New Season Kicks-off

Juventus were held to an embarrassing draw against 10-men Rimini in the Turin club's first Serie B appearance following their demotion for their leading role in the match-fixing scandal.

Didier Deschamps' side have a points total of minus 16 after starting their campaign in the second division with a 17-point deduction. The club was also been stripped of the past two Serie A titles.

Juve may have had their title revoked, but they were still wearing the 'Tricolore' symbol today. In Italy, the title holders have the right to wear the shield on their shirts (representing the previous season's achievements) and, as a result of the match-fixing scandal, the 2005-06 Championship was revoked and handed to Internazionale instead. However, the team kept its achievements in full view during today’s Serie B debut, wearing special wristbands with the Scudetto insignia. All the players had this item, as did directors John and Lapo Elkann and director Jean Claude Blanc (pictured).

Arezzo, the other Serie B club involved in the scandal, were also held to a 1-1 draw at home to Mantova on Friday night. The result means they are now on minus five points.

In Serie A meanwhile, AC Milan made a good start to their initial task of overturning their eight-point penalty by fending off a late Lazio comeback to record a 2-1 victory. The visitors themselves began the season with an 11-point penalty.

Fiorentina kicked off their new campaign with a 3-2 defeat against Inter and are looking at a very long season after being hit with a 19-point deduction. The fourth Serie A club involved, Reggina, were defeated at Palermo despite scoring three goals away. They had hoped to chip away at their 15-point penalty but lost 4-3.


To keep up-to-date with all the the latest action on the field, please head over to the Italian Calcio blog!