First off, this season should go down as the best since Calciopoli, due primarily because title race hadn’t been this tightly contested. We also saw the Champions League trophy return to the peninsula for the 12th time in it’s history thanks to Inter, giving much needed reinforcement to Serie A’s credibility. While on the topic of Europe, the race for fourth between Sampdoria and Palermo was top-notch. Perhaps the fact that one of Italy’s big 3 was out of the race by April give it some extra spice.
As for individuals who stood out, look no further than Diego Milito. While he was “il principe di Genoa” last year, he took his game to the highest level for Inter, scoring every goal in their title-clinching matches. While Diego tore it up in several ways, Udinese’s Antonio Di Natale bagged 29 goals, earning the “capocanonniere” title. As for the youngin’s, Palermo’s 21-year old defender Simon Kjaer made noise all throughout the season. Look for him to make a big move this summer.
1st Football Club Internazionale Milano
Their *18thscudetto puts them alone in 2nd place all time, also adding another to their run of 5* straight. Certainly this was the most difficult for them to pull out, as Roma and Milan kept the pressure on for the most part. However, as most clubs in Italy seem incapable of doing, Inter’s aggressiveness in the transfer window made all the difference. Also, they won the Champions League, finally...
2nd Associazione Sportiva Roma
Because their title run was expected by absolutely no one, Roma has to keep their heads high. Only smoking hot Sampdoria side could stop them in their last few rounds. Nonetheless, Roma can hang their hat on automatic qualification for the Champions League. Plus there’s no reason to think they can’t string together another run next season.
3rd Associazione Calcio Milan
Shoulda, woulda, coulda. The 2009/10 scudetto was undoubtedly Milan’s to win. When Inter began to trip up back in late winter/early spring, Milan couldn’t capitalize any further than -1. Perhaps if Pato had a healthy season, their scoring drought would’ve never happened. Looking back, with very low expectations to deal with, Milan should also be happy with where they ended. Not to mention we were treated to an absolutely beautiful revival of Ronaldinho.
4th Unione Calcio Sampdoria
No doubt, Sampdoria had the 2nd best season out of any club, behind only Inter. They pounced on Juventus’ atrocious form and took the Champions League by the throat. Let’s not forget, they couldn’t win a game for love or money between November and February. However outside of those three months, they were possibly the best team in Serie A.
5th Unione Sportiva Citta’ di Palermo
Very similar to Roma, Palermo should keep their heads high. While they just couldn’t hold on in the end, they achieved a great result for their club. It’s a shame Walter Zenga couldn’t get the team going at the beginning of the season or else they might have had the Champions League spot locked up by April.
6th Societa’ Sportiva Calcio Napoli
Par for the course I would say for Napoli. They made some noise in the summer market, adding Fabio Quagliarella and Luca Cigarini to Hamsik and Lavezzi’s attack. After Roberto Donadoni was fired, Walter Mazzarri picked this club up and ran with them, going unbeaten for his first 15 rounds. Next year, they should be setting Champions League qualification as a must.
7th Juventus Football Club
Worst season in club history in terms of on-field performance. From signing a well-past expired Fabio Cannavaro to Ciro Ferrara’s managerial failure to choking against Bayern in the last CL group stage match to finally ending the season with a club record 15 losses, nothing went right. To think that Juventus were scudetto favorites at the beginning of the season, instead they’ll be starting in the 2nd qualification round of the Europa League.
8th Parma Football Club
Wonderful return to Serie A for Parma. Surely, the average promoted club just aims to stay up and lay a foundation. But with Parma’s history and their great run in the early decade, it is understandable that they finished just one spot outside of a European place. They will definitely be a club to keep an eye on next season.
9th Genoa Cricket and Football Club
I want to say that this was a bit of a disappointing season for Genoa however considering losing their 2 best attackers from the previous year, perhaps 9th isn’t so bad. It will be interesting to see how they will fare next season.
10th Associazione Sportiva Bari
Similar to Parma, Bari also celebrated a great return to the top flight. They fought through the season consistently well and perhaps deserved a high place. At home, they were one of the most difficult sides in the league to crack.
