The 2024-25 Serie A season began with some surprising teams making a name for themselves at the top of the table. Napoli’s Antonio Conte leads the league with 26 points after a solid start to the year, ahead of the ever-mighty Inter by a single point after some ups and downs from Simone Inzaghi’s side.
Juventus (24) and AC Milan (18 with one game less) are slightly behind, while AS Roma have had a terrible start to the season, as the club owned by American businessman Dan Friedkin decided to fire two coaches, club legend Daniele De Rossi. and Ivan Juric, in less than two months before appointing interim coach Claudio Ranieri until the end of the current season.
But there are three teams that are surprisingly knocking on the door of the top of the table, all tied at 25, just one point behind the Serie A leaders. Atalanta, Fiorentina and Lazio are the three most surprising teams of the season . Let’s take a closer look at how they were able to do it and, above all, if they can stay up there until the end of the season.
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Will this be Atalanta’s year?
Despite winning the 2023-24 UEFA Europa League, Atalanta were, as always, underrated before the new season began. The team coached by Gian Piero Gasperini is often not considered for the top positions in the standings, but season after season they make mistakes. However, there were some question marks surrounding their summer business, with the Nerazzurri losing Dutch midfielder Teun Koopmeiners to Juventus, while both striker Gianluca Scamacca and defender Giorgio Scalvini missed the first half of the season. season after his anterior cruciate ligament injuries.
Atalanta signed the likes of striker Mateo Retegui from Genoa and Nicolo Zaniolo, most recently from Aston Villa, among others, but can also count on Nigerian star Ademola Lookman and talented Belgian midfielder Charles De Ketelaere on the attacking side of the squad. Atalanta planned intelligently year after year, since Gasperini was appointed in 2016. They took all the right steps: European qualification, Champions League appearances, first major trophy and now the next step is winning the Serie A title. It may not happen this season, but that’s something that shouldn’t be considered impossible in the future.
Fiorentina: a new era
Fiorentina began a new era this season, after former coach Vincenzo Italiano left the club in the summer after losing two consecutive UEFA Conference League finals, and former Monza coach Raffaele Palladino was appointed to start a new cycle for the Viola. Palladino, despite some initial difficulties, was able to immediately contribute his tactical ideas to the team. Fiorentina made some big signings this summer, including Andrea Colpani and Albert Gudmundsson, but the man of the moment is former Juventus striker Moise Kean.
The Italian striker has had an impressive start to the season with eight goals scored in 11 Serie A games so far, already breaking his personal Serie A record for goals scored in a season. We can definitely expect more in the coming months as Kean is currently showing off what people have been expecting from him for years. Palladino was convinced that Kean could shine under his guidance and he was right: great news not only for Fiorentina but also for the Italian team, which can now count on him and Atalanta’s Scamacca and Retegui for the near future.
Lazio: the real underdogs
When this summer Lazio decided to part ways with coach Igor Tudor, who replaced Maurizio Sarri just a few weeks earlier, no one could have expected the impact that former Verona coach Marco Baroni could have on Lazio. The Italian coach had the opportunity of his career after many years working in smaller clubs, where he was always able to demonstrate his skills. I was simply waiting for the big opportunity and it was only a matter of time before it arrived.
The Biancocelesti also made the right transfer decisions, saying goodbye to club legends such as Felipe Anderson, Luis Alberto and team captain Ciro Immobile in the summer. They signed players like Nuno Tavares and former Salernitana attacker Boulaye Dia to replace them as Lazio needed to rebuild a new team and they did so in a short time with a coach that only a few could believe in. So far, everything is working out magically. since they occupy second place just one point behind Napoli. Plus, in a place like Rome, seeing their city rivals fighting as hard as they do makes Lazio’s season seem even better.
