Italian Serie A 2011/2012: 20 Things to Expect off the Pitch in Italy

Who ever said Italian football was boring? Sure, fans of the English Premier League might not enjoy the less attacking mentality, and let us be honest, Novara vs Lecce will not be the greatest spectacle. However, if there is something that Italy can say it has over other leagues of similar magnitudes, it is the entertaining off field action that happens preseason, during the season and after the conclusion of the season.

Characters such as Luciano Moggi, Massimo Morratti, Aurelio De Laurentiis, Silvio Berlusconi and Maurizio Zamparini go a long way to ensuring that the Serie A remains one of the most entertaining leagues in the world.

Here are some things we can expect to happen in the 2011/2012 Serie A season off the pitch.

Luciano Moggi states that Juventus' signings are not "Juventus signings" going onto to criticise Giuseppe Marotta's role as porting directior of the club.

Napoli club president Aurelio De Laurentiis already made headlines this preseason after throwing a tantrum after the Serie A draw. The Serie A are out to make it as hard for Napoli as possible to win the Serie A (obviously). In response, Aurelio De Laurentiis will claim Napoli are the best team in the world, even after their 5-0 demolition by Barcelona in the preseason.

Last season, it was Messi who was "not good enough" to make the cut at Genoa. This time around, outgoing Enrico Preziosi will claim Ronaldo also tried to sign for Rossoblu, but was not needed in Italy.

Juventus fans decide that the 100 million dollar Juventus arena is just as useless as the Stadio Delle Alpi and subsequently stopped attending games. The Bianconeri then decide to pack up and head over to Old Trafford.

As was the case between Moratti and Moggi over the 2006 Scudetto, expect Massimo Moratti to stake claims for Inter to be handed the 2010/2011 Italian Serie A title for some reason or another. The line of argument will most likely be along the lines of "Berlusconi" and "Bunga Bunga" parties.

After stating his desire to play in the English Premier League, Zlatan Ibrahimovic will claim he is loyal to Milan before signing a trillion dollar contract to join Aguero, Dzeko, Tevez and Balotelli at Etihad.

Whilst living up his party lifestyle, Antonio Cassano falls out with Massimo Allegri, leaving AC Milan and receiving a backlash from the rest of the Serie A...except from Juventus, who are sitting mid table and need firepower upfront.

Palermo president Maurizio Zamparini launches a bid for former player Javier Pastore after realising he sold his only playmaker. PSG accept the offer, which is over double what they paid for Pastore. Subequently, Palermo sack all their players and promote their youth squad to balance out squad, with Zamparini claiming they wanted to give their younger players a run.

In a media conference about the tough economic situation being experienced in Italy, Silvio Berlusconi claims that money just seems to be disappearing from treasury. Just a week later, he announces that AC Milan have recorded record breaking profits and are in talks with Cristiano Ronaldo.

After coming to the conclusion that the fans did not like Old Trafford, Juventus pack up shop once again and head off for Spain, where they make the Bernabeu their home ground.

Come on for 10 minutes as substitutes...out for the season.

Inter once again record an average of over a penalty a game, getting four whilst being 3-0 down with 10 minutes to go against Chievo. In the end, they win the match 4-3, with Javier Zanetti bagging a hattrick. Massimo Moratti then comes out saying his side play the best brand of football in Italy.

After having every team in the Serie A knocked out of the UEFA Champions League, the Italian Players Association decide to establish an Italian-Only UEFA Champions League to ensure that the title of Europe's best club remains in Italy.

After coming to the conclusion that the last six Juventus coaches had no idea what they were doing, Alessandro Del Piero becomes a player manager, and as a result, Juventus win their last 15 games to take the Serie A title.

The Italian international will finally become a regular starter at Inter, and will go on a scoring spree which will see him score goals only with his head. Massimo Moratti will then claim he is a better goal poacher than Inzaghi, sparking comments from Silvio Berlusconi about who is the most successful Italian club in Europe.

Even though they are already sitting last on the table, Novara get docked 20 points for matchfixing. By the end of it, they finish the Serie A in negative points, relegating them back down to Serie B. Meanwhile Massimo Moratti claims that Juventus and Milan were involved in the scandal.

Juventus claim that they have found 9000 new tapes linking Massimo Moratti to referees in 2006, promption an investigation. It is later shown that these tapes were simply made up by Luciano Moggi impersonating Moratti.

After realising that Diego Forlan should have retired rather than sign for Inter, Massimo Moratti launches secret bid for Alessandro Del Piero and Roberto Baggio. Rather, they turn their attention to Antonio Di Natale, who is on a 43-game scoring streak for Udinese.

Roma turn up to their first match, only to find they have not been registered to play in the Serie A because they had signed Bojan. Francesco Totti then turns up late, claiming that he feels young enough to play at under an under 21's level, before retreating to his walking frame.

After moving to England and Spain, Juventus begin work on a billion dollar stadium on top of the San Siro in the hope that all Serie A fans visit a Juventus match. Andrea Agnell claims that the stadium will mark a landmark moment in the history of the club. Meanwhile, the Juventus Arena is being sold out weekly by Torino, who inherited the un-wanted stadium.