Roberto Gotta in Italy

Waking up in Rome on Monday morning, hearing the word "Lazio" many times around the main train station, where there must be a "smoking compulsory" sign, seemed to confirm that there is a different tone to this fledgling Serie A season.

Lazio, whom the majority of Roman residents inelegantly look down at as a by-product of the worst secretions of the human body, are top of the league.