ROME -- Having signed Gonzalo Higuain in the most expensive transfer in Italian football history, it seems a foregone conclusion that Juventus will win a record sixth consecutive Serie A title.With the Milan clubs still forming new identities amid ownership -- and coaching -- changes, Juventus is chasing history.Since Serie A was founded in 1929, no club has won more than five straight titles.Torino won five consecutive titles from 1943-49 (including a season that was canceled due to World War II), Inter Milan took five straight from 2006-10 and Juventus claimed a handful from 1931-35 before its current streak.Weve done so much as a team but there is still much more to achieve, Juventus captain Gianluigi Buffon said ahead of his teams season-opener at home to Fiorentina on Saturday. This club teaches you to never rest on your laurels. There are plenty of lessons to be learned from last season so we can avoid making the same mistakes again.Last season, Juventus won just one of its opening six matches before surging up the table as it overcame the departures of Andrea Pirlo, Carlos Tevez and Arturo Vidal.While there have also been key departures this offseason -- Paul Pogba returning to Manchester United and Alvaro Morata back to Real Madrid -- they have been overshadowed by the arrivals of Higuain and several other top players.Higuain transferred from rival Napoli for 90 million euros ($99 million) after scoring 36 goals last season to break a 66-year-old Serie A record for goals in a single season.Other signings include playmaker Miralem Pjanic from Roma, winger Dani Alves from Barcelona and defender Medhi Benatia from Bayern Munich.These are guys that are used to shining on the big stage and carrying themselves in a way befitting of top players, Buffon said. The important thing in the coming weeks is that we gel together as a group and bed in the new boys as quickly as possible. We can only confirm the notion that we are favorites by demonstrating it on the pitch.Here are a few other things to know about the Italian league:---THE CHALLENGERS: Such is Juventus dominance that last seasons runner-up Napoli, Roma and Inter are each considered challengers for second place, while AC Milan could be in for another difficult season under yet another new coach, Vincenzo Montella.Napoli will need to overcome the psychological blow of losing Higuain to Juventus. The Argentines departure opens the center forward position to Manolo Gabbiadini, who has been a reliable backup, but club president Aurelio De Laurentiis is under pressure to use the windfall from Higuains sale to recruit another top striker.Luciano Spalletti has a chance to put his stamp on Roma after taking over as coach from Rudi Garcia midway through last season. Roma lost just once under Spalletti last season but then lost perhaps its best player, Pjanic, to Juventus. The defense, often a weak point last season, is reinforced with the arrivals of Juan Jesus from Inter, Thomas Vermaelen from Barcelona and fullback Bruno Peres from Torino. Captain Francesco Totti is entering his 25th and likely final season with Roma.Inters preparations were slowed by the departure of Roberto Mancini less than two weeks before the start of the season amid a reported lack of communication with the clubs new owners, the Chinese retail giant Suning. New manager Frank de Boer, however, can count on consistent scorer Mauro Icardi and the arrival of solid midfielders Antonio Candreva from Lazio and Ever Banega from Sevilla.---OPENING WEEKEND: The season kicks off Saturday with Roma hosting Udinese and Juventus facing Fiorentina.On Sunday, its: AC Milan vs. Torino; Atalanta vs. Lazio; Bologna vs. Crotone; Chievo Verona vs. Inter Milan; Empoli vs. Sampdoria; Genoa vs. Cagliari; Palermo vs. Sassuolo; and Pescara vs. Napoli.---PROMOTED CLUBS: Calabrian club Crotone could have a difficult debut in Serie A. With its Ezio Scida stadium undergoing renovations and expansions, the team will have to play its opening home matches 600 kilometers (373 miles) away in Pescara.Pescara is also back in the top division, for the first time since 2013.Of the bunch, Serie B champion Cagliari has the best chance to stay up following the arrivals of former Italy international Marco Borriello and fullback Simone Padoin from Juventus.---VIDEO REPLAYS: Serie A is one of seven leagues selected for a trial of video assistance for referees this season.However, the technology wont have any impact on matches yet.The tests will be conducted on two matches per round but results will not be made public.If the tests go well, the replay system could be used for real in next seasons Italian Cup.---Andrew Dampf on Twitter: www.twitter.com/asdampf Cheap Air Max China . Walcott is available for Saturdays home match against Southampton as Arsenal looks to extend its two-point lead at the top of the Premier League. 