The Serie A fixture list has officially been unveiled, and Lorenzo Bettoni sees Milan having the most challenging path in the opening 10 games of the campaign.
The new Serie A season begins on August 19-20. Defending Champions Napoli will start by visiting newly promoted side Frosinone, coached by Eusebio Di Francesco.
Rudi Garcia’s men seem to have quite an accessible path in the first two months and a half of the campaign, as Lazio and Milan are the only two teams from last season’s top seven they will cross paths with. The Partenopei will also face two of the three new teams from Serie B, meeting Alberto Gilardino’s Genoa in Week 4 after Frosinone.
Frosinone A
Sassuolo H
Lazio H
Genoa A
Bologna A
Udinese H
Lecce A
Verona A
Milan H
Difficulty rating: 5/10
Runners-up Lazio were not as lucky. Maurizio Sarri’s men, who will play in the Champions League in 2023-24, will meet four of the seven teams ending in the top seven in 2022-23, plus Fiorentina and Torino, who are never easy to handle. September starts strong with two consecutive away games at Napoli and Juventus. At least the first international break of the season is between those two matches.
Lecce A
Genoa H
Napoli A
Juventus A
Monza H
Torino H
Milan A
Atalanta H
Sassuolo A
Fiorentina H
Difficulty rating: 7/10
Inter have two derbies in the opening four games. They start the season at home against Monza and then face Milan in the first Derby della Madonnina in Week 4. Despite that, the opening 10 matches don’t look so bad for Simone Inzaghi’s boys. The Nerazzurri also have Fiorentina (at home) and Torino (away), plus José Mourinho’s Roma, but the match against the Giallorossi is arguably the most challenging after the Milan derby.
Monza H
Cagliari A
Fiorentina H
Milan H
Empoli A
Sassuolo H
Bologna H
Torino A
Roma H
Difficulty rating: 6/10
No top team in Serie A has been as unlucky as Milan, considering the opening 10 games of the campaign. The Rossoneri will face five of the top seven teams from last season, pretty much all of them except Atalanta. They have two consecutive big games against Roma and Inter in September, with the international break between those fixtures, and two more against Juventus (San Siro) and Napoli (Stadio Maradona) at the end of October. The first of the season away at Bologna is also far from easy, especially for a team that will likely change a lot during the summer.
Bologna A
Torino H
Roma A
Inter A
Verona H
Cagliari A
Lazio H
Genoa A
Juventus H
Napoli A
Difficulty rating: 8/10
Atalanta are back in Europe this season and have an intriguing fixture list. They don’t have many big games (against Juventus at home and Lazio away) and will meet all the newly promoted teams, first Frosinone, then Cagliari and Genoa. However, La Dea are the only team from last season’s top seven playing three of the opening four games away.
Sassuolo A
Frosinone A
Monza H
Fiorentina A
Cagliari H
Verona A
Juventus H
Lazio A
Genoa H
Empoli A
Difficulty rating: 6/10
José Mourinho’s Roma start at home against Salernitana, the same opponent they faced a year ago, in the opening match of 2022-23. However, it was an away fixture back then. The Giallorossi will play the first big games of the season at the beginning of September against Milan but won’t meet another direct rival until October 29, when he’ll return to the Stadio Meazza to face Inter. They probably have the easiest path in the opening 10 games alongside Napoli.
Salernitana H
Verona A
Milan H
Empoli H
Torino A
Genoa A
Frosinone H
Cagliari A
Monza H
Inter A
Difficulty rating: 5/10
Juventus start from where they left off in 2022-23: Udinese’s Dacia Arena. Massimiliano Allegri’s team collected poor results in the opening games of the last two seasons and the Bianconeri will be looking to avoid the same outcome this term. Games against Lazio, Atalanta and Milan are surely the most challenging in the first two and a half months. The Turin derby should never be underestimated even if the Granata haven’t beaten Juventus away since 1995.
Udinese A
Bologna H
Empoli A
Lazio H
Sassuolo A
Lecce H
Atalanta A
Torino H
Milan A
Verona H
Difficulty rating: 6/10