Page 26 - Soccer360 - Issue 103

TITLE FIGHT
NAPOLI BLEW AWAY THE COMPETITION IN 2022-23 TO WIN THEIR FIRST SCUDETTO IN OVER THREE DECADES, BUT THIS SEASON PROMISES TO BE MUCH CLOSER WITH THE MILAN SIDES EXPECTED TO MOUNT A CHALLENGE. STEPHEN KASIEWICZ ASSESSES EACH TEAM’S CHANCES.
Atalanta made El Bilal Toure their record signing
Bologna’s head coach Thiago Motta gestures
Atalanta
Atalanta continue to upset the established order in Serie A despite frequently having to sell key players, and the theme shows few signs of stopping as the Bergamo club held out for a record £72m fee from Manchester United for young Danish striker Rasmus Hojlund and reinvested a chunk of the money on a brand-new front pairing. Italy international Gianluca Scamacca arrived after a disappointing year at West Ham United and La Dea splashed out a record $33 million on Mali forward El Bilal Toure from Almeria.
Coach Gian Piero Gasperini led the perennial underdogs to fifth last year and they will rely heavily on star midfielder Teun Koopmeiners and explosive winger Ademola Lookman to achieve a similar finish this season.
Bologna
Thiago Motta guided the Rossoblu to a respectable ninth place finish in the 2022-23 campaign and will be striving for improvement this term. Despite the loss of formidable veteran striker Marko Arnautovic to Inter, the club from Emilia- Romagna possesses enough talent to compete in the top half of the table. Attacking right-back Stefan Posch and offensive midfielder Lewis Ferguson impressed last term while winger Riccardo Orsolini struck a career high 11 goals. Motta brought in AZ Alkmaar centre-back Sam Beukema, midfielder Oussama
El Azzouzi, and winger Dan Ndoye to bolster a squad which should consistently feature in the top half of the table.
NICKNAME:
Rossoblù (The Red and Blues), I Veltri (The Greyhounds), I Felsinei (The Felsinians), I Petroniani (The Petronians)
MANAGER:
Thiago Motta
LAST YEAR FINISH:
Serie A, 9th
NICKNAME:
La Dea (The Goddess)
Gli Orobici
I Nerazzurri (The Black and Blues)
MANAGER:
Gian Piero Gasperini
LAST YEAR FINISH:
Serie A, 5th
Veteran coach Claudio Ranieri guided Cagliari back to Serie A
Cagliari
NICKNAME:
Gli Isolani (The Islanders) Casteddu (Cagliari in Sardinian language)
MANAGER:
Claudio Ranieri
LAST YEAR FINISH:
Serie B, 5th
Over 30 years after his first spell as head coach of Cagliari came to an end, veteran tactician Claudio Ranieri brought the Sardinians back into the big time at the first attempt through the notoriously difficult Serie B play-offs. It was a proud moment for the charismatic septuagenarian, although he will have his work cut out to keep the island club in Serie A.
Much will depend on the fitness of experienced Peruvian attacker Gianluca Lapadula, who struck 21 times in the second tier. Left-back Tommaso Augello from Sampdoria, Czech international midfielder Jakub Jankto and on-loan Roma forward Eldor Shomurodov were all recruited to strengthen their bid to stay in the top-flight.
26 SOCCER360 MAGAZINE
2023-24 SERIE A SEASON PREVIEW
A CLOSER