Serie A is finally back! There has been no top-flight action in Italy since November 13, with a lengthy break for the World Cup and the festive period.
But luckily for those with Calcio withdrawal symptoms, the action returns in one massive dollop this Wednesday with a full programme of 10 Serie A games spread neatly throughout the day.
Ahead of its return, ALVISE CAGNAZZO provides an update on the state of play at all 20 clubs.
Napoli are on course for their first Serie A title since 1990 as the season resumes this week
ATALANTA – ARE THESE THE FINAL MONTHS FOR GASPERINI IN BERGAMO?
Atalanta restart with a Gian Piero Gasperini problem. The manager born in Gruliasco, near Turin, is now a dean of Serie A coaches but these could be his last months on the club’s benches.
Italian teams no longer seem to be in line with the coach’s philosophy despite the excellent results achieved in Serie A in recent years.
Gasperini will hope to have Duvan Zapata and Luis Muriel 100 per cent recovered. Both didn’t participate at the World Cup but can be like new signings for Atalanta.
Holland international Teun Koopmeiners in action for Atalanta during a friendly with Real Betis
The four Atalanta players who did go to the World Cup played 920 minutes – without scoring a goal – but nonetheless those returning can help to increase the team’s Serie A ambitions.
Mario Pasalic played 268 minutes and finished third with Croatia and is a top player. Denmark’s Joakim Maehle played 250 minutes and showed great personality, as did the Dutchman Marten De Roon.
Teun Koopmeiners was among the most active of the ‘Oranje’ national team with 218 minutes and one assist.
The latter is the player who had an upgrade on his value and could be sold in the summer market.
BOLOGNA – PLAYING IN MEMORY OF SINISA MIHAJLOVIC
Bologna’s two players were on the field for just 14 minutes at the World Cup, so freshness shouldn’t be an issue for coach Thiago Motta.
The death of Sinisa Mihajlovic has created a deep melancholy in the heart of the club and the fans and the whole team will try to offer 100 per cent of their courage to honour their former manager’s memory.
Bologna will be motivated by the memory of former coach Mihajlovic, who died last month
The market could offer opportunities for Bologna to exploit but for the moment they will be hoping to hold on to Marko Arnautovic.
The Austrian striker is the jewel of the team and the future success of the club will depend on his physical condition.
CREMONESE – SEARCHING FOR THE MIRACLE
Cremona represents the Cinderella of Italian football and obtaining survival after a historic promotion to Serie A would be a minor miracle.
Johan Vasquez was called up by Mexico but didn’t play a single minute at the World Cup and the whole team will look to take advantage of great athletic preparation.
Cremonese resume the season third bottom in the table and with six points to make up
The quality of the team, with the exception of Cyriel Dessers, is low and their hopes of beating Juventus in their first game back are close to zero.
Coach Giovanni Alvini is aware of the team difficulties but the great passion of the fans can be the 12th man for the ‘Grigiorossi’ [grey and reds], a team for whom Gianluca Vialli played at the beginning of his career.
EMPOLI – ‘CICCIO’ CAPUTO TO GET GOALS OF SALVATION
Empoli’s first signing is a top player in Serie A but who struggled at Sampdoria. Francesco ‘Ciccio’ Caputo is back in Tuscany to strengthen the team’s attack, which was disappointing in the first 90 days of Serie A.
The ex-Sampdoria striker is already available to coach Paolo Zanetti and there is an obligation to make the loan permanent in case of survival.
Empoli took on Premier League side Wolves during a friendly to tune up for the restart
The best clubs in Serie A like the look of Guglielmo Vicario, Tommaso Baldanzi and Fabiano Parisi but the intention is to keep the top players until June.
That’s despite Juventus sniffing around the full-back Parisi and the goalkeeper Vicario. Both have been excellent in Serie A this season.
FIORENTINA – MOROCCO WORLD CUP STAR AMRABAT WILL MAKE THEM RICH!
President Rocco Commisso is embracing Fiorentina’s World Cup stars, knowing he has so much gold in his hands.
Serbia’s Nikola Milenkovic and especially Morocco’s Sofyan Amrabat played particularly well in Qatar.
The Morocco midfielder played 584 minutes as his team ultimately finished in fourth place, having eliminated Spain and Portugal in the knockout rounds. This significantly increased his market value.
