Inter, AC Milan & Napoli: Welcome to Serie A - the only title race in Europe's Big Five leagues

These are tough times for European football fans who love a good title race.

Bayern Munich will claim a 10th consecutive Bundesliga long before the current campaign ends.

After Lille went into financial meltdown following their shock Ligue 1 triumph last year, normal service has been resumed in France, with a star-studded but average Paris Saint-Germain side romping to an eighth title in 10 seasons.

With Joan Laporta and Xavi busy rebuilding Barcelona after an almost total collapse, and Atletico Madrid in decline, Real Madrid are surging clear of a game but under-resourced Sevilla in Spain.

Meanwhile, in England, Manchester City have, despite the best efforts of Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool, turned the Premier League into a procession.

Pep Guardiola's incessant record-breakers have achieved something truly remarkable by making what is regularly touted as the most exciting domestic championship in world football, quite boring.

Unless Liverpool can put together another historic run of victories in order to overhaul their current nine-point deficit to the leaders, City will claim a fourth title in five seasons with a modicum of fuss and even less interest.

As organisations such as European Leagues have been arguing for years, money is killing competition all across the continent, resulting in painful predictability.

For thrill-seekers, the focus now is on top-four finishes and relegation battles.

And yet there is still one 'Big Five' league worth watching if you're looking for a genuine title race: Serie A.

Surprisingly, a championship won an unprecedented nine times in a row by Juventus between 2012 and 2020 can boast a three-way battle for the Scudetto.

What is even more remarkable is that the Bianconeri are not one of the title contenders - at least not yet.

Juve paid a heavy price for neglecting the overall strength of their squad by investing so heavily in the Cristiano Ronaldo project, with the Old Lady hit hard by the economic crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

In 2021, they lost their title to an Inter side coached and assembled by two of their former employers, Antonio Conte and Beppe Marotta, respectively.

Of course, the Nerazzurri were then hit with their own pandemic-related problems, with Suning's financial issues leading to the departure of Conte, and the sales of Romelu Lukaku and Achraf Hakimi.

In a way, coronavirus levelled the playing field in a league that was already struggling badly to match the monetary might of the Premier League, PSG and Spain's traditional top two – which is why Juve pushed so hard to create a European Super League, and why Inter and AC Milan were so keen to get on board.

Of course, the Bianconeri may well have bought a way back into the Serie A title race by signing the league's top scorer, Dusan Vlahovic, from Fiorentina during the January transfer window.

That shock deal once again hammered home the importance of having a rich owner in modern football, with the Serbia striker making an instant impact in Turin with the opener in last weekend's win over Verona, which moved EXOR-backed Juve into fourth place in the standings.

However, as it stands, Massimiliano Allegri's men remain eight points behind league leaders Inter, who have also played one game fewer.

The Nerazzurri, though, are only one point ahead of Napoli and Milan, and must travel south to the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona on Saturday for a game that could make things even tighter at the top.

Getty/GOAL

The Partenopei are certainly well-equipped to win, particularly now that Victor Osimhen is back in action, and back among the goals after last weekend's fine header against Venezia. There can be no overstating the importance of the Nigeria striker to the Napoli cause.

Their first defeat of the season came against Inter, the very game in which Osimhen suffered the fractured cheekbone which ruled him out for six weeks.

Napoli lost three league games during that time, resulting in them being displaced at the summit of the standings.

However, they have now won four on the bounce, conceding one goal in the process, and optimism is rising again among a set of supporters eyeing a first Scudetto success since 1990.

Milan, who face Sampdoria on Sunday, are also growing in confidence, with coach Stefano Pioli admitting that last weekend's dramatic derby win over Inter gave them more "energy, belief and conviction" in their bid to end the club's 11-year title drought.

They certainly looked formidable in Wednesday night's 4-0 rout of Lazio in the Coppa Italia quarter-finals, with Rafael Leao again looking like a potential superstar and Olivier Giroud finally starting to score freely.

Inter, undoubtedly, remain the favourites, as they possess the strongest squad in Serie A.

Granted, Conte, Lukaku and Hakimi were all key to last year's Scudetto, but Marotta has limited the damage with several shrewd signings, chief among them Edin Dzeko and Hakan Calhanoglu.

What is more, the decision to appoint Simone Inzaghi as Conte's successor is looking like a masterstroke, with the former Lazio boss adding an extra level of variety to the Nerazzurri's play, which goes some way towards explaining why they are in the knockout stage of the Champions League for the first time in a decade.

It is worth noting that before Giroud's dramatic late double, Inter dominated Milan for an hour at San Siro last weekend, and really only had themselves, and their profligacy, to blame for throwing away three points.

They have also already reacted positively to that setback by knocking Roma out of the Coppa Italia on Tuesday, and Inzaghi's troops will be determined to reassert their supremacy over the rest of Serie A by beating Napoli in their own backyard this weekend.

For now, though, the battle is beautifully poised. Inter lead the way but Milan and Napoli are credible contenders, while Juventus may yet enter the fray.

This is a legitimate title race in one of Europe’s ‘Big Five’ leagues. Enjoy it while you can!