If you remove the fact that two of Juventus’ Serie A titles were stripped in 2005 and 2006 due to the infamous match fixing scandal, Zlatan Ibrahimovic has never played for an Italian team that didn’t win the league’s title. In fact the Swede is five for five in his career as a Serie A champion and also has an active streak of two straight Serie A MVP’s along with one Golden Boot Award.

In other words the guy has been a great Serie A player.

So this season, in his first with AC Milan, will Ibra continue his winning ways? Considering that the last time that Juventus was truly a force in the league was when Ibra was with the club, I’d say that the guy is truly a difference maker. And perhaps his biggest problem that could develop over his new stint with Milan is that the Swede knows this.

Like all professional athletes Ibrahimovic is extremely confident in his own skills. Recently the striker called out his former Barcelona coach and his former Italian side of Inter Milan. And rewind a season back, Ibra claimed that Serie A football was inferior to Barca’s offensive friendly style and labeled Italian football as dull and dirty.

But Ibra is back in Serie A just a year later and this couldn’t have come at a better time for AC Milan who lacked the consistent offensive performers last season other then Pato and Ronaldinho. Ibra might give the edge to Milan this season over his former side simply because the man is that good. But defense still remains a bit of a question mark and Inter Milan still does have the edge in that category.

It will likely come down to the wire, but 6 for 6 is definitely a possibility for one of Serie A’s most successful players in recent memory.  

photo credit: Yme Bosma

Juventus former Brazilian forward Diego is another player to hit out at his former club for what he terms as ‘huge mistakes’. The Over rated Brazilian failed to live up to his billing in Turin since his move from Weder Bremen last summer.

Diego signed for Wolfsburg for 15 million Euros days before the transfer window ended. He will now join Juve’s most sought out summer target Edin Dzeko in attack for the Bundesliga giants.

“The transfer market campaign made by Juve is full of mistakes.” “They have lost so much money as well as stars. “I hope that in the future they will have a winning project with the understanding that the quality not only belongs to Italian players and that you cannot exclude foreign champions. You cannot win like that.”

“(Juve coach Luigi) Del Neri was very clear with me, he said he wanted me to stay, (Juve coach Luigi) Del Neri was very clear with me, he said he wanted me to stay.”

Again, we see the i wanted to stay excuse. However true or untrue this might be, Diego is right. Selling Quagliarella, Camoranesi and Aquilani was not the best decision. Del Neri is expecting to restore Juventus back to their rightful position as the top Italian side after a hard few years but it remains to be seen whether he will achieve that feat.

The Bianconeri lost their opening match to Bari and are under pressure to ensure they do not make the same mistakes twice for the second consecutive season.

Photo credit: from djsmaniak

As Roma’s new signing, Marco Borriello, made the headline after making a surprising switch from Ac Milan to the capital club just few hours before the transfer window closed despite being heavily linked with Juventus not long before that.

Revealing his decision to the press, Borriello stated that one of the main reasons he choses to play for the Giallorossi instead of Juve was because the persuasive text message send to him by Daniele De Rossi.

“I said no to Juventus because I am a sensible person and when I heard the President speak and I read the text message from De Rossi which gave me goosebumps, I immediately accepted,” Borriello said. “He text me to tell me to come here and ended with ‘we are going to win’.”

The Milan youth product also stated that he feels Roma have an exciting project that can motivate him to give his best in every game that he’ll played on the Giallorossi shirt. The striker added that the enthusiasm and seriousness of Roma’s president, Rosella Sensi, give him more confidence that he has chosen the right path for his career.

“It’s a great project, a great team. I can promise the fans that I will give my utmost commitment and that I will give spirit to this shirt, and I also say to them that I am a player with great motivation. If I am here today, I owe it to Rosella Sensi, to her words and to the passion that she knew how to transmit to me,” Borriello said to the press.

The 28-years-old striker actually still being considered as an important player for Milan this season, however it seems that the arrival of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Robinho has made Borriello take a decision to leave the Rossoneri. It is a reasonable thing to do as the Italian international obviously think that in Roma he will have more space to play especially should Adriano fail to regain his form, that condition would make the ex-Genoa player surely becomes the first choice in Roma.

Ac Milan made a surprising effort on the transfer market in the last weeks of the window as they not only managed to acquire Zlatan Ibrahimovic but also Brazilian star, Robinho, right on the last day of the transfer window.

The former Machester City’s man arrival was indeed a big surprise not only to the media and fans but also for Milan’s coach, Massimiliano Allegri, who didn’t even see it coming.