Morocco’s Sofyan Amrabat enjoyed an excellent World Cup and now returns to Fiorentina
Milenkovic also saw his value rise but, unlike Amrabat, he is likely to be in Florence for a few years yet.
Amrabat is now regarded as one of the top five best-performing midfielders in Europe and has caught the attention of Jurgen Klopp and Liverpool.
Amrabat draws comparisons with Gattuso with his aerobic and physical abilities and will be the ideal player to fire Fiorentina into Europe at the end of the season.
Fiorentina are 10th in the league and will be hoping to climb up the table after the restart.
HELLAS VERONA – NOTHING CHANGES
The Venetian team, who are bottom of the table, will have to recover energy and courage to get the points they need to survive as soon as possible.
Their four World Cup players – Ajdin Hrustic (Australia), Martin Hongla (Cameroon), Darko Lazovic (Serbia) and Ivan Ilic (Serbia) – featured for a combined 207 minutes.
Josh Doig of Hellas Verona celebrates one of their goals against Sampdoria earlier this season
INTER MILAN – MARTINEZ ENTHUSIASM
The playing time of the Inter men involved in the World Cup was high – but lower than that of Juventus. The six called up completed 1,399 minutes in total.
Inter continues it’s own record – since 1982, one of their players has always been on the pitch in the last act of the World Cup.
Argentina’s Lautaro Martinez became the latest Inter player to lift the World Cup and will aim to convert that momentum into Serie A form, which has excited the fans.
Romelu Lukaku is still recovering from his latest injury setback but isn’t too far off fitness
Simone Inzaghi will immediately have to solve the puzzle to allow the team to be a dangerous from the first game, though.
Romelu Lukaku is still recovering and during an interview with Sky Sport, he declared that before he played in Belgium’s last match of the World Cup against Croatia, he’d only had two full work-outs in four months due to a broken flexor.
This was the first truly major, unexplained injury he sustained in his 12-year career. A nagging muscle injury now seems to finally be over.
Edin Dzeko represents the most useful player for them right now because he can play with Lukaku or in an attacking trident.
JUVENTUS – IT’S POGBACK
Juve were the most squeezed team in the whole of the World Cup with a grand total of 2,332 minutes. Angel Di Maria was happy, though, after he scored in the final and lifted the trophy.
For the first game back against Cremonese, they will not be 100 per cent in defence because of the many minutes played by Alex Sandro and Danilo.
But the resumption of Serie A action coincides with the return to full fitness of Federico Chiesa and the probable return of Paul Pogba, who is now at 60 per cent.
Paul Pogba is now back to about 60 per cent fitness as he looked to return to Juventus action
2023 should see Juventus at least welcome back those players who spent the first three months of the Serie A campaign on the treatment table – Juan Cuadrado, Di Maria, Leandro Paredes, Dusan Vlahovic and Pogba.
The Juventus player in best form at the moment is Adrien Rabiot but with his contract expiring in June there is a major obstacle.
The World Cup in Qatar has definitively emboldened the 27-year-old French midfielder, who now asks for about 10 million Euros per year for four years to renew his contract.
LAZIO – SARRIBALL IN LOVE
Lazio is the top club with the fewest unexpected events during the World Cup – 369 total minutes and one goal from their two players.
They are preparing to relaunch the star of Sergej Milinkovic-Savic. Maurizio Sarri took advantage of the winter break to train his players in his classic methods of resistance and speed, increasing the number of tactical schemes to execute.
If their players have memorised these required movements, they can become the most difficult team to face in the second half of Serie A.
Sergej Milinkovic-Savic (centre) is the centre of attention as usual for Lazio, who could be a threat
Ivan Provedel is the model goalkeeper that Sarri has relaunched after two excellent years spent at Spezia and now 2023 could be the year of his ascension to the Italy national team.
All the team’s targets depend, however, on the renewal of Milinkovic-Savic’s contract. Without agreement, he will ask to leave and Juventus want to assemble an Eastern Europe triumvirate with Kostic and Vlahovic.
LECCE – WORK AND SILENCE
CEO Pantaleo Corvino hopes to strengthen the team, which currently relies on Lorenzo Colombo’s goals and Lameck Banda’s liveliness.
