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2019-20 preseason Serie A power rankings: Everybody is chasing Juventus

By John Vaccaro

Juventus defender Giorgio Chiellini (3) kisses the Serie A soccer title trophy after the Serie A football match n.38 JUVENTUS - VERONA on 19/05/2018 at the Allianz Stadium in Turin, Italy. (Photo by Matteo Bottanelli/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Juventus defender Giorgio Chiellini (3) kisses the Serie A soccer title trophy after the Serie A football match n.38 JUVENTUS - VERONA on 19/05/2018 at the Allianz Stadium in Turin, Italy. (Photo by Matteo Bottanelli/NurPhoto via Getty Images) /
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VERONA, ITALY – MAY 04: Jasmin Kurtic of SPAL celebrates after scoring his team’s fourth goal during the Serie A match between Chievo Verona and SPAL at Stadio Marc’Antonio Bentegodi on May 04, 2019 in Verona, Italy. (Photo by Tullio M. Puglia/Getty Images)
VERONA, ITALY – MAY 04: Jasmin Kurtic of SPAL celebrates after scoring his team’s fourth goal during the Serie A match between Chievo Verona and SPAL at Stadio Marc’Antonio Bentegodi on May 04, 2019 in Verona, Italy. (Photo by Tullio M. Puglia/Getty Images) /

It’s that time of year again where we get to wildly prognosticate about the coming Serie A season.

This is something I’ve been looking forward to starting all summer. Every week I will rank Serie A’s teams based on their recent form and season long performance. This first ranking is based mostly on where teams finished last year and how they changed over the summer. Let’s take a look at how these teams stack up heading into the first weekend of the Serie A season.

Destined For Relegation

20. Hellas Verona

I have a feeling this will be the second year in a row that we see a team from Verona finish last in Serie A. Hellas Verona wasn’t really even a particularly impressive Serie B team last year. They were 6th in points until Palermo took their huge point deduction and their path through the promotion playoff wasn’t all that inspiring. They beat 8th place Perugia in extra time, 4th place Pescara by 1 goal, and 7th place Cittadella with a 3 goal win in the second leg to erase a 2 goal deficit. Looking at their action in the transfer window, I just don’t see enough to believe they’ll be competitive in Serie A.

19. Lecce

Lecce used a strong push at the end of last season to finish 2nd in Serie B and earn promotion without the playoff. Winning 7 of their last 10 matches was an impressive way to finish their season, but this season hasn’t started quite so brightly. They were trounced by Genoa in the Coppa Italia, losing 4-0 in a match that showed just how low their ceiling is. They were better than Verona last year and did enough this summer to keep that way, but I don’t think there is any other team in Serie A they can say that about right now.

18. SPAL

It wasn’t easy for SPAL to stay in Serie A last season. After match day 27 they sat only 1 point ahead of Bologna who was in 18th at the time. They went on a nice run from there, winning 6 of 8 to get away from the relegation zone and finishing 4 points above relegation. I don’t think they’ll be able to pull it off this year, though. They’ve lost a few players who played big roles in their squad last year, including the only 2 keepers who started matches for them. I don’t think they’ve done enough to replace their losses, while other teams in the middle of the Serie A table have been getting stronger. They’ll put up a good fight this year, but I think they are the 3rd relegation destined team.

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