Massimiliano Allegri Prepares for Fiercest Serie A Season Yet
Massimiliano Allegri is braced for a Serie A season he believes could be the fiercest in years – and he sees an unusually crowded field on the starting grid.
The Napoli head coach, speaking to Sportmediaset, set the tone straight away: Inter, the reigning champions, are still the team everyone has to catch. But he refused to paint the 2026-27 campaign as a familiar duel at the top.
“Inter are the favourites because they hold the trophy, but there will be at least eight teams to keep an eye on,” Allegri said. “As well as the Nerazzurri and ourselves, also Milan, Juventus, Roma, Fiorentina, Como and Atalanta.”
Eight contenders. One Scudetto. And for Napoli, a centenary year that raises the stakes even higher.
Centenary pressure and a packed calendar
The milestone season in Naples comes with an obvious weight. Allegri knows it. The tifosi know it. This is not the year to drift.
“It’ll be a beautiful and demanding year,” he admitted, outlining a campaign that stretches far beyond the domestic front. Napoli must juggle Serie A, the Champions League and the Coppa Italia under a revamped European format that leaves little room for error.
“We’ll have to be good at staying in it in Serie A, the Champions League and the Coppa Italia,” he said. “In the Champions League, however, we need to get through the single group stage and then reach the playoffs or the round of 16 as best we can.”
No talk of easing into Europe. Allegri wants Napoli not just to survive the new Champions League structure, but to arrive in the knockout rounds with authority.
Buongiorno blow tests Napoli’s depth
The optimism comes with a sting. At the back, Napoli have already taken a heavy hit.
Alessandro Buongiorno faces a long spell out, a serious setback for a defence built around his presence. The Italian international will not return before January, ripping a hole in Allegri’s plans and forcing him to shuffle his options early.
“It’s a shame about Buongiorno, who will be out until January,” the coach lamented.
The response, though, was immediate and pragmatic. Allegri reeled off the names he expects to carry the load in the meantime. “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.”
No panic, at least not publicly. Instead, a clear message to the dressing room: the solutions are already here, and the standard cannot drop.
Hojlund under the spotlight
At the other end of the pitch, the focus sharpens on Rasmus Hojlund, the powerful Danish forward tasked with spearheading Napoli’s attack in a season where fine margins could decide everything.
Allegri has not been shy in the past about drawing lofty comparisons between Hojlund and Harry Kane, but he chose his words carefully this time. Potential is no longer the headline. End product is.
“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,” Allegri stressed. “He can do so given that he has all the potential.”
Encouragement, yes. But wrapped in a clear demand. In a title race Allegri believes could stretch to eight clubs, Napoli cannot afford a nearly season from their No. 9.
Inter remain the benchmark. Milan, Juventus, Roma, Fiorentina, Como and Atalanta are all on Allegri’s radar. Napoli sit in the middle of that storm, chasing glory in their hundredth year.
The question now is simple: can this squad, bruised already by injury but loaded with expectation, turn Allegri’s belief in a wide-open race into a centenary worth remembering?
