Serie A’s 2026/27 season kicks off this weekend, and the opening rounds have thrown up a fixture list that favours a clear group of clubs. It has also been a lively summer in Italy, with Juventus paying Paris Saint-Germain a reported €41.2M for Randal Kolo Muani, Roma bringing in both Santiago Castro from Bologna and Nahuel Molina from Atlético Madrid, and Napoli raiding Manchester United for Rasmus Højlund. Several of those arrivals look set to slot straight into their new sides’ opening XIs.

Looking beyond Round 1, Inter have by some distance the friendliest run of fixtures over the next five rounds, with Roma and Milan close behind and Juventus and Atalanta not far off either. Building a squad around those five clubs — while still finding a place for a couple of the summer’s biggest new faces — is the approach we have taken below.

Here is our full 15-man squad for Round 1 — 2 goalkeepers, 5 defenders, 5 midfielders and 3 forwards — assembled for €98.5M, comfortably inside the €100M budget cap, and without a single player parked purely to gather dust on the bench.

Best fixture runs, Rounds 1-5

Inter’s run stands out above all: a home date with newly promoted Monza to open the season, followed by a trip to Cagliari, then home fixtures against Napoli and Udinese before the derby-flavoured trip to Roma rounds things off. Roma and Milan are not far behind, which is why both are well represented below.

GOALKEEPERS

Mike Maignan — AC MILAN at TORINO

€6M, owned by 32.9%. The most-selected goalkeeper in the game, and deservedly so. Milan’s fixture list is one of the two or three kindest in the league over the coming month and a half, and Maignan remains one of the division’s most reliable shot-stoppers on top of that.

Filip Stanković — VENEZIA vs LECCE

€4.5M, owned by 2.8%. Rather than a backup who never plays, Stanković is Venezia’s undisputed No.1 as they aim to establish themselves back in the top flight. A newly promoted side tends to face a heavy volume of shots, which gives a competent shot-stopper like Stanković a puncher’s chance of save points most weeks, even when the clean sheet does not arrive.

DEFENDERS

Alessandro Bastoni — INTER vs MONZA

€7M, owned by 29.2%. Bastoni anchors a Nerazzurri defence that benefits from arguably the best run of fixtures in Serie A over the next five rounds. Clean sheet potential does not get much higher than this to start a season.

Bremer — JUVENTUS at FROSINONE

€6.5M, owned by 16.2%. Juventus have one of the better fixture runs in the division too, and Bremer’s aerial and defensive numbers make him a reliable source of returns regardless of opponent.

Nahuel Molina — AS ROMA vs FIORENTINA

€5M, owned by 10.4%. One of Roma’s summer arrivals, signed from Atlético Madrid, Molina gives us a cheaper route into a Roma defence that has a genuinely favourable run of fixtures over the coming month, with an attacking full-back’s threat thrown in as a bonus.

Cristiano Biraghi — TORINO vs AC MILAN

€4M, owned by 1.7%. A real starting left-back rather than a bench-warmer, Biraghi should see plenty of the ball at a Torino side that tends to spend long spells defending against stronger opposition — the sort of profile that racks up clearances, blocks and tackles most weeks regardless of the scoreline.

Ricardo Mangas — MONZA at INTER

€4M, owned by 1.2%. Another nailed-on starter at a newly promoted club rather than a pure budget parking spot. Monza will do a lot of defending this season, and Mangas should be in the thick of it from matchday one, picking up defensive-contribution stats even in defeat.

MIDFIELDERS

Kenan Yıldız — JUVENTUS at FROSINONE

€11M, owned by 42.9%. The most-owned midfielder in the game. Yıldız is the creative heartbeat of a Juventus side with a kind run of fixtures ahead of it, and locking him in before prices rise feels close to essential.

Federico Dimarco — INTER vs MONZA

€10M, owned by 38.6%. Dimarco’s set-piece deliveries and attacking output from left wing-back make him one of the most reliable sources of goal involvements in the entire division, backed by the best fixture run in the league.

Luka Modrić — AC MILAN at TORINO

€6M, owned by 22.3%. Still pulling the strings at the heart of Milan’s midfield, Modrić offers genuine quality at a mid-price point for a side whose schedule opens up nicely from Round 2 onward.

Neil El Aynaoui — AS ROMA vs FIORENTINA

€6M, owned by 5.8%. A tidy value pick in a Roma midfield that benefits from one of the better fixture runs in Serie A, with a home date against Fiorentina to open the season before some very manageable matchups follow.

Mario Pašalić — ATALANTA vs SASSUOLO

€6M, owned by 6.1%. Pašalić’s knack for arriving late into the box gives Atalanta a goal threat from midfield, and the Bergamaschi have a soft opening to the season, starting with a home date against Sassuolo.

FORWARDS

Lautaro Martínez — INTER vs MONZA

€10.5M, owned by 65.4%. The most expensive and most owned player in Serie A Fantasy needs no introduction. Backed by the best fixture run in the league, benching him this early would be a bold call few managers will be making.

Randal Kolo Muani — JUVENTUS at FROSINONE

€6.5M, owned by 13.8%. The headline arrival of Juventus’ summer, signed from Paris Saint-Germain for a reported €41.2M, Kolo Muani arrives at a club with a favourable run of fixtures over the next five rounds. Big-money attackers of his profile rarely stay out of the side for long, making him one of the sharper differentials in this squad.

Santiago Castro — AS ROMA vs FIORENTINA

€5.5M, owned by 1.8%. Roma’s other significant summer signing, arriving from Bologna for a reported €36M, Castro gives us a cheaper route into an attack backed by one of Serie A’s kindest fixture runs, with every chance of leading the line from Round 1.

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Combined value of this 15-man squad: €98.5M, comfortably inside the €100M budget cap. Fancy building your own team for Round 1? Head over to Sofascore Fantasy and get your squad in before the deadline.