“I didn’t expect a reinforcement like Robinho. He is a player of great caliber,” Allegri said to the press. “We are talking about a wonderful present from Berlusconi, who I would like to thank again with my heart.”

Allegri is definitely excited with Robinho’s arrival as he would have more firepower in store for him and could allow the former Cagliari coach to rotate his front players a lot and still doesn’t lose the quality of Milan’s attack. Moreover, it some games the tactician might consider in playing his fantastic four attacking stars, Ibrahimovic, Pato, Ronaldinho and Robinho although it would really need some tactical adjustment to keep everything balance.

With Robinho’s arrival, Milan’s fans can also breath easy this days as should they lose Alexandro Pato through injuries like last season, the former Santos player would be more than a capable deputy for Pato. Not only that, the 26-years-old player’s arrival this season along with Ibrahimovic have provide a significant effect on the club and fans as the seasonal ticket’s sales are increasing since the signing of the two superstars.

According to previous reports, Robinho was brought by Milan from City with the amount around 18 million Euro plus bonuses, and the Brazilian will be expected to play at San Siro until four years. Milan’s vice president also stated that the money made to purchase the former Real Madrid striker comes from the club owner himself, Silvio Bersluconi.

photo credit: Alfonso Jiménez

Much like his old Inter Milan boss Jose Mourinho, Zlatan Ibrahimovic has been known to speak his mind. The former Golden Boot winner and MVP of Serie A has made headlines in the last few weeks for several scathing attacks the Swedish striker has launched toward his former Barcelona boss Pep Guardiola among others. And now that the forward has officially become a member of AC Milan via the $28 million euro transfer, Ibra is has now shifted his focus on outdueling his former Inter Milan side this season.

And when Inter Milan key man Javier Zanetti recently suggested that his former teammate was a selfish player, Ibra could not allow the statement to go unnoticed. Ibra, who will be sharing the San Siro this year with his former club, fired back at the aging Argentine star hinting that Inter’s long successful run was greatly due to his arrival to the organization.

Ibrahimovic told La Gazzetta dello Sport:

Inter are going down their own path, they don’t need to think about me. But until I arrived, they hadn’t won anything. I expected something of this nature from Zanetti. [But] I would have spoken well of myself in his place.The train moves on. I spent three very beautiful years with the Nerazzurri, but now I am only thinking about Milan, so I will play the derbies to win them all. In the next four years this team can win everything and I put myself at the service of my team-mates to get the maximum. The personal objectives come afterwards. We are among the strongest attacks in Europe with Ronaldinho and Pato. And don’t forget [Marco] Borriello and [Filippo] Inzaghi.

And it appears the war of words continues between Ibra and the rest of the football world.

  photo credit: Bjørn Giesenbauer

The Champions League kicks off in less than 2 weeks and AC Milan have already named their squad for the prestigious tournament. The Rossoneri buoyed by the recent summer signings have named a squad without any major surprises.

The only notable absentee is USA defender Oguchi ‘the gooch ‘Onyewu. The defender made only one appearance for Milan last season after sustaining a knee injury while on international duty.

Following his injury, Onyewu decide to play for the Italian giants completely free for an entire season. Allegri kept faith with players who were supposedly out of contract and on their way out of the San Siro.

The full list is as follows:

Gaolkepeers: Abbiati, Amelia Roma

Defenders: Nesta, Sokratis, Oddo, Jankulovski, Zambrotta, Thiago Silva, Bonera, Yeppes, Antonini

Midfielders: Gatusso, Seerdorf, Pirlo, Flamini, Boateng, Abate, Ambrosini

Strikers: Inzaghi, Ibrahimovic, Robinho, Ronaldinho

Jankulovski and Oddo were two of the players who were to leave the club this summer after their contracts run out. It however appears that Milan has had a change of heart and included them in their squad.

In case you are wondering why Pato is not in the list, he has been included in the b list. I was just as shocked to find out about it but apparently, it only means  he is there because of his age. The B-list is for young players who have been at the club for some time but who are still eligible to play in the tournament.

Milan face Auxerre on the the 15th of this month at the San Siro in what is expected to be a tough opening fixture. Auxerre made it to the Champions League after finishing 4th in the Ligue 1 last season.

It will be a must win match for Milan if they are to progress from a group that also includes Real Madrid and Ajax.

Photo credit: from terrorizer

Last season treble winning team, Inter Milan, seems very confident with their current squad as they didn’t make any significant signings this summer aside from youngsters such as Phelipe Coutinho and Jonathan Biabiany.

