Thiago Motta is confident Juventus will be competitive at the start of the Serie A season despite having more work to do in the transfer market.
It has been a period of change at the Allianz Stadium, with Motta replacing Massimiliano Allegri as head coach after four years without a league title for the Turin giants, which followed a run of nine straight Scudetto triumphs.
The Bianconeri have brought in midfielders Douglas Luiz and Khephren Thuram but are yet to strengthen their attack despite links with Teun Koopmeiners and Nicolas Gonzalez.
Their struggles in the transfer market could mean the likes of Weston McKennie, who looked to be on his way out at the end of 2023-24, could return to the fold for their Serie A opener against Cesc Fabregas' Como on Monday.
Motta, however, has faith in the players available to him, saying at Sunday's pre-match press conference: "First of all, McKennie is a useful and functional player for our needs.
"Tomorrow we have 19 players to face the game, only 11 can play. I have the possibility to make five substitutions, no more.
"We are in good shape, had good preparation, good training this week, with intensity, everything we want to see, and ready to face tomorrow's game."
Juventus are also likely to offload Italy forward Federico Chiesa, among others, and though former Bologna coach Motta knows there is plenty of work to be done, he is focused purely on starting his reign with a win.
"We are working hard to build a competitive squad together and today we are focused on playing a great game against Como. We will see the rest later," Motta said.
"The most important thing is that, even if you don't like to talk too much about the game, we are focused on playing well, doing our job well and getting the result we want against Como.
"All the players who come tomorrow deserve to be there, whether they play from the start or come in during the game, they do so on merit.
"Nothing is taken for granted, we have to deserve it and we have to focus on ourselves and on tomorrow's game.
"We are facing a team that has made it here from Serie B, they have won many games to get to this point, they have a lot of enthusiasm."
Verona 3-0 Napoli: Conte oversees humiliating loss on Partenopei bow
Napoli's Serie A season began in calamitous fashion on Sunday as they were thrashed 3-0 by Verona, also losing star winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia to injury.
Antonio Conte, overseeing his first league game in charge of the 2023 Scudetto winners, was forced to withdraw Kvaratskhelia just before half-time after the Georgian collided with Pawel Dawidowicz.
Napoli's problems mounted after the break when Dailon Livramento got in front of their defence to slot home from close range and give the hosts the lead.
The nightmare continued for Napoli after 75 minutes as substitute Daniel Mosquera received a throughball and calmly slotted his finish past Alex Meret.
With Napoli throwing men forward late on, Verona added some gloss to the scoreline as Mosquera claimed his brace, tapping home a cutback from Darko Lazovic for his brace.
Data Debrief: Conte's perfect record ends
After a dismal 2023-24 season that saw Napoli, as defending champions, go through three head coaches and finish 10th in Serie A, hopes were high that Conte's arrival would herald an instant upturn.
However, the Partenopei were stunned in his first league game at the helm, as he started a season as a Serie A manager with a defeat for the very first time.
He had previously registered five wins and one draw on matchday one in the competition.
Bolton draw proves Wrexham competitive in League One, says Parkinson
Wrexham manager Phil Parkinson says his side's goalless draw away at Bolton Wanderers proves they can compete in League One.
Bolton finished third in the league last season behind Portsmouth and Derby County before losing out in the play-off semi-finals against eventual promotion winners Oxford United.
The Welsh side, meanwhile, were promoted from the fourth tier and opened their League One campaign with a 3-2 victory over Wycombe Wanderers last time out.
Parkinson's side and Ian Evatt's hosts could not be separated on Sunday, however, as the visiting manager suggested the result shows Wrexham are equal to the level of the third-tier competition.
"It was a good test and I was interested to see how we fared," said Parkinson.
"They started so quickly and we didn't quite react to that. But we grew into the game. We showed at times we have got quality. We had moments, so did they.
"It was important for us as well to show we can compete at this level, at the top end of the division. I felt we did that.
"At times in the second period, we gained some control with the ball and looked like we could go on and win it. But we had to rely on Arthur [Okonkwo] for one particular outstanding save."
Parkinson believes his faith in ex-Arsenal goalkeeper Okonkwo, who denied the impressive Dion Charles, has paid off after his successful attempts to sign him.
"I said to the owners in the summer Arthur was a key signing," Parkinson added. "He is someone who can grow with the club.
"He's not just a good keeper, he is a good character as well. Everyone saw his quality. He was immaculate."
Over 24 League One contests on home soil last season, Bolton had 15 wins, five draws, and four losses, and Evatt felt the home side should have continued that impressive record on Sunday.
Bolton were also denied a stoppage-time penalty for a shirt pull on skipper Ricardo Santos, much to the dismay of Evatt.
"I thought we deserved to win it," Evatt said. "We were the team probing and asking questions for large spells. We should have and probably could have gone ahead and we had enough chances to win it.
"For a team like them that ask you lots of questions and score a lot of goals, they didn't create a great deal. They really celebrated the draw so that shows where we are at."
Maresca claims Chelsea matched Man City despite comfortable defeat
Enzo Maresca insisted Chelsea were equal to the masterful Manchester City in the aftermath of Sunday's 2-0 loss at Stamford Bridge.
The Italian started his Blues tenure with a loss as Erling Haaland and Mateo Kovacic scored in either half for the Premier League champions in their 2024-25 opener.
Chelsea mustered 1.23 expected goals (xG), however, to City's 0.82 and almost drew level when Nicolas Jackson had a strike ruled out for offside on the stroke of half-time.
Jackson was again denied by Ederson after the interval, while Enzo Fernandez's cross would have found debutant Pedro Neto for a tap-in if not for Rico Lewis' late intervention.
Former Leicester City boss Maresca believes his side matched City's efforts, yet the game was decided by the quality of Pep Guardiola's team in both boxes.
"I think we competed very well for much of the game," former City development coach Maresca told Sky Sports. "We were similar if not better.
"The performance was there but we didn't take the chances. Probably the big difference was inside the box. I'm quite happy in terms of performance.
"For me, the important thing is to create chances. We didn't score but we created chances. The first goal for them was almost offside, we almost scored.
"These things change results but the performance was good overall. It was quite clear, you can see a team trying to keep the ball and dominate.
"We were against the champions. We will continue and win games. They are a master in this kind of moment.
"They are a master of keeping hold of the ball. The performance was there and that is the main thing. You can see how they managed the ball.
"In terms of chances, we had the same. Keeping the ball was more or less there. We don't like to lose. We just need to continue."
Maresca's maiden match in charge at Stamford Bridge was clouded by his decision to leave out Raheem Sterling, whose representatives then issued a statement demanding "clarity" over the forward's future.
Sterling had featured on the opening matchday of the last 11 Premier League seasons for Liverpool, City and Chelsea, but was omitted from the squad along with Ben Chilwell, Romelu Lukaku and Conor Gallagher.
Maresca insisted the decision was based off "technical" aspects before the game, and reiterated that sentiment following the disappointing defeat.
"To be honest, I didn't see the statement," Maresca said. "I have nothing to say. It was a tactical decision, no more than that.
"In the next day, we will clarify in case we need to. I have been clear, it's a tactical decision. I didn't see it."
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