Seven-way war! Juventus boss maps out the most brutal Serie A race in years

Luciano Spalletti has fired the first warning shot of the Serie A season: the race for the Champions League will be a seven-team battlefield.

Details: The Juventus coach said there are seven teams of significant standing in the fight, pointing to their quality, what they achieved last season, the potential of their squads and their important transfer business as the reasons for his assessment.

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Spalletti knows exactly how tight it gets. Juventus finished sixth last season and missed the Champions League on a dramatic final day, when Milan also fell short while Inter, Napoli, Roma and Cesc Fabregas' Como booked their tickets. Since taking over from Igor Tudor in October 2025, Spalletti has signed a new two-year contract and rebuilt aggressively this summer, adding Pape Matar Sarr on loan and striker Nick Woltemade as the headline deadline moves. With champions Inter, Conte's Napoli, Gasperini's Roma, ambitious Milan and Juve all reloading, plus Como's rise and Atalanta's quiet market, his seven looks less like coach-speak and more like the table waiting to explode.

It's worth noting that last season just two points separated Juventus in sixth from the top four, the margin Spalletti is determined to erase this time around.

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