Rome (AFP)

Win, as always, but also seduce: after eight consecutive titles of champion of Italy, Juventus will continue from Saturday a double sporting and aesthetic objective under the orders of Maurizio Sarri and against rivals seriously reinforced, Inter Milan and Naples on your mind.

Appointed to replace Massimiliano Allegri, who has gone on to score five scudetti and four Italian Cups in five years, Sarri, who may not be on the bench in Parma for the inaugural match of the season on Saturday. pneumonia, know why it was chosen.

He must win, which has always been both the minimum and the essential for Juve, and offer a football a little more pleasing to the eye than the very pragmatic Allegri.

But his year in London, crowned by a Europa League with Chelsea, did not forget his three seasons in Naples, where he regularly pleaded against the real or supposed benefits that would have benefited Juve.

He was not greeted by the tifosi bianconeri, who will not forgive him much and certainly not to add a new title on the road of ten in a row.

On the European scene, success is of course more random. But the Champions League remains another major goal of the "Old Lady", whose strength has been further strengthened, with the arrivals of Rabiot, Ramsey and the coveted De Ligt, one year after that of Cristiano Ronaldo.

- Inter activates -

Behind, the knives are sharpened, in case the quest for the beautiful complicate that of the three points on the Turin side - Sarri has already warned that it would take time for his people to learn to defend higher and advancing - and offer an opportunity.

The most stirring of the contenders is Inter Milan, based on the considerable financial backing of its Chinese owners and who entrusted the team to Antonio Conte, the man of the first three titles of the octuplé juventino.

Like Sarri, Conte is back from Chelsea, where the two Italians won without being able to be loved. With Carlo Ancelotti in Naples since last summer, Serie A has a trio of top technicians.

To challenge the supremacy of Turin, Conte has asked a lot and obtained a lot, starting with the recruitment of Lukaku, the powerful Belgian forward, arrived from Manchester United for more than 65 million euros.

Inter also bet on Godin (Atletico Madrid) or the young and very promising Italians Sensi (Sassuolo) and Barella (Cagliari) and hopes Alexis Sanchez for lack of Dzeko, who preferred to extend to AS Roma.

But Conte has also validated the departure of some executives as Nainggolan or Perisic and the conflict between the club and his former captain Icardi is unpaid and is a potential time bomb.

- the Balotelli challenge -

So, for the Italian coach Roberto Mancini, Juventus is one step ahead. "In absolute terms, Juve is the strongest, we must not forget that it has been winning for eight years and that it has strengthened," he said Monday in the Gazzetta dello Sport.

"And Naples seems dangerous to me, they have the same players who have been used to playing together for years now, while Inter has changed four or five players and lost important elements (...). say Juve, Naples, Inter, "added the former coach of ... Inter.

Naples indeed has quietly consolidated, with Manolas in defense and Mexican dribbler Lozano, whose signature should be official Thursday.

A notch below these three big pieces, the fight for 4th place, the last to send in the Champions League, will be terrible, with at least six candidates: Atalanta Bergamo, AC Milan, the two clubs of the capital, Lazio and Roma, who are facing the second day, the Torino and even the Fiorentina, which has obtained the palm of the most exciting transfer of the summer with the signature of Ribery.

Much further ahead, Balotelli, looking for a place at the Euro, will look for his side to maintain Brescia Serie A and remotely racist insults which he has often been the target in his country.

The last ten champions of Italy:

2019: Juventus Turin

2018: Juventus Turin

2017: Juventus Turin

2016: Juventus Turin

2015: Juventus Turin

2014: Juventus Turin

2013: Juventus Turin

2012: Juventus Turin

2011: AC Milan

2010: Inter Milan

© 2019 AFP