Massimiliano Allegri Prepares for Demanding Serie A Season
Massimiliano Allegri is braced for a Serie A season that, in his words and in his planning, looks more like a cavalry charge than a title race.
The Napoli head coach sees a league with no hiding places and no soft centres. Inter, he accepts, remain the standard. But he is adamant this is not a Scudetto shoot-out between the champions and one pretender.
“There will be at least eight teams to keep an eye on,” he told Sportmediaset, before naming them one by one like obstacles on a marathon course. Inter, of course. Napoli. Then Milan, Juventus, Roma, Fiorentina, Como and Atalanta. A field that stretches from the established giants to the ambitious climbers, all, in his view, equipped to make life uncomfortable at the top.
Inter “are the favourites because they hold the trophy,” Allegri said, but the message was clear: no one will stroll to the title this time.
Centenary weight and a crowded calendar
For Napoli, the stakes are doubled. The club’s centenary season carries its own emotional charge, and Allegri knows the city expects a campaign worthy of the milestone. The calendar offers little mercy.
“It’ll be a beautiful and demanding year,” he said, the two adjectives doing equal work. Napoli must live in three competitions at once: Serie A, the Champions League and the Coppa Italia. The schedule is unforgiving, the margins thin.
Europe brings a different kind of test. With the Champions League shifting to a single group stage before the knockout picture takes shape, the room for error shrinks.
“In the Champions League, we need to get through the single group stage and then reach the playoffs or the round of 16 as best we can,” Allegri explained. No grandstanding, just a very specific target. Survive the new format, then punch as high as possible.
Buongiorno blow and defensive reshuffle
The optimism around Napoli’s prospects is tempered by one major problem at the back. Alessandro Buongiorno, signed to be a pillar of the defence, will not be available for months. The Italy international faces a long spell out, a setback that forces Allegri into early improvisation.
“It’s a shame about Buongiorno, who will be out until January,” he admitted. A blunt verdict, and a reminder of how much he was expected to anchor the back line.
The response will have to come from within. Allegri name-checked his options with the air of a coach already running through combinations on the training pitch. Marin and Rrahmani as immediate solutions. Beukema, still short of his peak, expected to grow into the role. Olivera, a full-back by trade, also on standby if the situation demands flexibility.
“In any case I have Marin and Rrahmani, Beukema is behind but he’ll recover his best form, and if needed I also have Olivera. I’m confident,” he said. No panic, but no illusions either: keeping Napoli defensively stable until January may define how long they can stay in the title pack.
Hojlund under the spotlight
At the other end of the pitch, the conversation inevitably swings to Rasmus Hojlund. The Danish striker is the focal point of Allegri’s attack and, increasingly, of the club’s expectations.
Allegri has not been shy in the past about drawing parallels between Hojlund and Harry Kane, a comparison that underlines both the coach’s belief and the scale of the challenge in front of the 21-year-old. Physical, aggressive, relentless in his running – Hojlund has the raw tools. What he does not yet have, in Allegri’s view, is the numbers to match.
“He’s a very physical striker, he puts in the effort and is eager, but he needs to improve his goal-scoring record this season. He can do so given that he has all the potential,” Allegri said.
Encouragement wrapped in a demand. The message is unmistakable: potential is no longer the story; production must be.
In a league Allegri believes will be decided by details and depth across eight serious contenders, Napoli’s margin for error is slim. A patched-up defence must hold. A young centre-forward must turn promise into goals. And a centenary season, played under the weight of history and the noise of a restless city, has to live up to its billing.
