Serie A: Napoli begins Scudetto defence at promoted Frosinone

Now led by Rudi Garcia, Napoli won its first Scudetto in over three decades last term and will be the team to watch when the season gets underway on the weekend of August 19-20.

Rudi Garcia (R) new head coach of SSC Napoli and the club’s president Aurelio De Laurentiis during a media interaction.  | Photo Credit: AP

MILAN

Napoli will kick off its Serie A title defence at promoted Frosinone after next season’s fixture list was revealed on Wednesday.

Now led by Rudi Garcia, Napoli won its first Scudetto in over three decades last term and will be the team to watch when the season gets underway on the weekend of August 19-20.

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Previous coach Luciano Spalletti ended Napoli’s 33-year title drought last month but left shortly afterwards, and fans are hoping that Garcia won’t have stars Victor Osimhen sold out from under him this summer.

Frosinone returns to the top flight for the first time since 2018-19 after dominating Serie B, finishing seven points ahead of Genoa who swap places with relegated local rivals Sampdoria and begin its campaign with the visit of Fiorentina.

Champions League finalists Inter Milan hosts Monza, who will face the new season without Silvio Berlusconi as the face of the club after the former Italian prime minister died last month.

Monza finished 11th in its first ever season in Italy’s top flight after rising from the third tier following its purchase by long-time AC Milan owner Berlusconi in 2018.

Simone Inzaghi’s Inter have its derbies with Milan in the fourth week and with six matches remaining, the two sides battling in the last two seasons for the Serie A title and a place in the Champions League final.

There will be only one midweek round of matches, in late September, which will please coaches who had a crammed schedule last term due to the World Cup in Qatar taking place in the winter.

With four international breaks for Euro 2024 qualifiers the season, which finishes on May 26, will not pause at Christmas time.

Roma has the toughest matches of the festive period, having to first host Napoli on December 23 before travelling to Juventus a week later.

Juve begins at Udinese where it finished last season, a troubled campaign in which it was docked 10 points for illicit transfer dealings and ended up in seventh place.