Serie A update

The first impression is that the usual suspects of Internazionale, Milan and Juventus will battle it out for this season’s Scudetto

- PADDY AGNEW

With no European distractions, can Juventus reclaim the title?

Banned from European competition in the wake of their points sanction by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) for questionable off-the-books accounting practises in recent seasons, Juventus obviously have a lighter fixture schedule than their rivals.

Furthermore, despite a traumatic start to the season off the field – iconic captain Leonardo Bonucci joined Union Berlin and has since threatened to sue the club, Paul Pogba is facing a possible ban if found guilty of doping offences, and Nicolo Fagioli, last season’s Serie A Young Player of the Year, has been suspended by the FIGC for the rest of the season for breaching betting rules – Juve are very much in the frame to win their first title since 2020.

Their former coach Fabio Capello recently told La Gazzetta dello Sport that he expects Juve to feature in the title contest right down to the very end and, as long as their off-field issues don’t cause too much of a distraction, they will remain competitive.

Who are the other title contenders?

The first impression after the first quarter of the campaign is that the usual suspects of Internazionale and Milan will battle it out with Juve for this season’s Scudetto, with the league’s three most successful teams out in front in the early stages. However, the fact that no side made it to six games without defeat suggests that the contest is likely to go down to the wire, with no one set to dominate in the manner of Napoli last season.