Serie A back to normal after dramas
MILAN: Italy is eagerly awaiting the prospect of the most exciting Serie A season in years with no team starting on minus points and big gun Juventus back in the top flight.
The last campaign was damaged by Juve's demotion to the second tier for match-fixing and Milan, Fiorentina, Lazio and Reggina having points deducted for their role in the scandal.
Inter Milan, awarded the 2006 scudetto in a courtroom, broke records galore on its way to a first title on the field since 1989 but it was devalued by the lack of competition.
This season though offers a raft of mouthwatering clashes with big clubs Genoa and Napoli also in the mix after promotion.
There is even the prospect of a four horse race for the championship, which in many ways has benefited from the traumas.
Despite the slightly hollow victory, Inter now believes in itself and a repeat of previous collapses is unlikely.
Similarly AS Roma gained confidence from finishing runner-up with Francesco Totti banging in 26 goals to win the European Golden Boot and proving he could play upfront alone.
Milan's eight-point deduction meant it could not mount a title challenge, which gave Carlo Ancelotti's side the chance to concentrate on winning the Champions League.
Juventus want to show it is still a force despite its year in Serie B and has gone on a large spending spree to complement the top names it kept such as Gianluigi Buffon.
"Serie A this year will be beautiful, competitive and enhanced by the great teams that were missing before - Napoli, Genoa and Juventus," Juve coach Claudio Ranieri, who kept Parma up last season before replacing Didier Deschamps, said.
Not rosy
All is still not rosy in Italian football, however.
Outside the main four, most clubs are short on resources and top players with Lazio and Parma shadows of their former selves.
Milan's Kaka apart, big foreign names have generally been choosing Spain or England instead of Italy in recent years but now even Italians are turning their backs on Serie A.
Italy striker Luca Toni moved to Bayern Munich from Fiorentina and among others Livorno striker Cristiano Lucarelli made the surprise decision to go to Ukraine's Shakhtar Donetsk.
The flow of talent into Serie A has been a trickle at best.
Roma brought in Brazil defender Juan and Barcelona winger Ludovic Giuly but has failed to address the issue of who would score the goals if talisman Totti was injured for a long period.
Lyon's Portugal midfielder Tiago was Juve's biggest buy at 13 million euros ($18 million) but some fans are disappointed.
Agencies
(China Daily 08/17/2007 page23)
