Perhaps, given the volume of calcio tales I have brought to the Football Weekends table over the years, it is a great honour to write the ‘26/27 preview of Italian football.
In order to look forward, first we should recap on last term, a season that in many respects was Italy’s “annus horribilis”. The failure of the national team to reach a third World Cup in a row, an extended one at that, was the big headline, but the undercurrent of failure was already beginning to show in the domestic game. Inter Milan and Fiorentina’s progress to a few European finals or semi-finals had papered over cracks that were finally exposed last season, with only Bologna making the Quarter-Finals of the Europa League. Scudetto winners of 24/25 Napoli didn’t even make the knockout stages of the Champions League, and with that added interruption of European football, they fell short in mounting a solid defence of the title. The main gong went back to Inter Milan, who have comfortably eased into being the top side in the land in tbe last decade, with all the others floundering and flapping at various points. It does make for a very open and exciting Serie A when no one is really in control, but in terms of building a league that competes with the biggest and the best on the continent, it gets harder and harder.
One major factor in this decline is the lack of club ownership of their stadia. Only 4 teams in the top flight own their stadium outright. That said, Juventus are one of the quartet, and ownership alone isn’t the answer, as they continue to underperform, missing out on Champions League monies yet again this term. AC Milan, who might be able to puff out the chest having beaten Inter “home and away” at the San Siro, spectacularly blew it on the final day of the campaign, losing at home to Cagliari, and dropping out of the Champions League places, allowing AS Roma and Como to leapfrog above them.
Como are the biggest story in Italy, with owners who have arguably the biggest purse in the country, and yet the iconic Sinigaglia only holds Bournemouth-esque numbers. The stadium needs significant upgrading to be able to host Champions League action, and in the short-term, they will play those matches in the San Siro. How big a crowd they can muster will be intriguing, but they have the glitterati appeal, with genuine A list celebrities very often in attendance at Como. If you want a club shop with a twist of “quality”, have a look at some of the bling their website offers. In a nutshell it gives you a flavour of the audience they are pandering too.
The Como project always seems to arrive at its goals a season or two ahead of when they realistically thought it might be possible. Challenging for the Scudetto will be amongst the clubs ultimate ambitions, but with the distraction of big ticket Champions League football stretching the squad, will it see them falter on the journey for the first time? I remain convinced they will take it all in their stride. A Como home game at the San Siro should be an easy ticket to get a hold of if you still need that stadium to be ticked off your viewing wish list before it is demolished.
The rise of Pisa was ultimately too fast, they are back in B after a disappointing campaign back in Serie A. My Livorno buddy will be saying “oh dear, what a shame”, and should act as a further incentive for them to get things together and finally get this derby back on the roster for 27/28 in Serie B. Cremonese, who were also just promoted, are down again too. Jamie Vardy tried his best. He was popular amongst the fans, but despite a fine start, they fell away badly, and came across juggernaut Como on the last day, allowing Lecce to survive. I was glad they stayed up as the South is increasingly under-represented in Serie A, and proportionately under-represented in the second division too. The third side to descend were Hellas Verona, another team who had a miserable campaign.
Stepping up are the yo-yo boys Venezia, joined by Frosinone from the Lazio region “quasi” south. It will be their third attempt at getting a foothold in the top flight, relegated immediately on the two previous attempts. The third place goes to Monza, a club whose Berlusconi backing might have ended, but they still have enough in the bank and the tank to give Serie A another go having been away just one season like Venezia.
However, Monza’s inclusion wasn’t for the faint hearted. They came through the play offs and endured exceedingly tough opponents. Trailing by 2 at Juve Stabia, they pulled that back to level by full time, and saw them off, just, at home. In the final they played Catanzaro, and having won 2-0 down in the Calabrian capital, it seemed a formality. It didn’t pan out that way, and indeed Catanzaro, who won 2-0 in Monza were within inches of making it three. They would have been a brilliant addition to Serie A. Like so many teams from the south, their fans bring an altogether more passionate element to the stadiums. You will note the aggregate ended 2-2, but no extra-time, nor penalty kicks, with promotion to Monza based on the higher league placing. It’s a brilliantly fair rule, but at full-time having watched Catanzaro batter them in Lombardia, it felt cruel.
