Serie A 2026/27 Opens August 23 With Torino v AC Milan and Ruben Amorim on the Milan Bench
Italy's top flight returns on 23 August with Inter defending a 21st scudetto, Milan starting away at Torino, three promoted clubs in Venezia, Frosinone and Monza, and four notable managerial changes.
Serie A is the last of Europe's big five leagues to get going this month. The 2026/27 campaign starts on 23 August and runs through to 30 May 2027, a compressed calendar forced by an expanded World Cup summer that pushed every major domestic season back.
The opening weekend
Matchday one sends AC Milan to the Olimpico Grande Torino to face Torino, the tie the Lega Serie A drew as the season's curtain-raiser when the fixture list was released on 5 June. Twenty clubs are in, the same number as last season, and this is the 125th campaign of top-flight Italian football and the 95th run as a straight round-robin.
Inter start as champions after taking a 21st scudetto last season. They also start with the shortest pre-season of anyone at the top of the table, which is the recurring theme of this particular August across Europe.
Who came up, who went down
Venezia, Frosinone and Monza are the promoted sides. Venezia and Monza both return after a single season away; Frosinone come back after two. Going the other way were Cremonese, Hellas Verona and Pisa, with Verona dropping out after a seven-year stay.
Four new voices
The managerial churn is the more interesting story. Ruben Amorim takes over at AC Milan, Gennaro Gattuso goes to Lazio, Maurizio Sarri arrives at Atalanta and Fabio Grosso takes Fiorentina. That is four clubs with genuine European ambitions all starting from scratch tactically in the same window.
Amorim at Milan is the one worth watching from the opening whistle. His back-three system asks a lot of wing-backs and takes time to bed in, and a Torino away trip on day one is not the gentlest introduction.
A late start with consequences
La Liga went first on 15 August, the Premier League on 21 August in its latest-ever start, Serie A on 23 August and the Bundesliga on 28 August. The knock-on is a denser midweek programme once the Champions League league phase begins on 8 September, and squad depth matters more than usual in the opening two months.
Following it on Playdash
Playdash covers Serie A from matchday one, with match result, both teams to score, Asian handicap and correct-score markets on every fixture, plus season-long outrights on the title, top four and relegation. Early-season pricing tends to move fast while new managers settle, and lines refresh through each matchday.
Fixtures, promotions and managerial appointments as confirmed through 19 August 2026.