Juan Iturbe (right) joined Roma from Verona this summer.Juan Iturbe (right) joined Roma from Verona this summer.

Juventus start their title defence on Saturday with an away fixture at Chievo. The champions, now under the charge of Massimiliano Allegri, start among the favourites to retain their title but some critics are wondering whether Juve are still the team to beat in Serie A.

Antonio Conte sensationally quit Juventus only days after the start of the pre-season in July.

Club bosses acted quickly and appointed former Cagliari and Milan trainer Allegri, whose two main objectives will be to lead Juventus to a fourth straight Scudetto and see that the team makes an impact in the Champions League.

Juventus will sorely miss Conte , who has just signed a contract with the FIGC to become Azzurri coach.

He was the mastermind behind the Bianconeri’s successes of late following a slump in the post-Calciopoli era.

This summer, Juventus were quite busy on the transfer market albeit one feels that the new signings – Kingsley Coman (PSG), Alvaro Morata (Real Madrid), Patrice Evra (Man. United), Roberto Pereyra (Udinese) and Romulo (Verona) – are not enough to help them bridge the huge gulf in quality with Europe’s elite.

In their bid to keep star players Arturo Vidal and Paul Pogba within their fold, Juventus refused several lucrative offers from English and Spanish clubs.

Meanwhile, in view of Morata’s absence through injury, Juventus could be tempted to sign another striker before the September 1 transfer window deadline.

Among those mentioned with a move to Turin are Lukas Podolski (Arsenal), Fernando Torres (Chelsea) and also the back-to-fitness Radamel Falcao (Monaco).

Roma are sensing that this could be their season particularly after Conte quit Juventus.

Rudi Garcia is still in charge. In his first season in Serie A, the Frenchman proved to be an instant hit as he transformed Roma from also-rans to genuine title contenders.

To survive the double challenge of the Serie A and Champions League, Roma have signed a few experienced players.

They brought in defender Ashley Cole on a free transfer from Chelsea, Italy centre-back Davide Astori from Cagliari, Urby Emanuelson on a free transfer from Milan, midfielder Salih Ucan from Fenerbahce, midfielder Seydou Keita from Valencia on a free transfer, and striker Juan Iturbe – one of the best strikers in the Serie A last season – from Verona.

Roma are also closing in on Greek defender Kostas Manolas.

So far, left-back Dodo has been the only notable departure from the capital.

However, defender Mehdi Benatia and striker Mattia Destro are both touted to be on the verge of leaving for pastures new.

Morocco defender Benatia is close to joining Bayern Munich and Destro is being monitored by Milan, Chelsea and Tottenham.

San Paolo arrivals

This summer Napoli unveiled three major signings in French defender Kalidou Koulibaly (Genk), Spanish striker Michu (Swansea) and 26-year-old Dutch midfielder Jonathan De Guzman (Villarreal).

They parted with Spanish goalkeeper Pepe Reina (Bayern Munich), Valon Behrami (Hamburg) and Federico Fernandez (Swansea) whereas Swiss midfielder Blerim Dzemaili is reportedly close to a transfer to Milan.

The southerners are now being linked with quality players including Manchester United’s Marouane Fellaini, Samir Khedira (Real Madrid), Lucas Leiva (Liverpool) and Sandro (Tottenham) as Rafa Benitez is desperate to increase his options in his midfield.

However, new arrivals at Napoli depends mostly on whether the side will make it to the Champions League group stages.

Tonight, Napoli face a mammoth task as they seek to oust Athletic Bilbao from the third qualifying round following last week’s 1-1 draw at the San Paolo.

Personally, I think Napoli are less equipped, in terms of quality and strength-in-depth, with respect to Juventus and Roma.

However, you can never discard Napoli’s challenge even though it seems most likely that the Serie A will develop in a two-horse race between Juventus and Roma.

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