From last season’s Coppa Italia winners Bologna, to fifth-place Roma, who have exciting times ahead under the watch of Gian Piero Gasperini, we take a look at the teams hoping to book themselves a place at the Champions League table.

Bologna

As well as lifting the domestic cup and finishing ninth in the league, Bologna dipped their toe in European Cup waters for the first time in 60 years. Not a bad return for the ex-Fiorentina boss Vincenzo Italiano on his first season with the club. But can they improve this year?

Italiano made a name for himself reaching European finals with Fiorentina. In 2022–23 and 2023–24 he led them to the final of the Europa Conference League so perhaps this year’s Europa League will be Bologna’s turn for a continental adventure.

Bologna understandably dropped off in the league last season, when key players from the previous campaign left and they adapted to a managerial change. But it was still a success – their Coppa Italia victory was the first major trophy since 1974 and it is fair to say that nobody expected such a victorious end to the season after what seemed like such a peak moment in qualifying for the Champions League 12 months prior.

Question marks remain over Bologna’s summer business though. They have lost key personnel and not brought in many replacements. Dan Ndoye, who was sold to Nottingham Forest, had 12 goal contributions in 30 league appearances last year while they have also lost Sam Beukema to Napoli, a man who played 47 games at the heart of their defence last season.

In Ciro Immobile and Federico Bernardeschi they have added two big names on free transfers. Immobile scored a goal every two games for Besiktas in the Turkish top flight last year, but he is 35, and while Bernardeschi is younger at 31, he has spent the last four seasons in the MLS with Toronto FC.

At the back Bologna have tried to replace Beukema with the signing of 22-year-old Czech defender Martin Vitík from Sparta Prague and they have also added Lazio centre-back Nicolo Casale on a full-time basis after he joined on loan last year.

All four signings were completed for a total of under €20million in a summer when the club made just under €80m in sales. The Bologna board will be hoping it is genius business, but maybe they have left themselves too short to compete domestically and in the Europa League.

Top-four chances: 1/5 – Bologna have a lot to handle and might prioritise a Europa League run.

Milan

What a rollercoaster few years it has been for Milan fans. From 2014 to 2020 they descended into turmoil and did not finish in the top four for seven consecutive seasons. In 2022 they won a first title since 2011 but three seasons later finished back down in eighth. What on earth is next?

Massimiliano Allegri has returned as manager for a second spell having been in charge between 2012 and 2014. That exit coincided with Milan’s decline and Allegri became the coach of a Juventus team who dominated Italian football. Can he do it again and bring the good times back?

It will not be a simple task as Milan face a big rebuild, both on the field and in the stands. Relations between the fans and the club hit some low points, leading to huge protests from ultras.

Big names have left. Tijjani Reijnders was one of very few positives for Milan last season but he moved to Manchester City. Theo Hernandez, Emerson Royal, Tammy Abraham and Kyle Walker are also amongst the experienced names that left the San Siro this summer.

Milan brought in 23 year-old Torino midfielder Samuele Ricci before adding Ardon Jashari from Club Brugge. Ecuador international Pervis Estupinan comes in at left-back from Brighton and Luka Modric arrived from Real Madrid on a free-transfer, but a lot of pressure weighs on the 39 year-old Croat to pull the strings.

Another issue is that nobody has scored 20 goals in a season for Milan since Carlos Bacca in 2015-16. In January they signed Mexican forward Santiago Gimenez from Feyenoord but there is talk another No 9 could still be added. Rasmus Hojlund has said he wants to stay at Manchester United while Darwin Nunez of Liverpool was mentioned but appears to be heading to Saudi Arabia.

If Allegri can steady the ship and bring pride back to Milan then it is a good start. It sounds very unambitious for the seven-time European Cup winners but that is where they are at the moment.

A top-four finish would be incredible, but not impossible given Allegri’s track record and the fact that Milan do not need to worry about any European fixtures this year.

Top-four chances: 3.5/5 – Allegri has no European football to worry about and they are well placed to creep back in.

