Giugliano fired up to face former side

Giugliano, 22, lit up the Women’s World Cup as part of the Italy side that reached the quarter-finals – before making the move to the Italian capital later in the summer.

The midfield regista was perhaps the most notable signing of a big summer of activity for Betty Bavagnoli’s side, who are now hoping to improve on last season’s fourth-place finish in their inaugural Serie A campaign.

The bid to do that starts on Sunday, with Milan visiting Stadio Tre Fontane.

Kick-off is scheduled for 12:30 local time, and will be broadcast live on Sky Sport Italia.

“It will be a big season for us, because Roma are aiming high and the league is only getting stronger,” Giugliano said.

“Us players want to help this movement grow, so it raises the pressure and expectations on us and we have to work harder. We have prepared well though and we are ready and excited to get going.”

On coming up against her old side straight away, the midfielder added: “It’s definitely exciting. Last year was a big year for me, I developed a lot, and I left behind some teammates that I played with for a number of years and that we achieved some big things together.

“AC Milan are a strong side who are getting better. But now I am at Roma and want to do my best for the club.”

Giugliano is far from the only face to turn out for the Giallorosse this season – with a host of big international names including Andress Alves (Brazil), Andrine Hegerberg (Norway), Amalie Thestrup (Denmark) and Kaja Erzen (Slovenia) added to the group.

“On the pitch you understand each other pretty easily,” she said, when asked if the language was an issue.

“There are some great players, they have integrated well and have started to learn Italian pretty quickly too – so I think they will adjust quickly to things pretty quickly too. We understand each other well on the pitch.”

Roma finished their pre-season preparations at the weekend, as they drew 2-2 with PSG in the Trofeo Luisa Petrucci.