Women's Serie A Matchday 1 Talking Points: Lazio's derby draw, Juventus score six, Piovani's Inter start strong
The 2024/25 Women's Serie A season is finally underway and goals were the order of Matchday 1 as three of the five matches featured four goals or more. There was plenty from the opening set of fixtures to digest and ponder, with the obvious caveat that an opening weekend can give impressions of teams that prove to be completely false as the season progresses.
The headline fixture coming into Matchday 1 was certainly the Rome derby between champions AS Roma and newly promoted Lazio who won Serie B last season. There were also thumping victories from Juventus and Inter that suggest there could be a lot of goals during this campaign.
Lazio mean business
Lazio being back in Serie A means we are treated to one of Italian football's great rivalries again, and it delivered on the opening weekend. Roma took the lead through Valentina Giacinti's deft header and Lazio could have fallen further behind earlier on but they dug in.
They were level by the break after getting in behind the Giallorosse defence and by the hour mark, they had carved the champions apart and were on their way to what would have been a truly stunning opening weekend victory. As it was, Elena Linari produced a stoppage-time thunderbolt which meant the game ended 2-2.
Despite not holding onto the three points, Lazio's performance suggests that people have been right to take note of their summer business. A number of experienced Serie A-level players have signed and they almost beat the best team in the country. There is a valid reason for optimism about how the Biancoceleste's season could pan out.
Juventus can score goals
The job for Massimiliano Canzi this season is clear: Get his Juventus team much closer to Roma than they were last season and the year before. Winning the title is not necessarily a must (at least from the outside looking in), but they have to challenge.
The fact that they got three points and scored six goals away in a 6-3 win at Sassuolo is very encouraging, albeit conceding three which any coach would be concerned about. Lana Clelland's wonderful goal came from some particularly chaotic Bianconere defending.
Chiara Beccari is back from loan spells away and she grabbed the first goal of the game with some very positive play, which is encouraging for her chances of being one of the Bianconere's most important players.
The other element of this game that should excite Canzi is that six different players scored, meaning there could be goals all around the team throughout the season. It's one game, but the evidence so far suggests that Juventus can be potent.
Are Inter that good, or are Sampdoria that bad?
There are a handful of teams that are very hard to judge coming into the new Serie A season, and both Inter and Sampdoria fall into the category. A 5-0 win for Inter in this fixture certainly looks good for the Nerazzurre, and it looks bad for the Blucerchiate.
There were many times last season when Inter put in a display that suggested they had turned a corner, but the following week was less impressive. For that reason, this 5-0 win does not necessarily mean that Gianpiero Piovani's side can mix it with the best.
Similarly, Sampdoria are not necessarily doomed because they put in a terrible display against Inter. Time will tell as to how this result actually looks for both sides. What's for sure is that Samp must work on their chaotic defending, and Inter have goals all around the pitch with five different players scoring.