Serie A 2019-20 Club-by-Club Preview: Part 1

With the 2020-21 Serie A season just around the corner, we look at the teams - and their star players - that AS Roma will face over the course of the new campaign.

In this first preview, we shine a spotlight on the three newly promoted teams, as well as last year’s bottom half of the table...

SPEZIA
Last season: 3rd in Serie B

Head coach: Vincenzo Italiano

Notable players in: Jacopo Sala (SPAL), Jeroen Zoet (PSV), Ardian Ismajli (Hadjuk Split), Riccardo Marchizza (Sassuolo)
Notable players out: Tommaso Augello (Sampdoria)

What to know: Spezia earned promotion to the top-flight via virtue of the promotion play-offs last season - with their third-place finish in the league giving them the decisive edge as they subsequently drew both the semi-final and final on aggregate.

Their reward is a first Serie A campaign in the club’s history for the Aquilotti - or Little Eagles - who were reformed in 2008 after the club was forced to declare bankruptcy following relegation to the third-tier that year.

One to watch: Jeroen Zoet. Spezia will need to be solid at the back if they’re to stay up next season and they have wisely added a three-time Dutch champion and Netherlands international with Champions League experience in the form of 29-year-old stopper Zoet.

First meeting with Roma: 24 January (A)

CROTONE
Last season: 2nd in Serie B

Head coach: Giovanni Stroppa

Notable players in: Eduardo Henrique (Sporting Lisbon, loan), Lisandro Magallan (Ajax, loan), Luis Rojas (Club Universidad de Chile), Luca Marrone (Hellas Verona), Luca Cigarini (free agent), Emmanuel Riviere (Cosenza)
Notable players out: Andrea Barberis (Monza), Maxi Lopez (Sambenedettese)

What to know: Following their relegation from the top-flight in 2017-18, Serie B runners-up Crotone return to Serie A after a two-year absence.

Stroppa has admirably led the charge since their previous demotion and earned a third Serie A campaign in the club’s history thanks to his preferred attacking 3-5-2 formation that saw Crotone only outscored by champions Benevento last term.

One to watch: Simeon “Simy” Nwankwo. The Nigerian scored 20 league goals last year and is one of only nine players in the squad that were also part of Crotone’s previous Serie A campaign - with only Diego Falcinelli’s 13 goals better than Simy’s 10 for the Sharks in the top-tier.

First meeting with Roma: 6 January (H)

BENEVENTO
Last season: 1st in Serie B

Head coach: Filippo Inzaghi

Notable players in: Gianluca Caprari (Sampdoria, loan), Kamil Glik (Monaco), Artur Ionita (Cagliari), Gianluca Lapadula (Genoa)
Notable players out: Massimo Coda (Lecce)

What to know: Gli Stregoni - The Witches - will be looking to conjure up some magic as they prepare for only their second Serie A campaign in the club’s history on the back of a memorable 2019-20 season that ended with their first Serie B trophy.

They will be hoping to improve on their efforts three years ago, when they went down with a whimper in their first run at the top-flight in 2017-18; picking up just six wins and 21 points, while losing all 14 of their opening matches that season.

One to watch: Filippo Inzaghi. The head coach was revolutionary last season as he led his team to the title in his first season in the Stadio Ciro Vigorito dugout, and the three-time Serie A winner, two-time Champions League champion and 2006 FIFA World Cup winner will need to lean on all his experience to keep Benevento afloat come the end of the season.

First meeting this season with Roma: 18 October (A)

GENOA
Last season: 17th

Head coach: Rolando Maran

Notable players in: Francesco Cassata (Sassuolo), Gabriel Charpentier (Spartaks Jurmala), Andrea Pinamonti (Inter Milan), Mattia Perin (Juventus)
Notable players out: Koray Günter (Hellas Verona), Christian Kouame (Fiorentina), Gianluca Lapadula (Benevento)

What to know: Genoa held their heads just four points above water last time out, with the fourth most porous defence and fourth most frugal attack perhaps unsurprisingly seeing them finish fourth bottom.