However, despite the confident shown by the club’s director, Marco Branca, the Nerazzurri’s coach, Rafael Benitez, reportedly is disappointed with his team’s decision to be inactive in the transfer market.

The former Liverpool’s coach has never hide his intention to sign some players that he really wanted, however until the summer transfer window closed on August 31, Inter’s directors doesn’t seem interested in giving Benitez his requests. Many speculation from the press suggested that the Spanish tactician is very keen to reunite with some of his former employee at the Reds, notably Javier Mascherano and Dirk Kuyt.

The Nerazurri reportedly did make a late effort in trying to sign those two players, however the attempt comes up empty handed as Liverpool rejected Inter’s offer for their two players. Surely the treble winning team’s supporters will be hoping that the situation won’t make Benitez lost any interest in giving the best for the club as the coach might feel that he is not respected by the board.

Despite having most of the squad that wins the treble last season, Inter did lose a bit of their strength with the departure of their previous coach, Jose Mourinho, and also a talented player that are useful for them, Mario Balotelli. Another importan thing that the Nerazurri board should really consider is the fact that their team are actually aging as most of their important first team players have reached the 30 plus mark.

Without any important signings that could at least be a useful sub for their first team players, it would be interesting to see how would Inter take their season especially with a new coach. Surely everything now will depend a lot of Benitez’s ability to quickly find the right formula that can make his team tick in order to face tough challenges ahead both in Serie A or the Champions League.

photo credit: batrax

The German national team captaincy debate has finally been decided by the club’s head coach Joachim Loew. And if you are not familiar with the story, the debate was fueled this summer by the excellent play of the German national team in the World Cup under interim captain Phillip Lahm who had replaced Michael Ballack for the honor due to a serious injury that kept the former Chelsea man out of the tournament.

Many Milan fans are very excited that Galliani and Berluscni have finally heard their pleas and cries and signed players who could win them trophies. There is no doubt that the Rossoneri are looking very strong on all fronts this season, however, before writing off other teams, it is important to note that Inter Milan, Juventus, AS Roma and the chasing pack of Napoli, Palermo, Sampdoria Fiorentina, Genoa and Lazio won’t yield the title to Milan or any other team for that matter without a fight.

Week 1 of the Serie A provided some shocking results and i can assure you that this will be the trend throughout the entire season. Who would have imagined that champions Inter could be held to a draw by Bologna or Juventus losing to Bari after acquirng some very talented players?

What we are witnessing could be a return to glory for a league that has been rocked by scandals and doping allegations for quite some time. With it’s latest acquisitions, the Serie A has now become one of the most appealing leagues to watch.

Ronaldinho, Eto’o, Adriano Krasic, Sneijder, Ibrahimovic, Robinho-these are just a few of the stars who will feature in the Serie A this season. Despite recording negative results on the first weekend of the season, Inter are Juventus are still strong title contenders.

The Nerazzurri under Rafa Benitez pose the greatest threat and have what it takes to win the title for a 6th straight time! The pressure will definitely be on Milan to win some silverware and as we all know that could be both know, that could prove to be either a positive or negative factor.

With the transfer window over at least until January, focus shifts to league action. My expectations for the first half of the season is open attacking football from the top four. Anything other than a win in the next for months could seriously derail any title hopes for these giants.

Photo credit: from dnaNerazzurro

It appears Inter Milan may have a formidable opponent this season in the quest for yet another consecutive Serie A title. 

AC Milan has had an extremely impressive transfer window and the club has brought in several world renowned stars in the last week alone. And days after landing the Swedish sensation and former Serie A Golden Boot winner Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the club has now signed Manchester City outcast and Brazilian playmaker Robinho.

AC Milan announced the acquisition earlier today well before the transfer deadline approached and the former EPL man also signed a four year deal after completing the full transfer. And the move certainly was not a shock considering the fact that Robinho had been linked with the Italian club for the last few weeks and also has negatively spoken out about having to return to England for the upcoming season,

Robinho originally wanted to stay with his domestic league side of Santos this upcoming year, but the ambitious EPL side demanded that the winger return to the club that owned his rights. And after a short training stint with the big spenders it appeared quite obvious that they would allow the Brazilian to leave with the huge additions of David Silva from La Liga side Valencia and James Milner from Aston Villa.

Robinho will join fellow Brazilian offensive superstars Pato and Ronaldinho, so expect the former Man City man to have an immediate impact on the pitch for his new Italian club. And the addition is great news for Serie A fans considering it gives Inter a little bit of added pressure to defend their league title this season.

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