By BBN SPORTS: ITALIAN SERIA A PREVIEW (WEEK ONE)
JUVENTUS VS CAGLIARI
Juventus set off in search of a seventh straight Seria A title by hosting poor travelers Cagliari at the newly-named Allianz Stadium and anything other than a routine home win would be a surprise.
The Old Lady prevailed 4-0 in the corresponding fixture last season, before securing a 2-0 success against the same opponents on the road in February.
Juventus were unusually sloppy at the back when going down 3-2 to Lazio after a frantic finish to the Italian Super Cup in Rome on Sunday. After falling behind to a Ciro Immobile double, Paulo Dybala got Juve back in it with a brace of his own via an 85th-minute free-kick and a last-gasp penalty.
Those efforts proved in vain, though, as Alessandro Murgia struck for Lazio in injury time, turning in a cross from Romelu Lukaku’s brother Jordan.
However, Massimiliano Allegri will be keen to silence the critics who have questioned the decision to let defender Leonardo Bonucci join AC Milan and normal service should be resumed this weekend.
Cagliari made a competent return to Italy’s top flight last term, finishing in 11th place, a comfortable 15 points clear of the relegation zone.
The big plus point was their home form, though, with 11 of 13 wins coming at that venue, whereas no team in Serie A suffered more away defeats than their 14.
Massimo Rastelli has brought in a couple of promising young defenders, keeping Senna Miangue after a loan spell from Inter and paying out nearly £7million to Juve for Filippo Romagna.
It will be interesting to see how those two 20-year-olds develop, but we don’t think they will have an immediate impact on a defence which conceded 42 times on the road.
Saturday, August 19
Verona v Napoli
CROTONE VS AC MILAN
Having recuited massively in the summer,adding over 11 players to their ranks sleeping giants Ac Milan will be hoping to start the season on a winning note when they hit the road to take on Crotone.
Chinese investor Li Yonghong has promised to return the 7 time European Champions back to the good old days and has almost shown intent with his activities in the transfer market so far. Bringing in a leader and fighter in person of Leonardo Bonucci and rightfully handing him to the captain band shows that the team is ready to go all out for the Ccudetto this season.
OTHER FIXTURES
Sunday, August 20
Atalanta Bergamo v AS Roma
Bologna v Torino
Inter Milan v Fiorentina
Sampdoria v Benevento
Sassuolo v Genoa
Lazio v SPAL
Udinese v Chievo Verona