At the moment, Samuel Umtiti is the only top player in the side and can become the centre of reference in the locker in the difficult relegation run-in.
Samuel Umtiti is Lecce’s one player of quality as they try to preserve their Serie A status
The fact no Lecce players went to the World Cup perfectly sums up the poor quality of a team that uses cynicism and organisation as weapons in every game.
It remains to be seen whether these few qualities are enough to see them finish fourth bottom and secure another season in Serie A.
MILAN – NEW GOALKEEPER AND OLD PROBLEMS
Giroud is part of Milan’s creaking attack
The seven Milan players that went to Qatar played 1,298 minutes in total and scored five times.
These numbers reflect the great quality of Stefano Pioli’s team, who hope to make a strong start to 2023.
Goalkeeper Mike Maignan’s injury is more serious than expected and Paolo Maldini has given the team a Colombian keeper, Devis Vasquez, who presumably will become the back-up goalkeeper most used in Serie A.
The failed summer market still weighs on the team and its potential. Divock Origi, Charles De Ketelaere and Yacine Adli have greatly disappointed and Olivier Giroud and Zlatan Ibrahimovic are always at risk of injury.
The Milan attack is too old and a new young striker needs to arrive during the January window to increase their chances of winning the Scudetto.
MONZA – IN THE NAME OF BERLUSCONI!
Monza is a fascinating laboratory in which to observe a team full of good players hoping to achieve top-flight status.
Adriano Galliani and Silvio Berlusconi gave coach Rafaelle Palladino the gift of midfielder Josip Brekalo and now hope to qualify for the Europa Conference League.
The coach also asked for the possibility of being able to count on a new central defender and now Berlusconi will try to find the best profile.
Josip Brekalo (right), the Croatia international, has signed for Monza who are aiming for Europe
At the moment Monza hope to be able to make the most of the players available to solve the problem.
Alessio Cragno, signed on loan from Cagliari, has not been used after losing the goalkeeper spot to Michele Di Gregorio.
An excellent start to 2023 would guarantee Monza a historic survival in the first Serie A season in the club’s history.
NAPOLI – SPALLETTI HAS EVERYTHING TO WIN FIRST SCUDETTO
Napoli have a great technical advantage entering 2023 because their best two players Victor Osimhen and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia didn’t even go to the World Cup.
Their first game back is a huge one against Inter Milan.
Since the World Cup, the Neapolitan team has embraced Piotr Zielinski again in perfect shape and with his market value greatly increased.
Napoli’s Georgian Khvicha Kvaratskhelia has been excellent and is fresh after a few weeks off
How the top six in Serie A looks as the season resume, with Napoli eight points in front
He was a brilliant protagonist of the final part of 2022 and will be among the fittest in 2023, guaranteeing the club strength and many goals.
To date, only Hirving Lozano has been accused of physical problems due to the experience of being away in Qatar.
Luciano Spalletti’s team are eight points clear of Milan at the top and it is their Scudetto to lose after more than 30 years of waiting.
ROMA – TAHIROVIC IS A NEW MOU IDEA
Paulo Dybala was the last choice in attack for Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni but he won the trophy by scoring his penalty, crowing a very special international career.
For Jose Mourinho, Dybala is crucial to their chances of qualifying for the Champions League.
Dybala and Tammy Abraham were the players most targeted by bad luck in the final part of 2022 and Roma can help them recover their top player status.
Jose Mourinho is targeting Champions League qualification as Roma resume their season
Rui Patricio and Nemanja Matic lead the growth of a young and inexperienced team that has a joker in Nicolo Zaniolo, who has so far received little applause and much criticism for his life off the pitch.
Roma’s sporting future depends on these three names because in June they could lose Mourinho, who has been linked with the vacant Portugal job, 12 months before his contract ends.
Meanwhile, the Special One has decided to bet on Benjamin Tahirovic. The Swedish midfielder, who arrived at Roma on the final day of the winter transfer market last year, idolised Edin Dzeko and could be the protagonist in their first game back.
