Pisa’s reward for returning to Serie A for the first time in 34 years is a tough set of opening fixtures, culminating in a derby against Fiorentina.

The Tuscans made it back to calcio‘s top tier after finishing second in Serie B, six points behind Sassuolo, and will start their campaign with a trip to Bergamo to take on Atalanta as Ivan Juric kicks off a new era at the Gewiss Stadium after replacing Gian Piero Gasperini as boss.

Serie A football will then be back in the shadow of the famous Leaning Tower in the second weekend of the season when the Nerazzurri host Roma, before Udinese arrive in Tuscany on matchday three, after the first international break

A relic of a ground belonging to a bygone era, the Arena Garibaldi is undergoing a facelift ahead of Pisa’s first top-flight campaign in over three decades, but it remains to be seen whether it will be ready in time.

What is certain is that the 106-year-old ground will be at its raucous best when Fiorentina visit on for the first Tuscan derby of the season on the last weekend of September, after Pisa have faced Napoli.

Pisa’s promotion challenge was a genuine surprise, coming after they finished 13th in 2023-24 with a negative goal difference, just five points clear of the relegation zone.

Even when they led the table for three months until the end of November, common wisdom suggested they would run out of steam. But they kept going and, save for their draw against Spezia on the opening day, were a permanent fixture in the top three.

For staying the course, enormous credit must go to Filippo Inzaghi, who radiated zen-like calm throughout the season.

He may, however, not be in charge for Pisa’s opening game, with reports over the past few weeks strongly linking him with a move to Palermo.

Meanwhile, bar major surprises, Fabio Grosso will be in the dugout when Sassuolo begin their Serie A campaign by welcoming champions Napoli to the Mapei Stadium – which will again host Serie A and Serie B football after Reggiana secured their second division status for another term.

The ground sharing agreement between Sassuolo and Reggiana has long been controversial. The Granata left the Stadio Mirabello for the Stadio Giglio in 1995, but the club lost ownership following bankruptcy in 2005.

The ground was renamed Citta del Tricolore in 2012 in honour of Reggio Emilia being the birthplace of the Italian flag in 1797, before being snapped up at an auction a year later by Mapei, the company that owned Sassuolo.

The Neroverdi left the Stadio Enzo Ricci in 2008 after winning promotion to Serie B and shared Modena’s Alberto Braglia until they reached Serie A five years later, when they moved to the Citta del Tricolore and rebranded it the Mapei Stadium.

Sassuolo have been playing home games away from home ever since – Reggio Emilia is 25km north of Sassuolo – while Reggiana have been paying them a lease to use a ground they once owned.

The Serie B winners then travel to Lombardy on the second weekend of the season to take on fellow newcomers Cremonese, before hosting Lazio ahead of a trip to the San Siro to face Inter Milan.

September ends with a home fixture against Udinese, before back-to-back trips to Verona and Lecce are followed by Roma’s arrival in Emilia.

Of the three promoted sides, the Neroverdi are arguably the best-equipped to survive in Serie A after coasting to promotion with five games left, a record bettered only by Benevento, who secured their return to Serie A with seven matches to spare in the 2019-20 season.

When Grosso led Frosinone to Serie A two seasons ago, his side went top of the table after 10 matches and never looked back, finishing seven points clear of Genoa.

The parallels with the this season are obvious. After a relatively slow start, Sassuolo hit the front at the end of November and like a golfer who birdies every hole on the final round of a major, left their rivals floundering.

Such is the quality and depth of their squad, the Neroverdi – as rival managers have often remarked this season – were effectively a Serie A side temporarily plying their trade one step down calcio‘s pyramid.

But it is one thing to have the best squad in the division, quite another to maximise their talents. But the numbers speak for themselves. Armand Lauriente finished as Serie B top scorer with 18 goals after registering only five last term, and vindicated Grosso’s desire to keep him at the club in the summer.

On the opposite wing, Nicholas Pierini netted 10, while Samuele Mulattieri bagged nine of his own and Kristian Thorstvedt and Luca Moro finished with seven each.

And then there is Domenico Berardi, whose 13 assists topped the standings alongside Cremonese’s Jari Vandeputte. Convincing the Italy international to remain in Emilia in the summer was arguably as big a coup as appointing Grosso, who has now won promotion at the first time of asking twice in a row.

Cremonese, meanwhile, mark their return to the top tier for the first time in two years with a trip to the San Siro to face AC Milan, where Max Allegri kicks off his second chapter in charge of the Rossoneri. The Grigiorossi return to Milan at the beginning of October to face Inter.

After that clash with Sassuolo at the Stadio Giovanni Zini on the second weekend of the season, Giovanni Stroppa’s men travel to Verona.

One of the most atmospheric grounds and among the oldest in Italy, the Zini has undergone extensive renovations over the past six years, with the capacity reduced to just north of 14,000 as the stadium was turned into an all-seater venue. But it has retained its charm.

Not that playing on home turf counted for much last season. Cremonese won just seven times in front of their own fans, drawing eight and losing four.

They fared better at home in the play-offs, thrashing Juve Stabia 3-0 in the second leg of the semi-finals and then holding Spezia in the opening leg of the decider.

La Cremo then won 3-2 in Liguria, atoning for the disappointment of 12 months ago when they fell at the same stage against Venezia and ensuring Lombardy will have five teams in Serie A next season.