AC Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti's reign could come to an end if his side do not win the Scudetto this season.
The Rossoneri have not clinched the Italian league title since 2004 yet Ancelotti has remained in charge, with Milan's success in the Champions League - they won it in 2007 - one of the main reasons why.
In the 2007-08 season, though, Milan, despite having one of the most talented squads in the world, finished fifth in Serie A which was not good enough to earn a place in Europe's elite club competition.
Even though they will not mix it with Europe's best this season, they have still managed to sign Ronaldinho from Barcelona, Mathieu Flamini from Arsenal and their prodigal son Andriy Shevchenko following a fruitless two years at Chelsea.
Having watched Internazionale win the league last term, Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani said: "Milan is a Scudetto team, the coach knows that.
"We must fight for the title. This doesn't mean that we cannot lose, but we certainly must be in contention until the last day of the campaign."
Key playmaker Kaka will miss the start of the season because of a knee injury, but Shevchenko is eager to be a worthy deputy.
"Now I have returned home, I will not look back anymore but forward," Shevchenko said. "I will give anything to score immediately.
"I want to start again. I hope that the injuries I had in recent seasons won't be repeated, but here I have everything to do well and it depends only on me."
Milan will inevitably face stiff competition from Inter, under the new leadership of Jose Mourinho following the sacking of Roberto Mancini who won three straight league titles but failed in Europe.
Mourinho has already had cause to celebrate after Inter beat Roma on penalties to win the first title of the campaign, the Italian Supercup, earlier this week.
"My team is proving to be psychologically really strong and tactically compact," said Mourinho. "This is a great group, an excellent group."
Roma, runners-up last season, are still mourning the death of their president Francesco Sensi after a long illness but were boosted by the return from injury of talisman Francesco Totti - despite him missing the crucial penalty in the Supercup defeat.
Coach Luciano Spalletti has strengthened his squad with Brazil striker Julio Baptista and defender John Arne Riise from Liverpool, although he lost star winger Mancini to Inter.
Claudio Ranieris Juventus have designs on challenging for supremacy.
With the Calciopoli scandal behind them and a spot in the Champions League group stage secured through qualifying, the Bianconeri are eager to make hely.
"We face an interesting season," said Ranieri. "Its going to be beautiful, challenging and we must be ready from the first game (against Fiorentina)."
Fiorentina pipped Milan to fourth place last term and managed to keep striker Adrian Mutu after speculation he would leave.
The Tuscan team, led by Cesare Prandelli, will be looking to make an impact in both Europe and Serie A.
Italys top flight welcomes back Chievo, who won Serie B last season. The Verona outfit has 10 new players.
Other promoted teams are Bologna and Lecce.
The battle to finish in the European spots is likely to be between Sampdoria, Udinese, Lazio and Palermo.
Sicilian giants Palermo sold top scorer Carvalho Amauri to Juve after the end of the campaign but brought in 12 new players.
Napoli, Genoa and Atalanta, who all shone last campaign to finish in the top half of the table, could pull a surprise and qualify for Europe.
Expected to be in the fight for Serie A survivalthe club landing just one major signing in striker Rolando Bianchi from Manchester City.
