black at heart", has cut himself off after a strange maneuver and is unlikely to return to the team. In the midfield, captain Brozovic went to the Saudi League to join Riyadh Victory, and the six-year iron guard Skriniar defected to Paris, and the goalkeeper Onana, who escorted the team all the way to the Champions League final, was sold to Manchester United. While returning veteran Arnautovic may not be able to replace Dzeko as a bridgehead, the good news is that bringing in Marcus Thuram without a signature is an exciting deal, and the France international is worth looking forward to with Lautaro's new striker pairing.
In addition, Italy international Fratesi and Brazilian all-rounder Carlos Augusto are both strong central midfield reinforcements - the former is already a regular in the national team, scoring seven league goals for Sassuolo last season; The latter is capable of playing in a variety of positions such as back, full-back and even central defender, and the record of scoring six goals and five assists in the league last season is impressive. The arrival of Swiss international Sommer and Sampdoria goalkeeper Odello can also temporarily ease the pain of losing Onana, as long as they can get through the run-in period of new signings as soon as possible, Inter will still be a popular candidate for the title.
No.1: Napoli (Last season's ranking: 1st)
Napoli have been leading the table since the first half of last season, eventually winning their first league title in 33 years with 90 points, 16 points ahead of second-placed Lazio.
However, shortly after the triumph, meritorious manager Spalletti announced his resignation, and Rudy Garcia, who took over instead, has no honours other than a double in Lille in the distant 2010/11 season, and it is doubtful whether he can master the championship. In addition, defensive manager Kim Minya has also left Bayern Munich, and so far the team has only brought in the little-known Brazilian defender Natan de Sousa at a low price, and the defensive stability has declined.
However, the good news is that the club has retained the golden double gun combination of Osmayne + Kvarachelia under the eyes of many giants - the former scored 31 goals and four assists in all competitions last season and won the golden boot with 26 goals in the Serie A goalscorers; The latter is a "double-double" report card with 14 goals + 14 assists, and won the Serie A assist king with 10 assists in the league. And the core of midfield, Zelinski, who was once mired in rumors of a transfer to Saudi United, has recently been considered to be about to refuse a high annual salary offer to stay with the team, and he also contributed 7 goals and 10 assists to the team last season. It is true that they have lost their strength on paper after losing the championship manager + defensive iron, but compared to the rest of Serie A, this team of kings can be described as still strong, and they are still regarded as the most powerful champions.