Serie A: 5 Bold Predictions for Next Season in Italy

Serie A has only just finished, but it has been such a sensational season that it leaves all calcio fans wanting more.

With the European Championships to keep us amused next month, it will be a short break until the championship restarts again, especially as the Lega have decided to begin the season two weeks earlier than it did last season.

Serie A 2011/12 began a week later than usual due to a player strike, but the Lega have taken this action to avoid the problems earlier this season with games being postponed due to extreme weather.

Here are five bold predictions of what we might be able to expect when Serie A resumes in roughly three months time.

Heavy Points Penalties Will Be Handed to Serie A Teams Ahead of the New Season

Normally we could expect that the 17 teams that avoided relegation would be set to return for the following campaign. However, Italy has suffered another betting scandal (known as calcio scomesse), and many players have come under scrutiny for their part in matches that were allegedly fixed.

The investigation has highlighted Atalanta and Siena in particular, who were both promoted to Serie A in 2011. They are accused of being part of 29 Serie B matches, two Coppa Italia matches and two Coppa Lega Pro ties that were supposedly fixed during the season that they were promoted, according to Football Italia.

Atalanta finished comfortably outside the relegation zone, so any points penalty imaginable will likely not be enough to put their place in Serie A in jeopardy. Siena, on the other hand, escaped an immediate return to Serie B by eight points. Therefore it is not beyond the realm of possibility that the Italian football association (FIGC) could hand a heavy enough penalty that Siena would be demoted, once the Serie A table has been re-written.

At the very least I expect the two sides accused, who are currently in Serie A, to be handed a substantial points deduction.

Juventus to Begin the Season Slowly

I expect Juventus to begin the season in a slow fashion, perhaps being beaten within the first month, which would be a shock considering they went the whole of the 2011/12 season unbeaten.

The reason behind this is because Italy's national is built by the majority of the Juventus side. For instance we could see as many as six Bianconeri in the starting 11 alone.

Gianluigi Buffon, Giorgio Chiellini, Leonardo Bonucci, Andrea Barzagli, Andrea Pirlo and Claudio Marchisio are all in line to start Cesare Prandelli's first game at the European Championships.

Moreover, Juventus have had an enduring season, despite only participating in two competitions, Serie A and the Coppa Italia. The Old Lady has reached the final of the Coppa Italia and were pushed all the way by Milan in the league, as well as putting extra effort to remain unbeaten when they realised the feat was achievable in the closing stages of the championship.

It is only human, therefore, that Antonio Conte has granted the side ample opportunity to celebrate their magnificent achievements this season. Combine this with their international exertions and Juventus will be nursing a hangover once Serie A starts over.

Napoli Will Be Picked Apart by Europe's Biggest Clubs

Napoli are in big trouble as we enter the summer. The transfer window has reopened and Napoli do not have Champions League football as a negotiating tool to prevent their best players from demanding an exit.

Ezequiel Lavezzi and Edinson Cavani in particular will be highly coveted by all of Europe's biggest clubs and we can expect plenty of bids for these players and others beside, as Napoli's golden period seems to be turning to stone.

Walter Mazzarri ultimately paid the price for attempting to win the Champions League, or at least venture as far as it was possible, as the Partenopei faltered too often in their quest for that elusive third place. They relinquished it to Udinese in the penultimate game away to Bologna, which can only be described as a tragedy for the Azzurri fans who witnessed it.

It was such an anemic display that it could even put Mazzarri's job in danger, and it weakens Aurelio De Laurentiis' position once the bids begin to arrive.

So long Napoli, it was fun while it lasted.

Antonio Di Natale Will Continue to Defy Logic, Keep Scoring Goals

Antonio Di Natale enjoyed another sensational season.

Toto guided Udinese to an amazing third place finish—an improvement on last season's fourth place—despite losing many of their best players, including Alexis Sanchez, now with Barcelona.

Despite being 34 years old, Di Natale has continued to revel in the peak of his career, scoring more than 20 goals in Serie A for the third consecutive season. Only a remarkable season by Milan's Zlatan Ibrahimovic prevented the Neapolitan from claiming a third consecutive Capocannoniere.

There is no sign he is slowing up just yet and I foresee more goals for the Zebrette next season, even if the Champions League group phases this time, after they were cruelly defeated by Arsenal in the preliminaries last year.

Long live Toto, the Aglianico of calcio.

Milan Will Improve Despite Losing Legends

AC Milan will improve next season under Massimiliano Allegri, despite losing several highly experienced players.

In an emotional match against Novara, Gennaro Gattuso, Pippo Inzaghi, Alessandro Nesta and Gianluca Zambrotta played their final matches in a Rossanero shirt. It also seems likely that Clarence Seedorf will seek pastures new and it was also confirmed that Mark van Bommel, injured last Sunday, will also leave the San Siro.

Despite these heavy losses, I expect the Rossoneri to improve, especially as Allegri can now trim the squad. It was unnecessarily large this season—fortunately some might argue—given the amount of injuries that the team suffered.

But considering Milan cannot expect to suffer a similar amount of injuries, it will ultimately benefit the side to have a more consistent starting 11 at the manager's disposal, rather than the constant compulsory changes enforced on Allegri.

It was a burden on the manager last season to know that so many highly paid professionals were not even able to make his bench, and perhaps even damaging to morale. Knowing that only Massimo Ambrosini is left from the old guard that claimed multiple Champions League wins is sad for Italian football, but in reality Milan have successfully applied the transition to a new era.

Jack Alexandros is a football analyst for Football Radar, covering Serie A. You can follow him on Twitter, @jackalexandros and @FRcalcioJack.