“In kicking off its season with a single match on a Friday evening, as if the start could not come soon enough after the first round of fixtures were postponed because of a players’ strike, the Lega Serie A displayed the kind of awkward creativity borne out of a crisis that seems to run in the Italian blood.” ESPN

Milan 2-2 Lazio: danger down the flanks
“The opening Serie A game of the season was excellent, with all four goals coming in a frantic first 35 minutes. Max Allegri continued with his 4-3-1-2 shape, with Antonio Cassano playing just off Zlatan Ibrahimovic upfront. Edy Reja gave debuts to two strikers, Miroslav Klose and Djibril Cisse, though the Frenchman played in a wide-left role. It was a similar, lopsided 4-2-3-1 to the system Lazio used last season. The main tactical interest here was how obviously vulnerable both teams were in certain positions – and, as it happened, they were both vulnerable in exactly the same ways, despite the difference in formations.” Zonal Marking