Fabio Capello's Analysis: Serie A Title Race Insights

Fabio Capello doesn’t see a title race. Not yet.

With less than two weeks to go before Serie A kicks off, the former Milan and Juventus coach looks at the top of the table and sees one clear favourite: Inter. Everyone else, in his eyes, is scrambling.

“The distance between them (Milan and Juventus) and Inter, the champions of Italy, seems difficult to bridge in such a short space of time,” he wrote in his La Gazzetta dello Sport column. With that, he set the tone for a brutally honest assessment of the two clubs who are supposed to be chasing the Nerazzurri.

Juventus: Not a Spalletti team yet

Capello’s verdict on Juventus is blunt. The badge and the ambition are there. The identity, he argues, is not.

“Juventus don’t yet seem like a Luciano Spalletti side to me,” he said, underlining the gap between the coach’s ideas and the squad’s current state. There are positive signs – he likes the arrivals of Randal Kolo Muani and Kerim Alajbegovic – but he sees a team still built on compromises, not convictions.

The real alarm, in his view, is at the back. Defence needs work. Goalkeeper is a priority.

“Juve still has a big problem and that is the goalkeeper,” Capello wrote. “I say that with all due respect to Michele Di Gregorio, but his situation seems irreversible to me.”

Names have swirled around the market. Zion Suzuki has been linked as a possible loan option if he joins PSG from Parma, a short-term fix in a summer of juggling. Capello, though, is clear about where he would place his chips.

“Many names have been mentioned and from what I’ve seen, the Old Lady might prefer a ‘buffer’ option, postponing the spending until next summer. So, if a no.1 comes in on loan, I have no doubts about who to bet on: Vicario at Tottenham.

The reason is simple. Compared to Suzuki, the Italian has already shown that he performs well at big clubs, like he has done in London.

It is classic Capello: pragmatic, unforgiving, focused on reliability over potential. Juventus, in his eyes, cannot afford experiments between the posts while chasing Inter.

Milan: An “open construction site”

If Juventus worry him, Milan trouble him even more.

“Milan look like an open construction site: Only the work in progress sign is missing, yet the start of the Serie A season is just around the corner,” he wrote. It is not just a line. It is an accusation.

The situation around Mike Maignan and Adrien Rabiot has clearly irritated him. Both have chosen to extend their holidays, returning only a week before the league begins.

“Milan are still waiting for two big names in Maignan and Rabiot – by the way, I didn’t like the news of their return being delayed by four days at all,” Capello admitted.

He points to the lack of clarity everywhere he looks. The new signings Gila and Ramos have barely been seen. The starting XI Ruben Amorim has in mind remains a mystery. Pre-season, instead of sharpening ideas, has raised more questions.

On the touchline in Jakarta, during the friendly against Chelsea at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium, Amorim cut the figure of a coach still searching. Capello senses that uncertainty and doesn’t hide his concern.

“I get the impression that there’s still a bit of confusion around the Rossoneri, starting with Rafael Leao’s situation,” he wrote.

Leao, in Capello’s eyes, has misjudged the mood. “Rafa overestimated himself by publicly calling for the Premier League and, if he stays, I would be wary of the San Siro reaction to the first time he fails to run.” It is a warning as much as an observation. Milan’s star winger may remain, but the relationship with the stands now feels more fragile.

Inter out front, rivals chasing the clock

Capello’s analysis drops into a wider context of a league still incomplete. Corriere dello Sport recently calculated that the leading Serie A clubs are collectively “missing” around 20 starters, with the market still in motion and time running out. Capello agrees: there is too much to do, not enough days left.

Inter, stable and already champions, sit on one side of the divide. Juventus and Milan, reshaping under Spalletti and Amorim, are on the other, trying to assemble squads, settle key positions, and define their identities before the first whistle.

Capello’s final hope rests not on a sudden miracle in the market, but on clarity at Milan. “I hope that the next meeting between Cardinale and Amorim will bring some order and provide the right boost to sort things out on the market heading into the final 20 days,” he wrote.

The clock keeps ticking. Inter look ready. The question is whether Juventus and Milan can close even part of that gap before the season starts – or whether the title race will be decided before a ball is even kicked.