ROME — If an oblivious tourist wandered towards Rome’s ancient monuments on 26 May, they would have been in for a shock.
From the Baths of Caracalla to Circus Maximus, the Colosseum to the Imperial Forums, a sea of red and yellow-clad bodies writhed in euphoria around an open-top bus containing Roma’s Europa Conference League-winning players.
For one day only, the Eternal City’s historic heart wasn’t welcoming visitors. Instead, it belonged to the tens of thousands of Romanisti who had waited 14 years for this party.
Jose Mourinho will have bigger ambitions than the inaugural edition of Uefa’s third-tier competition.
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If anything, the frenzied excitement has only grown in the months since.
Ahead of their opening game of the new Serie A season at Salernitana on Sunday, Roma have their sights firmly set on Champions League qualification – and perhaps even more.
“The fans are right to dream. As for me, if I said that I wasn’t targeting the Scudetto I would be lying,” England striker Tammy Abraham told Corriere dello Sport.
“I want it, so does the squad. But to achieve that, we need to realise our full potential.”
Expectations and reality aren’t always aligned at Roma. They have won three Serie A titles, the last coming in 2001, and this will be their fourth consecutive season without Champions League football.
But it’s easy to see why excitement levels are rising. Their summer transfer business has arguably been the best in Italy; Paulo Dybala, Georginio Wijnaldum, Nemanja Matic, Zeki Celik and Mile Svilar have been added.
Dybala adds stardust – not to mention a huge boost in shirt sales – and the Argentina striker’s arrival earned its own thousands-strong street party at his unveiling.
“Roma have the instrumentalists and the conductor of the orchestra, now we must wait and see what music they will play,” said Fabio Capello, who led the club to their last title 21 years ago.
Mourinho’s outstanding second season record provides another cause for optimism.
He won league titles second time around at Porto, Chelsea (twice), Inter Milan and Real Madrid. Even his second-place finish with Manchester United looks more respectable as time goes on.
A record number of season tickets have been snapped up, recent pre-season results were positive, and Abraham, Dybala, Lorenzo Pellegrini and Nicolo Zaniolo have already been dubbed “the fantastic four”.
Now the question is whether the squad can live up to the hype once the curtain rises.
“There’s no hiding place for Roma anymore,” Capello said. “Only Inter are a step ahead… otherwise, the Giallorossi are on a par with Juventus and Milan.”
Serie A odds
- Inter 7-4
- Juventus 9-4
- AC Milan 5-1
- Roma 9-1
- Napoli 22-1
- Atalanta 33-1
- Lazio 80-1
- Fiorentina 150-1
- Sassuolo 500-1
- Torino 750-1
- Bologna 1000-1
- Verona 1000-1
- Udinese 1000-1
- Sampdoria 2000-1
- Monza 2000-1
- Empoli 2500-1
- Spezia 3500-1
- Lecce 5000-1
- Salernitana 5000-1
- Cremonese 5000-1
He had one word of warning, though: “The risk for Roma is the same as always: too much euphoria”.
The bookies’ title favourites remain the three teams that have won the Scudetto over the last three seasons: AC Milan, Inter and Juventus.
It hasn’t been a summer of big money deals in a league where a careful eye is being kept on bank balances in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
But that hasn’t stopped some astute deals from taking place, not least Romelu Lukaku’s return to Inter on loan.
The Belgian was a catalyst to the Nerazzurri’s 2020-21 title win and has quickly settled back into life alongside his old striker partner Lautaro Martinez.
Inter’s other signings, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Andre Onana, Raoul Bellanova and Kristjan Asllani, have improved their squad depth, but the big question now is whether they can hold on to the likes of Milan Skriniar and Denzel Dumfries.
Milan kept last season’s title-winning squad together, bar Franck Kessie, while adding exciting Belgian talent Charles De Ketelaere and free agent Divock Origi to fill gaps in the squad. They look well placed to mount a strong title defence.
Juventus also targeted the free agent market, picking up Paul Pogba and Angel Di Maria, before replacing Bayern Munich-bound Matthijs de Ligt with the winner of Serie A’s Best Defender award last season, Gleison Bremer.
Back-to-back fourth place finishes were a huge disappointment for the Turin club, who had their first trophyless season in 11 years last term, and the pressure is on to turn things around this year.
Massimiliano Allegri remains in charge, but there has been a changing of the guard in the squad with long-serving captain Giorgio Chiellini leaving along with Dybala, De Ligt, Federico Bernardeschi, Aaron Ramsey and Alvaro Morata.
It will be a new-look Napoli too following the departures of Kalidou Koulibaly, Dries Mertens and Lorenzo Insigne, while Lazio will be an intriguing watch in Maurizio Sarri’s second season after a busy transfer window.
Atalanta and Fiorentina will expect to be in the European mix too, and the latter’s signing of Luka Jovic from Real Madrid could be one to watch.
Beyond the big names, Silvio Berlusconi’s Monza are looking to make a splash in their first ever Serie A season.
They have built an almost entirely new squad this summer, impressively stocking up on Italy internationals like Alessio Cragno, Andrea Ranocchia, Matteo Pessina and Stefano Sensi in their bid to stay up.
A contingent of British expats in Serie A that already included the likes of Abraham, Chris Smalling, Fikayo Tomori and Liam Henderson has been bolstered further, as Scottish pair Josh Doig and Lewis Ferguson signed for Verona and Bologna respectively.
Another one to track is Republic of Ireland Under-21 talent Festy Ebosele, who left Derby County for Udinese this summer. Let the games begin.
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