We are almost twenty percent of the way through the Serie A season and as we head to the last international break before the World Cup, there is an unusual situation taking place at the top of the table.
If the season ended today, neither AC Mila, Inter Milan or Juventus would be playing Champions League football next season due to all four of them being outside the top four at the moment.
Milan are in 5th place, three points behind leaders Napoli and Atalanta, while Inter are five points back and Juve are seven points back.
The Serie A giants have had a terrible start to the season with just two wins in nine games across all competitions this season, a run of form that has many fans calling for manager Max Allegri to be fired.
But Allegri has a four-year contract worth €9m per season, an amount to big for Juventus to pay off, so he stays at the club. For now.
The slow start to the season for the big three, should not distract from the starts that Napoli, Atalanta, Udinese and Lazio have had.
Napoli, under Luciano Spalletti’s leadership, have been extremely impressive so far this season with wins already against Lazio and AC Milan in Serie A, and a comprehensive dismantling of Liverpool in the Champions League.
Spalletti has done a remarkable job so far this season, especially when you consider that he lost veterans like Kalidou Koulibaly, Dries Mertens and Lorenzo Insigne in the off season.
Serie A Standings after 7 games
- Napoli 17 ponts
- Atalanta 17 points
- Udinese 15 points
- Lazio 14 points
- AC Milan 14 points
- Roma 13 points
- Inter Milan 12 points
- Juventus 10 points