"Everyone was thinking that Inter was dying after what happened," said Hakan Çalhanoğlu, and he wasn't wrong. A 5-0 Champions League final thrashing by PSG — the heaviest defeat in the history of that fixture — was supposed to signal the end of an era. Instead, Inter won the league and cup double the following season. That's the Cristian Chivu effect.
The 45-year-old arrived with 13 Serie A matches of managerial experience to his name, which made the appointment look optimistic at best. What followed made it look inspired. Chivu didn't just tactically reset the squad — he changed the atmosphere around it. Çalhanoğlu describes him less like a coach and more like a person who actually gives a damn: "He cares more about the person, not about the football. He's like a brother or a friend." In a dressing room still bruised from that Paris nightmare, that mattered.
English reinforcements and a clear title intent
Inter haven't stopped there. Djed Spence and John Stones have already arrived from England, with Curtis Jones reportedly set to follow. Three English internationals in one window is a statement. It suggests Inter's leadership has diagnosed exactly where they need depth — and spent accordingly. Those sorts of additions make them the obvious Serie A title favourites heading into Saturday's opener against promoted Monza.
The challengers are real, but complicated. Napoli finished second last season despite injuries bleeding them throughout — Antonio Conte has now walked, and Massimiliano Allegri is in charge despite being sacked by Milan last year for what his former club called "an unequivocal failure." Napoli's ownership cycle through managers the way most clubs cycle through shirts. Six coaches in three years is a structural problem, not a personnel one.
Milan have tried to patch their issues with Gonçalo Ramos — signed from PSG for over €70 million, a club record — and handed the dugout to Rúben Amorim, who left Manchester United with his reputation scratched. It's an ambitious rebuild. Whether it's a coherent one is a different question. Fifth place last season was underwhelming; expecting an immediate title challenge asks a lot of a squad still finding its shape under a new system.
Como aren't here to be polite about it
Then there's Como. Fourth place last season. Champions League football for the first time in the club's 119-year history. A side that was playing fourth-tier Italian football just seven years ago. What Cesc Fàbregas has done in two seasons deserves more than admiration — it deserves analysis, because it wasn't a fluke.
Como had the best defensive record in the league while still playing attractive, forward-thinking football. They've since added Trevoh Chalobah from Chelsea for €30 million to reinforce an already solid backline, and crucially, they've kept Nico Paz — the playmaker who makes the whole thing tick — for at least another year.
- Inter Milan: Double winners, English reinforcements, clear favourites
- Napoli: Runner-up last season but on their sixth coach in three years
- AC Milan: Record signing in Ramos, Amorim rebuilding from fifth place
- Roma: First Champions League return since 2018 under Gasperini
- Juventus: Spalletti's first full season, sixth-place finish to build on
- Como: Champions League debutants with the league's meanest defence
The honest question hanging over Como is whether a squad of players who have largely never touched European football can handle both fronts simultaneously. The Champions League is a different animal — the schedule, the travel, the step up in quality. Plenty of clubs have crumbled under that dual demand. But after last season, dismissing them feels like exactly the kind of mistake their opponents keep making.
Roma and Juventus at least have stability. Gasperini has added Santiago Castro and Rodrigo Mora, and Roma's first Champions League appearance since 2018 gives the squad something concrete to build on. Spalletti at Juventus has a new two-year deal and a full preseason — the Bianconeri were close to a top-four finish before fading. Close only counts in one sport, and it isn't this one. They need to convert potential into points.
Lazio and Atalanta have both changed managers — Maurizio Sarri switching to Bergamo, Gennaro Gattuso stepping in at Lazio — which adds more volatility to an already turbulent midfield of the table. Inter start the season as the team everyone else is measuring themselves against. They've earned that. The only side with a genuine claim to disrupting them plays in blue and black by a lake, and they've already shocked this league once.
