Inter and Juve put faith in returning stars but youthful Milan feel upbeat

The Serie A season kicks off this weekend. 

ROMAN HOLIAY: Paulo Dybala who has signed a three-year deal with Jose Mourinho's Roma.

Can you win Serie A with reheated soup? The common Italian idiom holds that minestre riscaldate never tastes as good as you hope. Yet Internazionale and Juventus have been pulling Tupperware containers out of their freezers this summer, seeking the recipes that earned them titles before.

The Nerazzurri did not need to dig far. They finished only two points behind Milan last season and knew exactly which ingredient had been subtracted from a champion dish. Romelu Lukaku was Inter’s top scorer and leading assist provider in 2020-21. Securing his return on loan from Chelsea, less than 12 months after selling him for €115m, was a sensational coup.