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The 25-year-old Japanese star has officially been posted by his club team, the Rakuten Golden Eagles. Nate James and Jon Scheyer have been handed the keys to the Tesla. Theyre not about to go joyriding.We dont want anything to happen on our watch while hes away, James said.Can you blame them?He would be Duke Blue Devils coach Mike Krzyzewski; he of the five national championships and more than 1,000 wins; he of the Basketball Hall of Fame; and he of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, a graduate whose steely-eyed stare could leave a grown man weak in his knees. And he currently is in Rio where hes leading the U.S. mens basketball team, the best basketball players in the world, in his final go-round as Olympic head coach.Meantime, back in Durham, North Carolina, sits his Duke mens basketball team, which will arguably be one of the best college basketball teams in the country this coming season, winding up its critical offseason conditioning.Essentially, James and Scheyer, two of Krzyzewskis two assistants, have been given one charge: Dont mess it up.Theres no question you feel a huge responsibility to make sure youre holding up what he would want, Scheyer said. The big thing we tell our guys is, how do you want this team to look when he gets back? The first chance he gets back to watch us again, how do you want to be?That, indeed, might seem like good fuel to get the old motor running.The good news is the coaches know their boss pretty well. James and Scheyer both played under Krzyzewski and have been on staff for a few seasons. James came on board in 2007-08, just as Krzyzewski was prepping to head to Beijing for that Olympic run. With Chris Collins and Steve Wojciechowski manning things on campus, he often found himself as the lone man on the recruiting trail, tying up loose ends. He repeated that role in 2012, when Krzyzewski headed to the London Games.Now, with associate head coach Jeff Capel in Rio, James is the old veteran on staff. He and Scheyer, who has been on staff since 2013, are the guys in charge while Nolan Smith is the low man on the totem pole as the newly hired special assistant.The staff got through July relatively easily. The coaches were fairly certain about who they were interested in -- and those players already knew of Dukes interest -- so there was no need to explain why Krzyzewski wasnt around. It got a little tricky when they spied someone who hadnt initially been on their radar.Whenever theres a new recruit thrown into the mix, it creates a slight problem, James said. We were gym-hopping a lot to begin with, so we were limited in the number of guys we could see and we also had to think, Ok, how can we make this work without him feeling like we dont have any interest?But as vital as planning for the future is, handling the present is really critical this year ffor Duke.dddddddddddd With Harry Giles and Jayson Tatum, the anchors of the nations No. 2 recruiting class, joining Grayson Allen, Amile Jefferson, Matt Jones and Luke Kennard, the Blue Devils will be among the heavy favorites to win it all next season. All of the players already are on campus, working on conditioning drills and individual workouts. Thats the easy part. Most high-caliber athletes are accustomed to training and weight lifting.The harder part of the winning formula is combining the old with the new. That worked exceptionally well two years ago, when Justise Winslow, Jahlil Okafor and Tyus Jones mixed seamlessly with veteran players on the roster, the lack of friction as much the reason for the 2015 national championship as the talent on the roster.Krzyzewski used that offseason -- in particular the month of August, when the freshmen were on campus -- to foster team building. That year, the Blue Devils participated in a program called Dear World, in which people write meaningful phrases on their bodies and then share the stories behind them.Now its up to James and Scheyer to ensure this critical early time goes smoothly. Though Krzyzewski is in frequent contact -- usually via text, or through Capel -- hes surprisingly not a micro manager. The Army man in him has left his soldiers to figure things out on their own, entrusting them to do what they think will work best with the players.He gives us complete freedom, letting us follow our instincts, Scheyer said. Of course hes keeping tabs, but he really leaves it up to us.Realizing that the dog days of August arent exactly fun for anyone, the coaches decided to try to use the reason for Krzyzewskis absence as their tool. Lets call it the Blue Devil Heptathlon.The coaches have divided the team up into three groups of four -- the gold, black and white teams -- and created their own pseudo-Olympic games. There are no individual event medals, just points assigned to each with an overall gold awaiting the group that scores highest.Weve got the medicine ball throw, like a shot put, the mile run, a bunch of relays, James said.At last update, Jones, Giles, Frank Jackson and Chase Jeter had the early lead for the overall gold medal. This week as the U.S. enters the quarterfinals and medal rounds, the Blue Devils will gather to watch and celebrate their own, as yet still to be determined, gold medalists.Were trying to be as creative as possible, without getting anyone hurt, James said with a laugh.Thats probably not a bad idea. If youve been handed the keys to the Tesla, the last thing you want to do is crash it. ' ' '