Serie A 2026-27 kicks off with its most open title race

Serie A 2026-27 gets under way this Saturday 22 August with Inter, champions and double winners, raising the curtain at San Siro against Monza. The opening round is spread from Saturday to Monday, and it arrives with a label the bookmakers have been repeating for weeks: the most open Scudetto race of the past decade, with four genuine contenders and three of the biggest dugouts under brand-new management.

As everywhere else in Europe, the Italian calendar starts late because of the World Cup, which only finished on 19 July. And it does so with the window still open: in Italy clubs can sign players until 8pm CET on Tuesday 1 September, so more than one squad will look different after the opening round.

Inter's double and a table that punished the giants

Cristian Chivu's Inter arrive as reigning champions off the back of a complete season: 87 points, the 21st Scudetto in their history and a tenth Coppa Italia, won 2-0 against Lazio in May — their first double since 2010. Napoli finished behind them on 76 points, Roma on 73, and then came the story of the season: Como, fourth on 71 and qualified for the first Champions League of their existence.

The giants provided the other side of the coin: Milan, fifth on 70, and Juventus, sixth on 69, missed out on the Champions League on the final day, denied by Cagliari and Torino. Cremonese, Hellas Verona and Pisa dropped into Serie B.

The summer's managerial merry-go-round

The boardrooms have served up as much drama as the pitch. Milan sacked Massimiliano Allegri for missing out on the Champions League and appointed Ruben Amorim, formerly of Manchester United, on a contract until 2029. Allegri was not out of work for even a month: on 3 July he signed for Napoli, who had seen Antonio Conte leave after two years. Lazio turned to Gennaro Gattuso, fresh from stepping down as Italy head coach, while Maurizio Sarri moved to Atalanta. Luciano Spalletti stays at Juventus and Gian Piero Gasperini at Roma.

Matchday one, game by game

• Saturday 22: Inter v Monza and Udinese v Como (6.30pm CET), Genoa v Napoli and Parma v Cagliari (8.45pm CET)
• Sunday 23: Frosinone v Juventus and Venezia v Lecce (6.30pm CET), Atalanta v Sassuolo and Torino v Milan (8.45pm CET)
• Monday 24: Bologna v Lazio (6.30pm CET), Roma v Fiorentina (8.45pm CET)

The calendar offers no respite: matchday three already serves up Inter v Napoli and Juventus v Milan, and the first Milan derby falls on matchday ten, in early November. Anyone who stumbles in August will pay for it quickly.

The Italian market: a record fee and a snub

The signing of the summer belongs to Milan: Gonçalo Ramos arrived from PSG for around €74m up front, rising beyond €80m with add-ons, the most expensive transfer in the club's history and Amorim's first request. Inter answered with cunning rather than cash: John Stones signed on a free at 32 after his Manchester City contract expired, his first adventure outside England. The biggest sale was Italian too: Chelsea paid Atalanta €57m for Marco Palestra.

There was more movement in the final week: Juventus wrapped up Jhon Lucumí for around €20m, Napoli responded to Buongiorno's serious knee injury by taking Benoît Badiashile on loan from Chelsea, Davide Frattesi swapped Inter for Lazio and Nahuel Molina joined Roma. And a snub that stung in Milan: Cristian Romero, whom Inter believed was on his way after a verbal agreement of around €40m with Tottenham, ended up signing for Atlético Madrid on 15 August.

Three hungry promoted sides

Venezia come up as Serie B champions, Frosinone as runners-up, and Monza return a year after going down, having won the play-off. Venezia, what is more, are already competing: they progressed in the Coppa Italia with a comeback in the middle of the Ferragosto holiday.

The Coppa is rolling and the Supercoppa changes format

The 2026-27 Coppa Italia began this month: the preliminary round was played on 9 August and the round of 64 between the 13th and the 17th, with Venezia, Torino, Udinese and Südtirol among those going through. The Supercoppa, meanwhile, abandons the final four and returns to a one-off final: Inter against Lazio, on 22 or 23 December, at a venue still to be confirmed. With Inter completing the double, the cup winners' place passed to the beaten finalists.

Who starts as favourites

The bookmakers price Inter at around 2/1, barely clear of the pack, with Napoli, Juventus and Milan bunched just behind. No other major European league offers four contenders packed so tightly, and that explains the nerves in this market: every reinforcement between now and 1 September could tip the balance.

"A champion with a young head coach, two recycled managers in rival dugouts and four teams covered by a blanket: Serie A is back with the genuine title fight it had spent years promising."