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Will A.C. Milan threaten Roma?

Short answer? No. But that's no fun, so read on for the long answer in the first installment of this year's Know Your Enemy series, in which the CDT writing staff dissects Roma's main competition for the season (excluding Roma themselves).

Francesco Pecoraro/Getty Images

While still one of the most historic clubs in all of Italy, A.C. Milan has merely been treading water the past few seasons, weathering a managerial carousel and multiple underwhelming transfer windows. This season is no exception, as new manager Vincenzo Montella arrived earlier in the summer, and the club had yet another disappointing mercato. Let's take a look at the key additions and losses:

A.C. Milan

Last Season: 7th place, 57 pts, +6 goal differential

Manager: Vincenzo Montella

Key Additions: Gianluca Lapadulla, Gustavo Gomez, Jose Sosa, Mario Pasalic, Matias Fernandez

Key Losses: Jeremy Menez, Diego Lopez

Synopsis

Technically A.C. Milan's season last year was an improvement on the previous one, but not by much. And there isn't help on the horizon for the Northern giants. New manager Vincenzo Montella has his work cut out for him this season, with the quality of the summer's reinforcements not exactly meeting the stature of the club. Although, if things continue as they are, the club's stature will eventually match the quality of those replacements.

Montella may be the right man for the job, but it will still be an uphill battle given the talent at his disposal, as well as the fact that the rest of the top tier of Serie A has reloaded. Never underestimate L'Aeroplanino though.

Style of Play

In the first two rounds of Serie A play this season Montella utilized a 4-3-3 formation and found mixed results. While Milan triumphed over Torino 3-2 on a thrilling opening day encounter, they fell 4-2 away to Napoli last weekend. With Carlos Bacca at striker Milan is certain to score goals, but with a lackluster midfield and a sketchy defense, they're also sure to leak goals at an alarming rate.

Last year's defense conceded 43 goals. This year, the defense has already let in six goals in two matches... not good. It's still early but it seems A.C. Milan still haven't solved their problems from last year.

Biggest Threat

Bacca's easily A.C. Milan's biggest threat. He has the most quality in the side and it's not even close. Now that he's acclimated to life in Italy, Bacca will look to build on the 18 goals he scored in his maiden season last year, and he already has a good head start with three goals.

Biggest Question Mark

Literally almost every other area of the team is questionable.

Scudetto Threat Factor: 0/10

Leicester City has a better shot at winning it.

Roma Threat Factor: 1/10

The reason for the one? Because Roma happens.