SALERNITANA – OCHOA FOR SERIE A UPGRADE
Their purchase of Guillermo Ochoa guarantees experience and quality because the Mexican goalkeeper will be the leader of the defence along with Federico Fazio and the possible purchase of Isco on a free from Sevilla could even multiply the ambitions of the second highest-profile club in Campania.
Without a doubt, Boulaye Dia has become a very important player for the club which now has to buy him from Villarreal in order to then decide his future.
Boulaye Dia chases Luke Shaw during Senegal’s meeting with England at the World Cup
He could become a very important player for Salernitana but his valuation today is around 25 million Euros.
The number of goals he scores in Serie A during the second part of the season will decide what happens.
President Iervolino is ready to pay the ransom set at 15m Euros and then calmly decide on the best possible deal for the Italian club and the player.
SAMPDORIA – DOWN?
Sampdoria is experiencing one of the most difficult moments at the corporate level after the Mantovani era and the future of the club has become a big problem.
The sale operations of the club are difficult to carry out due to the difficult positions in which the new company is forced to live.
This situation threatens to plunge the team to the bottom of the standings.
Caputo’s departure, back to Empoli, is not a cause for joy for the coach or the team that is seeing its dreams of glory fade as it stares at Serie B.
It has been a dreadful season so far for Sampdoria as they stare relegation full in the face
SASSUOLO – BERARDI IS THE ONLY TOP PLAYER
Sassuolo is going through a moment of transition after letting Raspadori and Scamacca go and suffering from Juve’s courtship of sporting director Carnevali.
The only three certainties are the goalkeeper Andrea Consigli and Domenico Berardi, in addition to manager Alessio Dionisi, who is performing a sporting miracle in the capital of Emilia Romagna despite the rapid generational turnover.
No minutes played by Croatia’s Martin Erlic in the World Cup so the team is ready to start the second step of Serie A with the awareness of having a strong technical and tactical handicap compared to the recent past.
Domenico Berardi (left) is the only real player of quality in the Sassuolo line-up at present
SPEZIA – PRIDE OF LIGURIA
The clubs future in Serie A will depend on their two stars Jakub Kiwior and Chelsea loanee Ethan Ampadu, and on the physical strength of M’Bala Nzola and Emil Holm, players who continue to amaze despite the team having lost the enthusiasm of last season’s escape from relegation.
It is difficult to imagine big purchase but Spezia can save itself thanks to their few champions who seem to have found the perfect atmosphere in the small Ligurian city to grow and improve.
Spezia defender Jakub Kiwior enhanced his value with good displays for Poland in Qatar
The excellent World Cup defender Kiwior played for Poland had a therapeutic effect, doubling his market value to around 20 million Euros.
All the top clubs in Serie A are interested in him and could opt to buy him in June.
TORINO – THE VLASIC SHOW
The five top Torino players completed 1,138 minutes at the World Cup, showing great technical and tactical performances.
The brightest star was Nikola Vlasic, a player considered fundamental by Ivan Juric in the Torino line-up.
Torino’s Nikola Vlasic helped Croatia achieve a third placed finish at the World Cup in Qatar
Goalkeeper Vanja Milinkovic-Savic was the protagonist with Serbia and his market value has increased and there could be interest in the summer.
In the meantime, Juric has found a reliable No 1. The Croatian coach is a hammer who is very reminiscent of his master Gasperini and if Torino today is a side comfortably in mid-table in Serie A, the credit goes above all to the coach.
UDINESE – THE CINDERELLA WHO WANTS TO BECOME QUEEN
It will take a lot of luck but Udinese can become the new Cinderella of Italian football.
Andreas Sottil is the right coach and the team seems made to impress. In attack, Beto and Gerard Deulofeu would be starters at a club with European ambitions and the coach’s great courage could become decisive for the definitive leap in quality of the whole team.
Destiny Udogie will be Tottenham’s starting full-back by the end of the year and Udinese will have a lot of money to invest. Until then he will be the team’s revelation full-back.
Tottenham loanee Destiny Udogie scores for Udinese against Roma back in September
If the players can withstand the initial impact of 2023, every milestone can be achieved.
The club’s salary budget is among the lowest in Serie A, that of the coach is around 300,000 Euros and this splendid ride by Udinese also represents a great result in the club’s income statement, one of the most virtuous in Italy.
Qualifying for Europe would be like winning a Scudetto.