11th ACF Fiorentina
It took me until about March to realize that Fiorentina would have a disappointing season. Even now, 11th place is a shock to me. After handling Liverpool in the Champions League, they just fell off, perhaps due to the offside goal that eventually was their undoing against Bayern in the round of 16. In the league they just never had it. And with Cesare Prandelli off to the Azzurri after the World Cup, who knows if they’ll even be competing for a European spot next year.
12th Societa’ Sportiva Lazio
Conversely to Fiorentina, I can’t believe Lazio finished 12th! For being in the relegation battle for the overwhelming majority of the season, the standings simple do not tell the story. With was an atrocious season for the club in nearly every way. The infamous behavior of their own fans cheering for their team to lose against Inter in spite of their cross-town rivals is a terrible stain on their club’s reputation and won’t soon be forgotten.
13th Calcio Catania
A very interesting storyline to follow for Catania as they fininshed their season in great form. However, the mastermind behind it all, Sinisa Mihajlovic, has resigned as manager and likely headed to Fiorentina. We’ll see if Maxi Lopez can keep his phenomenal form up for another season despite a change at the helm.
14th Associazione Calcio ChievoVerona
The most boring team in Serie A. I neither like nor dislike Chievo. It’s just that there’s really nothing that stands out about the club. While they dug themselves out of the relegation zone last season, I guess you can say their objective was to stay afloat for another year, which they did comfortably. Aside from that, no players stood out to me and their manager has since resigned and replaced Gigi Del Neri at Sampdoria.
15th Udinese Calcio
Up and down year for Udinese but they should begin erecting a statue for Antonio Di Natale. Without a doubt, they would have be relegated if it were not for his 29 goals. Even if another average striker would have been in his spot, he probably wouldn’t have scored any more than 13, a difference of 16 goals. Still, I like this club and I’m glad they’ll be sticking around for another year.
16th Cagliari Calcio
For a decent stretch there, Cagliari were one of the best teams in the league, even vying for 4th place. However they peaked too early and sank all the way down to 16th. AC Milan is hot for their coach Max Allegri and their stand out striker, Alessandro Matri, could be sold over the summer.
17th Bologna Football Club 1909
By the hair on their chiny-chin-chin did they avoid relegation. For a second straight year they manage to avoid the drop and so for that, they receive applause. However, you gotta think the steam has all but run out and will be right in the same spot next season.
18th Atalanta Bergamasca Calcio
They put up a good fight but just couldn’t get it going in time. Their 4 year stay in Serie A is over and will have to duke it out in Serie B.
19th Associazione Calcio Siena
I really thought they had it in them to survive, but I was sadly mistaken. The game that sticks out to me is the match at the San Siro against Inter when Siena took the lead two different times, lead 3-2 until the 88th minute, and eventually lost 4-3 in extra time. I believe there was much speculation about the referees favoring the big clubs and the Siena manager sadly admitting that sides like his could never win that type of a fixture. The ugly side of sports.
20th Associazione Sportiva Livorno Calcio
I don’t want to rag them too bad, but they knew they were relegated back in March. Once they dropped into the relegation spots, they just laid over and played dead.
As for individuals who stood out, look no further than Diego Milito. While he was “il principe di Genoa” last year, he took his game to the highest level for Inter, scoring every goal in their title-clinching matches. While Diego tore it up in several ways, Udinese’s Antonio Di Natale bagged 29 goals, earning the “capocanonniere” title. As for the youngin’s, Palermo’s 21-year old defender Simon Kjaer made noise all throughout the season. Look for him to make a big move this summer.
(#6 has my vote for the most beautiful goal of the season)
1st Football Club Internazionale Milano
Their *18thscudetto puts them alone in 2nd place all time, also adding another to their run of 5* straight. Certainly this was the most difficult for them to pull out, as Roma and Milan kept the pressure on for the most part. However, as most clubs in Italy seem incapable of doing, Inter’s aggressiveness in the transfer window made all the difference. Also, they won the Champions League, finally...
