In Serie A by chance

When the 2004/05 Serie B was completed in June, the two top teams - Genoa and Empoli - were automatically promoted. Torino, Perugia, Treviso and Ascoli had to battle it out for the last remaining promotion slot.

Torino and Perugia, who finished level on points with Empoli in the standings, found little difficulty in eliminating Ascoli and Treviso respectively in the two-legged play-off semi-finals.

The final was won by Torino. They looked to have made up for a defeat in a similar decider against Perugia in 1998. However, two months down the line, the results obtained on the field of play were completely overturned. From the three promoted sides, only Empoli were confirmed in the Serie A.

As many know, Genoa were demoted to the Third Division and docked three points for match-fixing whereas Torino were downgraded to the Serie B again due to a precarious financial state.

Perugia, in the meantime, declared bankruptcy, and fifth and sixth-placed Treviso and Ascoli found themselves in the Serie A. This decision was definite only a fortnight ago and it meant that in the space of a few days, Treviso and Ascoli had to change strategies and aim higher.

For the past two seasons, Ezio Rossi was in charge of Torino.

Two seasons ago, the Granata finished in an awkward mid-table spot, well below expectations. Rossi was on the verge of losing his job many times but, for some reason or another, he was retained. He also held his job at the start of the 2004/05 season.

But after a brilliant start, Torino fell off the pace and it was only towards the end of the season that they made sure of finishing third.

Rossi was sacked with two games to go and former club and Azzurri stalwart Renato Zaccarelli steered the side to the play-offs.

But now, in Rossi's own words, finding himself at the helm of Treviso in the Serie A is a personal revenge for him.

"I never deserved to get the sack by Torino with only two matches from the end of the season," he was quoted as saying.

For Treviso this is their first season in the top division. Their debut was not so rosy though. On Sunday they tried to contain Inter at the San Siro as much as possible but once Adriano broke the deadlock the writing was already on the wall for the newcomers.

Also, Treviso have acquired too many players this month. It will take Rossi a few more weeks until he moulds them into a team that functions to his liking.

Andre Pinga and Dino Fava were signed to bolster Treviso's forward line. The Filippini brothers will add steel and experience in midfield and William Viali could be Treviso's latest reinforcement in defence. Rossi usually adopts a flexible 4-4-2 playing system that can be easily converted into a 4-3-3 in home games.

As things stand at the moment, Treviso's home ground - the Omobono Tenni stadium - is not adequate to host Serie A matches.

For this reason, Treviso are expected to play some of their home matches at Padova's Euganeo stadium. This fact in itself represents a heavy setback to Treviso's aspirations to stay in the Serie A.

Treviso came a cropper in their first showing in the top flight but Ascoli fared much better and held title contenders Milan to a one-all draw in a match many contend should have been postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.

Ascoli, in Serie A after 13 years, played the game of their lives at their Del Duca stadium. Unlike Treviso, they were rather inactive on the transfer market. The major signings of note were strikers Marco Ferrante and Fabio Quagliarella.

This aspect, perhaps, denotes continuity to a side that did so well in the previous season. However, if Ascoli are to enhance their survival chances, they have to sign more quality players. Lately, they were linked with Sasa Bjelanovic and Fernando Couto but time is running out as they have until this evening to conclude deals.

Marco Giampaolo - Ascoli's 38-year-old coach - knows only too well that his players need to perform heroics to stand a chance of avoiding the drop. In Serie B they defied the odds and finished in front of other promotion seekers Modena and Verona.

Giampaolo has a knack to bring the best out of his players. Will he succeed again this time? The start looks auspicious...

Serie A statistics

2nd successive draw for Milan on the opening day of the season. Last year, newly-promoted Livorno halted Milan's hopes of starting on a winning note. This time around, fellow newcomers Ascoli deprived the San Siro giants of a three-pointer after a one-all draw. After a slow-burning opening half, Ascoli went in front thanks to defender Mirko Cudini's first ever goal in Serie A. Milan did not lose time though and Andriy Shevchenko brought them back on level terms five minutes later. Juventus, meanwhile, made it nine wins in nine Serie A encounters with Chievo as they cruised to a deserved 1-0 home victory over the Verona side.

3rd win for Inter in four official matches this season as they trounced new boys Treviso 3-0 at home. In August, Inter qualified to the Champions League proper after ousting Shaktar Donetsk and also conquered Juve's Delle Alpi Stadium to lift the Italian Supercup. Of the various new signings this summer, coach Roberto Mancini deployed Luis Figo and goalkeeper Julio Cesar from the start. Chilean midfielder David Pizarro was introduced as a second-half substitute.

5 of six coaches who made their debut in Serie A last weekend made an erratic start and one already received the sack. Marco Giampaolo was the only one who had a positive debut as Ascoli earned an unexpected draw against Milan. The rest - Ezio Rossi (Treviso), Angelo Gregucci (Lecce), Mario Somma (Empoli), Attilio Tesser (Cagliari) and Giuseppe Pillon (Chievo) all finished on the losing end. On Monday, Tesser's stint with Cagliari came to an abrupt end as Daniele Arrigoni made a headline-grabbing return to Sardinia after leading them to a trouble-free mid-table spot last season. Luigi De Canio, too, was on the brink of losing his job after Siena's early elimination from the Coppa Italia at the hands of Atalanta. But on Sunday, the Tuscany side rose to the occasion and made a strong comeback to beat Cagliari 2-1 on home soil. After qualifying to the Champions League for the first time, Udinese wrapped up a memorable week by beating Empoli 1-0 at home. Udinese, now without Per Kroldrup, Marek Jankulovski and David Pizarro with respect to last season, were always the better team but their narrow lead left the game wide open until the final whistle.

6th draw on the trot (including last season) for Palermo as they threw away a half-time lead to share the spoils with Mario Beretta's new-look Parma at the Tardini stadium. The Sicilians dominated for long stretches in the first half but for their superiority, they had only one goal to show. After the break, Parma, with the inclusion of Domenico Morfeo, looked better and they did not take long to equalise through Mark Bresciano. In a balanced encounter at the Olympic stadium, Lazio edged Messina 1-0 thanks to a Goran Pandev goal. The main protagonist here was goalkeeper Angelo Peruzzi, 35. He saved Lazio with some heroic saves and later on in the day he earned a call-up to the national team by Azzurri coach Marcello Lippi for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Scotland and Belarus.

22 goals were scored on the first day of the 2005/06 season. Foreigners contributed with 10 goals. Last season's top-scorer Cristiano Lucarelli started on a high and hit the first goal of the new season. Inter star striker Adriano notched the first hat-trick of the season at the expense of

Treviso and veteran Enrico Chiesa scored a goal in each half to help minnows Siena beat Cagliari 2-1. Two players - Carlos Paredes (Reggina) and Roberto D'Aversa (Siena) - received marching orders. Sampdoria coach Walter Novellino became the first coach to be ordered off his bench. Last weekend there were three penalties in Serie A. Luca Toni crowned a positive debut for Fiorentina as he transformed a 30th minute penalty against Sampdoria. Chiesa grabbed Siena's equaliser against Cagliari from the spot on the stroke of half-time. It was Siena's first penalty in favour after 42 league games. Elsewhere, Alex Pinardi's penalty goal was not enough for Lecce to salvage a draw against Livorno.