Milan lowered the bar for the Italian Football League’s new season on Saturday, knowing that any imperfect pedaling would hurt their chances of retaining the title, especially in light of expected open competition and no clear candidate.

AC Milan will host Udinese at the San Siro stadium alongside Sampdoria and its guests Atalana in the first two matches of the season, hoping for a positive start, especially since its recent history in starting matches is not perfect after five victories and defeats. the same in ten seasons of the past.

Last season, Milan won the Scudetto for the first time since 2011 under manager Stefano Pioli, keeping the cup at Milan but in the red section after Inter won it in 2021, ending Juventus’ nine-year monopoly.

Although there are no high-profile names in Pioli’s squad, except for the Swede Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who is already over 40 and his days of glory have already passed, the coach managed to find a combination, especially with the brilliant Portuguese Rafael Leao in the front line and the likes of the Frenchman Theo Hernandez in defense.

Later on Saturday night, Inter will return to Lecce, returning to the top flight after two seasons in the second division after a relatively disappointing summer, despite the return of Belgian striker Romelu Lukaku, on loan from Chelsea, after being the most outstanding player. to the title last year.

Manager Simone Inzaghi’s team lost the title last season, two points clear of Milan after a breathtaking run in the latter stages, and were pleased to win the cup title by beating Juventus 4-2 in overtime thanks to goals from Croatian Ivan Perisic. who moved this summer to Tottenham Hotspur.

Although Dybala lost, Inzaghi, along with Lukaku, will count on Argentinean Lautaro Martinez, who played remarkably last season, and his compatriot Joaquín Correa.

Will Juventus return? –

Juventus will finish the first stage on Monday night at home against Sassuolo, hoping for a better start to the season than last, when they failed to win their first four matches.

This poor start pushed the Bianconeri into a risky race for the fourth and final Champions League place they managed to achieve at the end of the season, especially as their direct rivals Roma and Lazio declined. .

Despite dropping out of Dybala after no deal was reached to extend his contract, manager Massimiliano Allegri’s team backed their fellow Argentine Ángel Di Maria of Paris Saint-Germain and French midfielder Paul Pogba, who played in his ranks between 2012 to 2016, after a difficult spell at Manchester United, but he will be out until September due to a knee injury. It also included Serbian national team winger Filip Kostic of Eintracht Frankfurt, Germany.

– Rome is a dark horse? –

Although he finished sixth last season, many are counting on Roma to beat Salernitana, the championship dark horse that won its last Serie A title in 2001, on Sunday.

Apart from winning the European Converse League’s first season, which restored morale after years of disappointment, Dybala’s arrival raised hopes that he could actually challenge for a title, or at least return to the Champions League for the first time since. season 2018-2019.

The team of Portuguese coach José Mourinho also added the experience of PSG’s Georginho Wijnaldum to the Netherlands. Wijnaldum won the Champions League with Liverpool in 2019 and is still at the peak of his career at the age of thirty-one.

Owned by former premier and Milan’s architect of fame, Silvio Berlusconi, Montaza will be in the spotlight for the first time in its history since its founding in 1912, playing its first home match against Torino.

Together with Lecce, Cremonese returns to the elite league for the first time since the 1995-1996 season.