Italy’s four clubs collected four points from a possible twelve on Matchday One. Como beat RB Leipzig 4–1, Roma drew 1–1 at Fenerbahçe, Inter lost 2–1 at Real Madrid and Napoli lost 1–0 at home to Arsenal. It was not a bad night; it was an uneven one, and the unevenness is the story.
Como’s result stands out. A club that was in Serie B as recently as 2023–24 beat a Bundesliga side by three goals in the Champions League. A three-goal margin was bettered only by Paris, Bayern, Barcelona and Manchester United that night, and each of those is a club of a very different scale. The result says more about Como’s project than about Leipzig’s evening.
Inter and Napoli lost by a single goal each, to Real Madrid and Arsenal. Those are narrow margins against high-level opposition, not collapses — but they leave both clubs needing points in October. Inter host Club Brugge on 13 October; Napoli travel to Villarreal the same night. Roma, with a point from Istanbul, host Real Madrid on 14 October, and Como travel to Feyenoord at 18:45 the same evening.
At home, the Serie A table is tighter than the European one. As of 5 October, Roma, Inter and Lazio lead with thirteen points after five rounds, Roma ahead on goal difference, with Cagliari on twelve and AC Milan and Frosinone on ten. At the bottom Venezia have no points and Genoa one. A league in which Cagliari and Frosinone sit near the top is a league in which the middle class is competitive.
Four points from twelve is not a crisis. Four points from the next twelve would begin to look like a pattern. Matchday Two gives Rome a chance to answer for the country: Roma against Real Madrid, Wednesday night at 21:00.