The end of Juventus’ reign at the top was a vital moment for the Italian Serie A towards becoming entertaining again. With the league finally disassociated from a sense of winner predetermination caused by Juve’s nine consecutive Scudettos, there is a general feeling that its anyones game now and competition has returned. There is no guarantee that the 20/21 season wasn’t just a blip in Juventus’s era of domestic dominance but with rivals clubs growing in stature over the past few years and narrowing the gap on the I Bianconeri, many are touting a new dawn in Italian football and the rebirth of Serie A.
Juventus’s failure went hand-in-hand with the reignition of Inter Milan, which can only increase the interest towards Serie A long term. Antonio Conte, who ironically began Juve’s streak of Scudettos in 2011-12, came as close as one point to win the league with Inter in 19/20 before comfortably running away with it in the latter stages of last season. He may have now departed from his role as head coach of Inter but his legacy is secure having stopped the Juventus dominance of the league.
Another good sign for Serie A was that it was AC Milan who gave their local rivals the most competition for the first spot on the table. One of the biggest derbies in world football, the Derby di Milano which had lost some of it’s magic until last season, was played with high stakes and simmering tensions. The occasions were encapsulated in a heated moment between the self proclaimed king and god of Milan, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Inter’s Romelu Lukaku which was later turned into a beautiful mural in Milan. The reemergence of this derby works as a crown jewel for Serie A which has been searching for a way to reinsert itself into the mindset of fans across the globe. By finishing second I Rossoneri, the second most successful club in Champions league history, booked a return to the top echelon of club competition after seven years of absence which in turn will help to boost Serie A’s relevance worldwide.
Last season, there was also a nail biting race for the top four until the dying stages which could have left Juventus without Champions League football for the first time in a decade. So in light of the Old Lady’s fourth place finish there is a fact to be remembered that Serie A is a league with a precious mixture of big and exciting clubs. Apart from the already mentioned three, Napoli, Roma and Lazio are clubs with respected pedigrees and good potential. In Atalanta, the league has someone who can win the heart of neutrals through their attractive football, underdog nature and capability of beating anyone on their day. Arguably, Serie A has a ‘big 7’.
There have been more positive signs in the off-season for Serie A. Apart from Italy winning the Euro 2020 which would bring some more light to the domestic league, the players from the Italian league combined to score 37 goals at the European Championship, at least nine more than players from any other league. Juventus players scored 12 goals, the most by players of any club with star player Cristiano Ronaldo winning the Golden Boot. However, these are more like fun facts than any statements of weighted benefit for the league. It’s the will shown by some Italian clubs to keep their national stars in the league that would be making the Serie A executives excited. Juventus rejected Chelsea’s €100 million bid for Federico Chiesa, declaring him “untouchable”, the same term has been used by Inter for Nicolo Barella amid interest from Premier League clubs.
A host of other top players have stated their loyalty to the league. Manuel Locatelli, another star for the future, prefers to stay in Italy and play for Juventus next season over a move to Arsenal. Lukaku has declared he wants to stay at Inter despite being on the wanted list of a host of top EPL clubs. With Ronaldo also likely to stay, these are all favourable signals for Serie A, which hosted the biggest football names in the 1990’s. However with the departures of Hakimi and Dunorumma to PSG demonstrate, there are still plenty of obstacles for Serie A to overcome and fierce competition from other leagues for their star players.
Financial woes led to complications between Antonio Conte and Inter and Serie A losing one of the best managers in the world. Conte ambitiously wanted to strengthen the team after disastrously finishing bottom of the Champions League group but that didn’t align with Inter’s need to raise funds. For a league to shine it needs it’s clubs to do well in Europe and it’s been more than 10 years since an Italian club won the UCL trophy. There also might be a couple of worrying signs for Serie A in Juve’s reappointment of Allegri. Arguably one of the key reasons behind Juventus’ previous dominance, the return of their former coach could signal another long spell of dominance for Juventus which would not be good news for the league as a whole. Whether Juventus leadership has changed its stance on Allegri since his last spell is yet to be determined. After all they sacked the manager who brought them numerous league titles and got them to two European finals for failing to win the Champions League.
Serie A, which has an image of being a slow and technical league, has to compete with other big leagues for top tier footballers as well as the eyes of global fans. English Premier League has greater commercial and financial value, more entertaining football and arguably the best managers. Long-term and consistent investment is needed in diverse sectors to compete with them as well as La Liga and Bundesliga who continue to jostle for dominance. So, there remain plenty of hurdles to be tackled but the Italian league is moving in the right trajectory and away from it’s dull self of the past several years.
Post by Achyut Dixit, Contributor to BOTN. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.
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