Juventus begin treble pursuit at Sampdoria

Posted Tuesday, July 30, 2013 by Foxsports.com

Juventus will kick off their bid for a third straight Serie A title with a trip to Sampdoria on the opening day of the 2013-14 season.

After successfully fending off Napoli to retain the title last time out the Bianconeri will visit the Stadio Luigi Ferraris on August 24 before tackling Lazio in Turin and visiting Inter Milan for a northern derby at San Siro.

Napoli, who start life under coach Rafael Benitez at home to Bologna, will take summer signing Gonzalo Higuain to Chievo on the second weekend before returning to the Stadio San Paolo for a game against Atalanta.

The first Milan derby of the season takes place on December 22 but AC Milan start their campaign with a trip to face newly-promoted Hellas Verona, who are back in Serie A after 11 years away, at the Stadio Marc'Antonio Bentegodi.

The Rossoneri then tackle Cagliari in Milan before facing Torino on the road.

Inter, meanwhile, finished ninth last season but host Genoa on the opening day with new boss Walter Mazzarri planning for a brighter future. Their first away day involves a trip to Sicily to face Catania before the first Derby d'Italia clash with Juve looms at San Siro.

Also under new management are Roma, whose new coach Rudi Garcia begins his work at Livorno, while their city rivals Lazio are playing host to Udinese.

The first Derby della Capitale between the Giallorossi and Biancocelesti is scheduled for September 22 but a section of the Stadio Olimpico will be closed to Roma supporters due to racist behaviour towards the end of last season.

There are also city derbies for Verona and Chievo on November 24 and between Sampdoria and Genoa on September 15, while Juve visit Torino on September 29.

There is no Sicilian derby for Catania in this year's championship following Palermo's relegation to the second tier.

They start out at ambitious Fiorentina, Parma host Chievo and Torino tackle Serie B champions Sassuolo at the Stadio Olimpico.

Cagliari, meanwhile, start their season against Atalanta at the Stadio Nereo Rocco in Trieste after leaving their doomed Stadio Is Arenas home and Sardinia at the end of last season.

Once the first round of 19 games has been played, the second half of the season acts as a mirror of the first with Sampdoria visiting Juventus for the 20th game of their campaign.