Serie A champions Inter will open their title defence against newly-promoted Bari at the San Siro on August 23.
After weeks of anticipation, the fixtures for the 2009-10 season were released at a ceremony held at the Italian Olympic Comittee's (CONI) Foro Italico headquarters in Rome this afternoon.
New Milan coach Leonardo will make his Serie A debut at Siena, while last years runners-up Juventus welcome Chievo to Turin.
The pick of the other opening day fixtures sees Europa League rivals Genoa hosting Roma, Bologna welcoming Fiorentina and, two clubs heavily active in this summer's transfer market, Palermo and Napoli meeting in Sicily.
With Giampiero Ventura's Bari having the daunting task of travelling to the reigning champions, Parma return to the top-flight with a tricky trip to Udinese, while play-off winners Livorno, under new coach Vittorio Russo, entertain Cagliari.
Elsewhere, its the battle of the new coaches as Gianluca Atzori's Catania play Luigi Del Neri's Sampdoria and Davide Ballardini's Lazio face Angelo Gregucci's Atalanta.
Highlights of the season
The fixture computer has provided a spectacular start to the season with the Derby della Madonnina between Milan and Inter scheduled for only the second weekend of the season, on August 29. That same week will also see Juventus travelling to the capital to face Roma, while the return matches are in Week 21 on January 24.
To avoid the summer heat, matches on the first two weekends will all be played in the evenings with a decision due shortly on the exact dates and kick-off times for games in the early part of the campaign.
Another standout fixture will be Juve travelling to Milan on the final day of the season on May 16, with the first meeting scheduled for Week 19 on January 10.
The big Derby d'Italia rivalry between Juve and Inter and the Derby della Capitale between Roma and Lazio will take place on the same weekend in Week 15 on December 6 with the return fixtures in Week 34 on April 18 - just five rounds from the end of the season.
The Derby della Lanterna between Genoa and Sampdoria will take place in Week 14 on November 29 and in Week 33 on April 11, while the Sicilian rivalry between Walter Zenga's Palermo and Catania will be played out a week earlier.
In other key encounters Roma-Fiorentina is scheduled for Weeks 4 and 23; Fiorentina-Lazio and Roma-Napoli for Weeks 7 and 26; Juventus-Fiorentina and Milan-Roma for Weeks 8 and 27; Juventus-Napoli for Weeks 11 and 30; Inter-Roma and Lazio-Milan for Weeks 12 and 31; Inter-Fiorentina for Weeks 14 and 33; Parma-Bologna for Weeks 16 and 35; and finally Fiorentina-Milan and Inter-Lazio for Weeks 17 and 36.
As well as the Milan-Juve showdown at the San Siro, the final day on May 16 will see Siena-Inter, Chievo-Roma, Bari-Fiorentina, Catania-Genoa, Sampdoria-Napoli, Lazio-Udinese, Atalanta-Palermo, Parma-Livorno and Cagliari-Bologna.
Week 1 Fixtures
22/23 August 2009
Bologna v Fiorentina
Catania v Sampdoria
Genoa v Roma
Inter v Bari
Juventus v Chievo
Lazio v Atalanta
Livorno v Cagliari
Palermo v Napoli
Siena v Milan
Udinese v Parma
[http://italian-calcio.blogspot.com]
0 komentar
Post a Comment