French midfielder Paul Pogba, of Juventus, fights for the ball against Lazio’s Dusan Basta (right) during the Italian Super Cup match, in Shanghai, China, earlier this month.

Juventus could not have aspired for a more prosperous start to their 2015/16 campaign as they scored two second-half goals to claim their seventh Italian Super Cup at the expense of Lazio earlier this month.

Although the reigning Italian champions have lost the services of key players Andrea Pirlo, Arturo Vidal and Carlos Tevez in this transfer window, they are still touted as top favourites to win a fifth consecutive league title.

However, this time around many are expecting stiffer opposition from the likes of Milan, Inter and Roma, in particular.

The two San Siro outfits could have an edge with respect to the other major contenders in that they are not involved in Euro club competitions this year.

Juventus have resisted temptation to part with mercurial midfielder Paul Pogba.

Daniele Rugani (Empoli), Neto (free agent), Paulo Dybala (Palermo), Sami Khedira (free agent), Mario Mandzukic (Atletico Madrid), Guido Vadala (Boca Juniors) and Alberto Cerri (free agent, parked at Cagliari) are Juve’s main signings so far.

Given that Juventus cashed an incredible sum of money for reaching their first Champions League final in 12 years last June, one would have expected the Bianconeri to attract more ac-claimed names this summer.

However, if coach Massimiliano Allegri can keep his players focused and hungry for more success, Juve should again rank among the main protagonists of the new season.

Much more was expected from Roma last term.

The Giallorossi were out of the title race earlier than expected and it was only towards the end of the season that they managed to secure the runners-up spot.

To make it worse, Roma were also knocked out of the Euro club competitions and the Coppa Italia prematurely.

Only recently, Rudi Garcia acknowledged that Roma have learnt from past mistakes and is promising that his side will make a quantum leap in quality to give Juve a good run for their money.

Rudi Garcia acknowledged that Roma have learnt from past mistakes and is promising to give Juve a good run for their money

Particularly, Roma need to address their shortcoming of dropping valuable points against modest opponents.

This summer, Garcia secured the services of Iago Falque (Genoa), Wojciech Szczesny (Arsenal), Mohammed Salah (Chelsea), Edin Dzeko (Manchester City), Gerson (Fluminense, as from January) and Antonio Rudiger (Stuttgart).

Lucas Digne, of Paris SG, and Torino’s high-flying winger Bruno Peres are also reported to be on the verge of making a move to the capital city team.

All in all, Roma seem more equipped than last season and many reckon their title quest will very much depend on their run in the Champions League.

As things stand, they do not possess enough strength in depth to survive the double challenge of the Serie A and the European Cup.

Milan have spent big this time after years of underperformance on and off the field of play.

Their main signings for the new season include Carlos Bacca (Seville), Andrea Bertolacci, Alessio Romagnoli (both Roma), Luiz Adriano (Shakhtar Donetsk) and Jose Mauri (free agent).

Novice coach Filippo Inzaghi made way for the shrewd Sinisa Mihajlovic who thus has a great opportunity to prove that he is capable of leading the sleeping giants out of hibernation.

In the past, the former Lazio and Inter sweeper did well while in charge of Catania and Sampdoria but less during his stints at Bologna and Fiorentina.

During the pre-season, Milan have given the impression that they are a different team with respect to last season. But Mihajlovic’s new-look side still needs time to start functioning like a unit.

Inter have overhauled their squad in the off-season.

Roberto Mancini is still in charge but a few key players, including Mateo Kovacic (Real Madrid), Jonathan (free agent), Hugo Campagnaro (free agent), Felipe (free agent), Lukas Podolski (end of loan), Federico Bonazzoli (Sampdoria), Joel Obi (Torino), Zdravko Kuzmanovic (Basel), Isaac Donkor (Bari) and Xherdan Shaqiri (Stoke City) were not retained.

Jeison Murillo (Granada), Joao Miranda (Atletico Madrid), Geoffrey Kondogbia (Monaco), Martin Montoya (Barcelona), Jonathan Biabiany (free agent) and Stevan Jovetic (Manchester City) represent Inter’s main signings to date.

At least initially, one expects Inter to go through a bumpy period of transition until new players settle in.

This is the impression Inter have given during their colourless pre-season outings.

Nevertheless, Inter fans augur that this transitory period is not an extended one because it might hinder in no small way the side’s chances to claim their first scudetto since 2010.