Here we go again. Serie A featured last season’s best sprint to the finish, with a tight title race, an intense melee for the European spots, and a five-team relegation scrap. Napoli emerged as champions, Juventus snagged the last Champions League spot, and Empoli and Venezia got shot into hell (Serie B). It was a thrilling conclusion to a thrilling season. This season has started much in the same way both at the bottom and especially at the top, where the Italian league looks set to have yet another season-long battle royal.
Through nine matches, Italy’s top seven teams are separated by just six points, the second-tightest margin in Europe’s top five leagues (France’s Ligue 1 has a gap of only four points, but the financial and talent gap between Paris Saint-Germain and the rest robs that league of any real intrigue even when the Parisians don’t win). Defending champion Napoli is still on top with 21 points, though it shares that spot with Roma, now helmed by former Atalanta manager and hipster darling Gian Piero Gasperini. Milans Internazionale and AC are right behind with 18 points each, and then Como (16 points) and Bologna (15) have the last two European spots in their grasp at the moment.