Four wins from their last seven matches were crucial to the club’s survival and they have moved swiftly this summer to try and add goals with the signings of Pinamonti, Destro and Charpentier, while experienced coach Maran replaced the axed Davide Nicola in the hot seat last month.

One to watch: Andrea Pinamonti. Goran Pandev’s nine goals were the most of a Genoa player in Serie A in 2019-20, but 21-year-old Pinamonti - whose loan last season has now been made permanent - has the ability to help ease the goalscoring burden of his 37-year-old teammate.

First meeting with Roma: 8 November (H)

TORINO
Last season: 16th

Head coach: Marco Giampaolo

Notable players in: Karol Linetty (Sampdoria), Ricardo Rodriguez (AC Milan), Simone Verdi (Napoli, loan made permanent), Mergim Vojvoda (Standard Liege)

Notable players out: Ola Aina (Fulham, loan), Lorenzo De Silvestri (free agent)

What to know: If it wasn’t for Torino’s away form last year - they won just four on their travels and didn’t taste away victory at all in the second half of the season - they would have been closer to a mid-table finish than the bottom five.

Both Walter Mazzarri and then Moreno Longo took charge of Il Toro in 2019-20, while former Sampdoria and AC Milan coach Marco Giampaolo takes the reins this season having already bolstered his ranks with some astute-looking signings in the form of Verdi, Linetti, Vojvoda and Rodriguez.

One to watch: Andrea Belotti. The permanent signing of Verdi and arrival of Linetty certainly adds further threat to the Torino attack, but so much hinges on the form of captain Belotti and he will once again be asked to lead the charge - as he did with his 16 strikes last year.

First meeting this season with Roma: 16 December (A)

SAMPDORIA
Last season: 15th

Head coach: Claudio Ranieri

Notable players in: Kristoffer Askildsen (Stabaek), Tomasso Augello (Spezia), Felipe D’Amico (Inter), Mikkel Damsgaard (Nordsjaelland), Erik Gerbi, Nicolo Francofonte, Matteo Stoppa (all Juventus), Lorenzo Tonelli (Napoli), Maya Yoshida (Southampton).

Notable players out: Gianluca Caprari (Benevento, loan), Karol Linetty (Torino)

What to know: This season marks the 30th anniversary of Sampdoria’s sole Scudetto back in 1990-91, but they look some way off repeating that feat this time around - especially on the back of their inconsistent efforts last season.

They didn’t get higher than 13th in the league as Ranieri took over in October with the side bottom of the league, but they have been proactive in the transfer market this summer by bringing in a number of young players that La Samp fans will hope add fresh impetus.

One to watch: Omar Colley. Of the new signings, Damsgaard looks a real talent, but Sampdoria will be more concerned with improving at the back and the Gambia centre-half will play a crucial role alongside Yoshida in their hopes of keeping as watertight as possible.

First meeting this season with Roma: 3 January (A)

CAGLIARI
Last season: 14th

Head coach: Eusebio Di Francesco

Notable players in: Razvan Marin (Ajax, loan), Marko Rog (Napoli, loan made permanent), Giovanni Simeone (Fiorentina, loan made permanent), Riccardo Sottil (Fiorentina)

Notable players out: Radja Nainggolan (Inter, end of loan), Lucas Castro (SPAL), Artur Ionita (Benevento)

What to know: Cagliari will continue to play their football at the Sardegna Arena this season, with construction set to start on their new stadium at some point next year.

They will do so under the guidance of new coach Di Francesco, who will be disappointed to see Nainggolan – a player he knows well from their time together at Roma, and who excelled on loan at Cagliari last season – return to the city of Milan.

Nevertheless, Di Francesco has moved swiftly to make Rog’s loan permanent to avoid another major loss, as Cagliari aim to build on their 14th-place finish last year. The return to action of Leonardo Pavoletti after a long injury lay-off could also feel like a new signing, should the imposing striker find his form quickly.

