This season many are touting Inter, Milan or Juventus as the likely candidates to win the scudetto even though some others may differ in opinion and add Roma and, perhaps, outsiders Fiorentina to that short list.

Inter, Milan and Juve look to be the most equipped teams in the Serie A. Milan, in particular, have an added 'advantage' at home since they will not play Champions League football this season.

The new Serie A campaign got underway last weekend and none of the three favourites mentioned managed to chalk up a victory.

Juve were minutes away from victory in Florence before Alberto Gilardino drew Fiorentina level. Inter, shorn of central defenders, held on to a precious point away at Sampdoria but Milan, with Ronaldinho in the team, came out worst as they unexpectedly lost to newcomers Bologna at the San Siro.

Juve were very active on the transfer market a year ago and this time around they have sought to strengthen their squad even further with the aim to challenge for the Serie A title and make as much progress as possible in the Champions League. It will not be easy though.

Coach Claudio Ranieri will have to work on two fronts, giving due importance to the Serie A and staying in focus in Europe where Juve will figure in a tough group that also includes Real Madrid and Zenit SP.

This summer Juve parted with a number of players like Sergio Almiron (Fiorentina), Alessandro Birindelli (Pisa), Raffaele Palladino (Genoa) and Antonio Nocerino (Palermo). In compensation, they bolstered their attack with the capture of Amauri from Palermo. Christian Poulsen (Seville) and Sebastian Giovinco (Empoli) are two valuable additions in midfield. Olof Mellberg (Aston Villa) and Dario Knezevic (Livorno) will increase Ranieri's options at the back.

Generally, this is a stronger Juventus side than last year. A third place finish was a significant achievement last season but more is expected of Juve in 2008/09... they need to win and convince.

There were some particular changes at Inter over the summer, the most notable being the appointment of the shrewd Jose Mourinho who replaced former coach Roberto Mancini.

Amantino Mancini (Roma), Sulley Muntari (Portsmouth) and Ricardo Quaresma (Porto), along with the headline-grabbing return of 'prodigal son' Adriano, were Inter's signings of note in this transfer window which closed on Monday.

Mourinho has the potential to do better than Mancini, especially in Europe. The fans are hoping that Mourinho repeats the success he had with Porto in 2004. It is not going to be easy, but Mourinho has a good chance to end a 40-year drought for Inter in the Champions Cup.

If Juventus and Inter did well in transfers this summer, I feel that Milan were equally up to the task, if not better.

Ronaldinho, Gianluca Zambrotta (both Barcelona), Mathieu Flamini, Philippe Senderos (both Arsenal), Andriy Shevchenko (Chelsea), Marco Borriello (Genoa) and Christian Abbiati (Atletico Madrid) are all top-class signings.

Now, Ancelotti is spoilt for choice in every department... there are no excuses for mishaps as the one of last Sunday against Bologna. It is of paramount importance for him to find a balanced formation.

Perhaps, deciding who plays regularly in goal would alleviate some of the problems.

At present, the favourite seems to be Abbiati. One expects great things from the Ronaldinho-Riccardo Kaka tandem. The latter is coming from a colourless season whereas veterans Filippo Inzaghi and Paolo Maldini will, in all probability, have minor roles to play for Milan this season.

Serie A statistics

0 wins for last season's top-four teams - champions Inter, Roma, Juventus and Fiorentina. Juve have not lost their opening fixture since 1982. The Bianconeri are winless in their last four outings (three draws and one defeat) if one had to take into account the last part of last season. That of Sunday (1-1) was Fiorentina's first draw after back-to-back wins vs Parma 3-1 and Torino 1-0. As happened last season, Sampdoria and Inter shared the spoils.

2nd successive home defeat for Milan against Bologna as the newcomers conquered the San Siro like they had done in their last visit in January 30, 2005 (1-0). Milan had not lost their opening fixture since the 0-1 defeat vs Ascoli on September 14, 1986. Atalanta confirmed their positive home record vs Siena as they cruised to a narrow win. Siena have only two draws in four visits to Bergamo.

3 identical 1-1 draws were recorded in the weekend's fixtures. Last season's runners-up Roma were always in the driving seat against Napoli and deservedly took the lead after 29 minutes through Alberto Aquilani. After the change of ends, Napoli had a man sent off but still equalised through Marek Hamsik.

4 years after beating Palermo 1-0 at the Friuli Stadium, Udinese registered only their second success over the Sicilians. This was Udinese's first win after back-to-back defeats against Cagliari and Milan last season. Cagliari were well on their way to beat Lazio for the second year running. But Diego Lopez's sending off and four goals conceded in the last 30 minutes changed the tide in favour of Lazio. This was Lazio's most emphatic away victory in an opening fixture since Oct. 7, 1973 (3-0) vs Vicenza.

5 players - Massimo Maccarone (Siena), Diego Lopez (Cagliari), Antonio Langella (Chievo), Felipe Melo (Fiorentina) and Fabiano Santacroce (Napoli) - received marching orders and four penalties were awarded last weekend. All were scored. Alessandro Rosina broke the deadlock for Torino vs Lecce. Lazio's Mauro Zarate netted one of his two goals from the spot. In Chievo-Reggina, Bernardo Corradi (Reggina) and Michele Marcolini (Chievo) were both prolific from the spot.

5th defeat on the trot for Genoa (considering also the last part of last season) as the Liguri were floored by Catania. Chievo remained undefeated against Reggina for the 11th time (seven wins and four draws) with a home win. Reggina have last won their opening game in season 2000/01 (2-1 vs Inter). This was Reggina's first defeat after having concluded last season with three wins and a draw.

15 years had to pass for Torino to return to winning ways against Lecce at home as the Maroons outclassed the Serie A newcomers 3-0. For the record, Torino had not won their opening fixture in the Serie A since their 3-0 success over Piacenza on August 29, 1993.

26 goals were scored on the first day of the 2008/09 Serie A season - 15 coming from the hosts and the remaining 11 from the visitors, who managed only two wins. Foreigners contributed with nine goals. There were no own goals while 11 goals were scored before the break. Antonio Di Natale (Udinese) and Mauro Zarate (Lazio) grabbed a brace each while Mark Bresciano (Palermo) and Pasquale Foggia (Lazio) came on as substitutes and scored.