Catanzaro’s 44 year wait for a return to Serie A goes on, and while this team will break up, and the manager is off to pastures new, who knows what Serie B holds for them this season. The semi-final saw two colossal encounters with Palermo, winning 3-0 at home and losing 2-0 amid ferocious hostility in Sicily. The emotional intensity drained them, with the Monza home game coming too soon after these rollercoasters clashes.
Some big clubs are back in B from below, Benevento won a very tricky Girone C, while Lanerossi Vicenza (Girone A) and Diesel Jeans company monies will be two sides looking at potentially back to back promotions. Arezzo and Ascoli slugged out a titanic battle to win Girone B, with the Tuscan side holding their nerve, forcing Ascoli through the protracted play-offs, which the eventually won seeing off another giant in Brescia in the final, which included an abandonment in Lombardia due to biblical rain. I would expect these two sides to struggle in an increasingly competitive and captivating second tier. The Man City Group backing at Palermo will probably start to see them edge ever closer to Serie A, but like the Championship in England, Serie B is a bonkers unpredictable league, and always so very tight, and enthralling.
In the third tier lurk some big old clubs, the aforementioned Brescia, complete with Salernitana, Catania and Cosenza, joined by relegated teams Reggiana, Pescara, Spezia, and Bari.
During the last season I wrote about a number of sides, especially at this level or below. Barletta achieved back to back promotions from the Puglia Eccellenza to reach Serie C for the first time in nearly 30 years. Another recent tale about Savoia was written just before they clinched their slot in the professional ranks, and nearby Scafatese adds to the roster of Campania based sides in the southern league of the trio in C. In the north, Treviso, one of Italy’s rugby towns, sees its football team back at this level for the first time in a long time, having struggled through many financial issues.
Thankfully the usual plethora of bankruptcies has eased this summer, with only Rimini, who went bust mid-season needing to be replaced. That is likely to see Foggia saved from going down another level. A Bari-Foggia clash is high security stuff, but with the former side in dispute with the authorities in Bari, it seems highly likely that their futuristic like San Nicolo stadium will be ridiculously off limits. Alternative venues are being sought, with ludicrously inadequate capacity venues for Bari fans in Altamura and Monopoli most likely.
Finally, Taranto, a name you might be familiar with from years ago, were last season in the final of the Eccellenza promotion play-off versus Gladiator from Santa Maria Capua Vetere near Caserta in Campania. They had finished third in the league behind promoted Brindisi and Bisceglie, and having drawn the final first leg on the road, were hot favourites to step up. A dramatic late winner for Gladiator in Puglia at Massafra saw the Taranto Ultras invade the pitch and things turning ugly. The sanction was swift and hard, with a points deduction for this term, a significant fine, as well as being banned from playing at home until November. Upon appeal, the closure punishment was reduced to three games, but everything else stood.
Taranto have been on the road away from their own stadium for two years, with a major refurb now complete as the city hosts the Mediterranean Games this summer. The 28,000 capacity Erasmo Iacovone will be the best fifth tier stadium in the south, while Triestina’s Nereo Rocco will be similarly huge in the northern lower leagues. These are two sides and support bases that Italy really need back further up the tree, but both have been so badly let down through mis-management over the years, they are true basket cases. Such scenarios light up the lower leagues for me, and that’s partly my attraction to the disorder and madness of the Italian game.
The real stories are below the professional ranks, and I would encourage anyone to get a flavour of that themselves. If money is stultifying the game at the highest level, and the stadiums are all starting to look like one another in other lands, those arguments falter in Italy. It will forever be my go to country, I love it.
Football Adventures with James Rendall 