Lazio

Lazio finished seventh for the second consecutive season in 2024-25 and last finished in the top four three years ago when they came second under Maurizio Sarri.

Back then Immobile was Lazio’s top scorer for an incredible eight consecutive years. Their top league marksmen last season were Valentín Castellanos and Pedro with just 10 each and there are just a handful of out-and-out attackers in the first-team squad.

At least Sarri is back as manager but like Allegri at Milan he has a lot of work to do. His second-place finish feels like a decade ago and the current squad finished last season on a downward spiral, winning just three of their last 11 league matches.

Lazio are under a transfer ban which has had a big impact on their summer plans. Of a handful of permanent deals that have taken effect this summer, four of the players were already playing on loan at the club, including the likes of Nicolo Rovella and Nuno Tavares. Besides that, Lazio have two more outfield players in the squad than Serie A regulations require, so even though they need to add, they have to let more players go.

With the transfer ban in place until September and sales being forced, it was rumoured that Sarri wanted to walk away, but he is trying to build the most competitive squad possible ahead of the new season.

Given the current circumstances Lazio are not convincing anybody they are about to break into the top four, and will do well to stay amongst the top eight.

Top-four chances: 2/5 – Sarri is back but there is little evidence they have what it takes.

Fiorentina

Fiorentina are Italy’s Europa Conference League lovers. They nearly reached a third consecutive final last season, stopped in the semis by Real Betis. La Viola also managed a sixth-place finish in Serie A, so they will compete in the Conference League yet again.

Like Lazio and Milan, Fiorentina welcomed back a former coach this summer. Stefano Pioli also played for them in the 1990s, helping them to the 1993/94 Serie B title. He won the league and European Cup as a Juventus player too, and led AC Milan to the Serie A title as boss in 2022.

Last season was an upturn for Fiorentina, who earned their highest league finish since the 2015-16 campaign. A lot of that was down to their star striker Moise Kean. Despite a handful of minor injuries, Kean took his game to another level, bagging 25 goals in all competitions including 19 in 32 league matches. He only scored 14 goals in his previous 105 club football appearances before that.

Fiorentina have been relatively active this summer. They signed Switzerland midfielder Simon Sohm from Parma while veteran striker Edin Džeko joined on a free transfer. The ex-Inter Milan and Roma striker scored 21 goals for Fenerbahce last campaign. The 23 year-old defender Mattia Viti is another new face, who arrives off the back of more than 30 appearances for Empoli last season. 

Top-four chances: 2/5 – They are still only the sixth or seventh-best team in the league.

Roma

Roma finished fifth last year and have strengthened their position as top-four contenders with an exciting summer of business. However, no signing is more exciting than their new head coach; Gian Piero Gasperini

Gasperini turned Atalanta into a Champions League club and title-chasing team during his nine-year spell in Bergamo. Roma have not won a domestic trophy since 2008 and have not finished in the top four since the 2017-18 season, but fans will be hoping Gasperini can work some of his magic in the capital.

Roma have doubled down in the transfer market too, backing Gasperini by making some impressive signings without spending too much money. Right-back Wesley signed from Flamengo for €25m and midfielder Neil El Aynaoui joined from Lens for €23.5m. Roma also completed the loan signing of Evan Ferguson from Brighton. The Irishman has bags of quality and has opened his account in pre-season action. All of the newcomers are aged 24 or under.

Roma must balance domestic football with the Europa League in 2025-26, but they seem poised to finally return to a top-four position. They will at least come very close again. Atalanta will struggle to maintain a top-four spot without Gasperini and they are losing some of their top players this summer.

Meanwhile Juventus and Napoli must balance league football with the Champions League, which is no easy feat, and question marks still surround Juve in particular. They have given caretaker manager Igor Tudor a full-time role tand only beat Roma to fourth place by a point last season, with a 3-2 final day victory at Venezia.

Keep an eye out for Gasperini’s Giallorossi. They are coming for a Champions League place.

Top-four chances: 3.5/5 – If new signings click for Gasperini, Roma could easily replace his old team at the business end of the table.