This has never happened before: Serie A starts before “Ferragosto”.

The days around the high festival of summer on August 15 are habitually spent in Italy by the sea, perhaps still in the mountains.

But not in the stadium.

This year is different.

The schedule had to be adapted to the “Winter World Cup” in Qatar, and the first day of play had to be completed in mid-August.

Matthias Rub

Political correspondent for Italy, the Vatican, Albania and Malta based in Rome.

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From September to mid-November, when play is interrupted for a good month because of the World Cup, the twenty teams in the top Italian professional league have to play twice a week.

But with a view to the possible outcome of the race for the Scudetto, almost everything is different than usual.

The circle of favorites is more confusing than it has been for a long time.

Gosens not yet in top form

Despite their unconvincing opening games, the two Milan clubs are among the favorites for the championship again this season.

Defending champions AC Milan found it almost as difficult at home as cup winners Inter Milan against newly promoted US Lecce in a 4-2 win over Udinese Calcio – with two goals from former Frankfurt player Ante Rebić – on Saturday.

Only in the very last minute of stoppage time did Dutch defender Denzel Dumfries kneel the ball into the goal after a corner to make it 2-1.

Already in the 2nd minute Romelu Lukaku had put Inter in the lead, the brave newcomers from the boot heel in Apulia were able to equalize shortly after the break.

The fact that it took 'King Lukaku' just 82 seconds to 'get back' to Inter with a header is the icing on the cake of a hugely successful deal for the Nerazzurri.

In the summer of 2021, the Belgian was sold to London for 115 million euros, where he was never happy at Chelsea under coach Thomas Tuchel.

For a rental fee of just eight million euros, Lukaku is now back in Milan, where he is to become the old-new dream duo in the storm with the Argentinian bundle of energy Lautaro Martínez.

The German international Robin Gosens, who came to Inter from Atalanta Bergamo in early 2022 and was recently plagued by injuries, was still far from his best form in the opening game of the new season and was substituted after just under an hour.

Juventus Turin, which starts the new season this Monday (8.45 p.m. on DAZN) against Sassuolo Calcio, is longing for that era after two weak seasons, as they recently won the championship nine times in a row.

Series champion coach Massimiliano Allegri, who was brought back to Turin two years after leaving in 2019, was unable to fulfill his task as a rescuer in need last season.

With some effort they managed to qualify for the Champions League, in the cup final there was a painful defeat against Inter Milan.

The Dutchman Matthijs de Ligt, who was sold to Bayern Munich, is to be replaced in the central defense by the Brazilian Gleison Bremer, who came from city rivals FC Turin.

The Argentinian Ángel Di María was brought from Paris, while the Serb Filip Kostić came from Frankfurt.

With Di María he should serve Dušan Vlahović in the storm center.

He came from Florence at the beginning of the year and was able to fulfill the hopes placed in him as a goalscorer quite well.

Juve welcomes Sassuolo at the end of the first matchday this Monday.

In Florence and Naples, the need to save on clubs that have been badly hit by the two-year pandemic has shaped the profile of the squad.

The top teams are therefore not among the narrower circle of title contenders this season.

After Lorenzo Insigne (to Toronto), the Belgian Dries Mertens (to Istanbul) and Kalidou Koulibaly (to London to Chelsea) also left their adopted home of Naples, where the new season without the three important professionals is rather anxious.

For this, José Mourinho, in his second year at AS Roma, triggered an unparalleled enthusiasm in the capital.

Thanks to his charisma, which he praises best himself, Mourinho was able to lure Argentina's Paulo Dybala (from Juve), Serbia's Nemanja Matić (from Manchester United) and Dutchman Georginio Wijnaldum (from PSG) to Rome on a free transfer.

Rising star Nicolò Zaniolo may be hotly sought after by Tottenham Hotspur, but Mourinho is keen to keep the Italy international, who is in amazing early form after a long injury layoff.

After beating Shakhtar Donetsk 5-0 in the preparatory game, Mourinho guarded against exaggerated expectations.

After all, one has already won a Scudetto, he said: that of the fans.

The Olympic Stadium, which was sold out with 65,000 spectators, was upside down during the friendly.

AS Roma's overheated Tifosi aren't the only ones who believe their side can be at the top this season.

With the greats from Milan and Turin.