The most unusual Serie A

Roger Ibañez, a Roma player, in training this preseason. Fabio Rossi (AS Roma via Getty Images)

today inaugurates an anomalous season in Serie A, which begins in mid-August, will end in June, a few weeks later than usual, and will stop in November for two months to play an unusual Christmas World Cup in Qatar at

the

that Italy will not participate.

Although several foreign players who play in the transalpine country will attend to compete for their respective countries.

It is the 121st edition of the first division of Italian football and it will start with four games on the first day: Milan-Udinese, Sampdoria-Atalanta, Lecce-Inter and Monza-Torino.

The competition starts with the two Milanese teams as the big favorites.

Reigning champions Milan will be looking to defend the title they won last May and claim their 20th

.

Inter, runner-up last season, has accumulated 19

and aspires to wear the second star on the shirt, like its neighbors, which is achieved for every ten national championships.

Both Milanese clubs have kept the squad from last season, with some additions.

Milan have a new striker, Belgian Divock Origi, who will alternate in the role of center forward, and a new midfielder, Charles De Ketelaere, also a Belgian.

Inter have brought back Romelu Lukaku – the third Belgian to arrive in Milan this summer – and have strengthened the squad in all positions with the arrivals of Asllani, Bellanova, Onana and Mkhitaryan.

The other two teams qualified for the Champions League, Napoli and Juventus, unlike Inter and Milan, have changed a lot since last season.

Juventus is the team that has changed the most and is once again among the big favorites.

He no longer has Chiellini and De Ligt in defense, replaced by the Brazilian Bremer and temporarily by Federico Gatti, a 24-year-old from Frosinone who dazzled scouts in pre-season.

In addition, in attack, he no longer has the Argentine Paulo Dybala, who will play in the ranks of Roma, as the capital's club's star signing.

Bernardeschi and Morata will also not compete this season with the Turin team, which awaits the return to the field of Federico Chiesa, who is recovering from an injury.

To flank Dusan Vlahovic, the starting centre-forward,

They have signed winger Ángel di María and await the arrival of Serbian Filip Kostic.

To strengthen the midfield, Paul Pogba has returned, who was injured in preseason and will miss the first weeks of the championship.

Napoli is breaking new ground after having closed a cycle.

He has released Ospina, Koulibaly, Ghoulam, Mertens and Insigne, that is, the backbone of the team in recent years.

And in defense he has acquired central defenders Kim Min-jae, Leo Ostigard and winger Mathias Olivera.

In attack, the main reinforcement that has been done so far has been the Georgian side Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.

A particularly enthusiastic wind is blowing in Roma this season.

After winning the Conference League, they have not given up any starters —except Veretout— and they are one of the teams that has played the best in the transfer market.

Around the stronghold of Roger Ibáñez, his splendid defender, José Mourinho, the coach, has hired Zeki Celik from Lille, Paulo Dybala for attack, and midfielders Nemanja Matic and Georginio Wijnaldum, from United and PSG.

1,000 million in losses

Last year, the changes in the market, open this season until September 1, affected the benches above all: twelve of the twenty teams in Serie A started the championship with a different coach than the one they had in the previous season.

Many of them were at the top of the table, such as Roma, who signed Mourinho or Juventus, who called Massimiliano Allegri back.

This year, on the other hand, there have only been five changes in the benches, and all of them from the middle of the table down, such as the signing of Massimiliano Alvini for Cremonese or Paolo Zanetti for Empoli.

The economy is not buoyant for Serie A clubs, which are trying to put the devastating fallout of the pandemic behind them.

According to the sports newspaper

, the latest balance of the biggest competition in Italian football is 1,000 million euros in losses.

According to the data from the latest report from the Italian Football Federation,

's debts in 12 years have amounted to 4,000 million euros.

It would take a "cultural revolution to control costs", they have pointed out from the federation.

Red numbers are a constant in the accounts of practically all clubs.

According to the same source, four out of five companies have presented deficit balances.

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