One to watch: Joao Pedro. Rog was crucial in the Cagliari midfield last season and won more tackles (61) than any other player in Serie A, but Pedro’s contribution was immense slightly further forward - ending the season with 18 goals and four assists - and he will have people on the edge of their seats every time he plays.

First meeting with Roma: 23 December (A)

UDINESE
Last season: 13th

Head coach: Luca Gotti

Notable players in: Fernando Forestieri (Sheffield Wednesday), Nahuel Molina (Boca Juniors), Thomas Ouwejan (AZ Alkmaar, loan)

Notable players out: Emmanuel Badu (Hellas Verona), Seko Fofana (Lens), Stipe Perica (Watford), Giuseppe Pezzella (Parma)

What to know: Udinese were fairly underwhelming last year, but managed to win three of their last four matches - end of season form that will have encouraged Gotti going into the new campaign.

They have been relatively quiet in terms of incoming signings this summer, and the loss of Fofana - the club’s highest assist maker with seven in 2019-20 - means they will look to the likes of Rodrigo De Paul to provide the goals for frontmen Kevin Lasagna and Stefano Okaka having scoring just 37 as a team last season - a total only fewer than bottom two SPAL and Brescia managed in the entire league.

One to watch: Juan Musso. The Udinese goalkeeper kept the most clean sheets in Serie A last year (14) and if he can repeat - or even better - that record then Udinese will have a good chance of a top-half finish this time around as long as they improve on their goals scored return.

First meeting with Roma: 3 October (H)

BOLOGNA
Last season: 12th

Head coach: Sinisa Mihajlovic

Notable players in: Lorenzo De Silvestri (free), Aaron Hickey (Hearts)

Notable players out: Mattia Destro (Genoa), Ladislav Krejci (Sparta Prague)

What to know: Sitting seventh at the end of Matchday 23, Bologna at one point looked like European contenders last term, but just three wins after the restart saw them slip out of the top-half.

They are yet to notably reinforce in the off-season – although Scottish arrival Hickey will surely provoke interest from his homeland - as they prepare for even more solidity going into Mihaljovic’s third season in charge, and another year in the safety of mid-table would be seen as a success for the seven-time Italian champions.

One to watch: Riccardo Orsolini. The 20-year-old former Juventus winger ended 2019-20 with eight goals and eight assists in the league - he also scored on his Italy debut in November - and once again will be Bologna’s greatest threat going forward, alongside last season’s top-scorer Musa Barrow.

First meeting with Roma: 13 December (H)

PARMA
Last season: 11th

Head coach: Fabio Liverani

Notable players in: Alberto Grassi, Roberto Inglese, Luigi Sepe (all Napoli, loans made permanent), Hernani (Zenit St. Petersburg), Yann Karamoh (Inter, loan made permanent), Jasmin Kurtic (SPAL), Giuseppe Pezzella (Udinese)

Notable players out: Dejan Kulusevski (Juventus, via Atalanta), Antonino Barilla, Jose Machin (both Monza)

What to know: In the fourth-tier of Italian football just five years ago, Parma’s rise back to the top division has been superb and they were hugely impressive in finishing 11th last year.

They have, however, called upon former Italy international Fabio Liverani to replace Roberto D’Aversa - who took the team from the third division to the top-flight with successive promotions - and it will be no easy task for Liverani, who could not prevent Lecce being relegated last season, to step into the shoes of his predecessor.

One to watch: Bruno Alves. The 38-year-old Parma captain may be entering the twilight of his career but he is still an imperious leader for the yellow and blues and last year won the most aerial challenges (79.3 per cent) of any player in the league.

First meeting with Roma: 22 November (A)

Stay tuned for Part 2 of our 2020-21 Serie A preview - taking a look at last season's top-half finishers - arriving on Thursday.