2nd Associazione Sportiva Roma
Because their title run was expected by absolutely no one, Roma has to keep their heads high. Only smoking hot Sampdoria side could stop them in their last few rounds. Nonetheless, Roma can hang their hat on automatic qualification for the Champions League. Plus there’s no reason to think they can’t string together another run next season.
3rd Associazione Calcio Milan
Shoulda, woulda, coulda. The 2009/10 scudetto was undoubtedly Milan’s to win. When Inter began to trip up back in late winter/early spring, Milan couldn’t capitalize any further than -1. Perhaps if Pato had a healthy season, their scoring drought would’ve never happened. Looking back, with very low expectations to deal with, Milan should also be happy with where they ended. Not to mention we were treated to an absolutely beautiful revival of Ronaldinho.
4th Unione Calcio Sampdoria
No doubt, Sampdoria had the 2nd best season out of any club, behind only Inter. They pounced on Juventus’ atrocious form and took the Champions League by the throat. Let’s not forget, they couldn’t win a game for love or money between November and February. However outside of those three months, they were possibly the best team in Serie A.
5th Unione Sportiva Citta’ di Palermo
Very similar to Roma, Palermo should keep their heads high. While they just couldn’t hold on in the end, they achieved a great result for their club. It’s a shame Walter Zenga couldn’t get the team going at the beginning of the season or else they might have had the Champions League spot locked up by April.
6th Societa’ Sportiva Calcio Napoli
Par for the course I would say for Napoli. They made some noise in the summer market, adding Fabio Quagliarella and Luca Cigarini to Hamsik and Lavezzi’s attack. After Roberto Donadoni was fired, Walter Mazzarri picked this club up and ran with them, going unbeaten for his first 15 rounds. Next year, they should be setting Champions League qualification as a must.
7th Juventus Football Club
Worst season in club history in terms of on-field performance. From signing a well-past expired Fabio Cannavaro to Ciro Ferrara’s managerial failure to choking against Bayern in the last CL group stage match to finally ending the season with a club record 15 losses, nothing went right. To think that Juventus were scudetto favorites at the beginning of the season, instead they’ll be starting in the 2nd qualification round of the Europa League.
8th Parma Football Club
Wonderful return to Serie A for Parma. Surely, the average promoted club just aims to stay up and lay a foundation. But with Parma’s history and their great run in the early decade, it is understandable that they finished just one spot outside of a European place. They will definitely be a club to keep an eye on next season.
9th Genoa Cricket and Football Club
I want to say that this was a bit of a disappointing season for Genoa however considering losing their 2 best attackers from the previous year, perhaps 9th isn’t so bad. It will be interesting to see how they will fare next season.
10th Associazione Sportiva Bari
Similar to Parma, Bari also celebrated a great return to the top flight. They fought through the season consistently well and perhaps deserved a high place. At home, they were one of the most difficult sides in the league to crack.
(Best goals of the 1st half of the season. Still looking for part 2)
11th ACF Fiorentina
It took me until about March to realize that Fiorentina would have a disappointing season. Even now, 11th place is a shock to me. After handling Liverpool in the Champions League, they just fell off, perhaps due to the offside goal that eventually was their undoing against Bayern in the round of 16. In the league they just never had it. And with Cesare Prandelli off to the Azzurri after the World Cup, who knows if they’ll even be competing for a European spot next year.
12th Societa’ Sportiva Lazio
Conversely to Fiorentina, I can’t believe Lazio finished 12th! For being in the relegation battle for the overwhelming majority of the season, the standings simple do not tell the story. With was an atrocious season for the club in nearly every way. The infamous behavior of their own fans cheering for their team to lose against Inter in spite of their cross-town rivals is a terrible stain on their club’s reputation and won’t soon be forgotten.
13th Calcio Catania
A very interesting storyline to follow for Catania as they fininshed their season in great form. However, the mastermind behind it all, Sinisa Mihajlovic, has resigned as manager and likely headed to Fiorentina. We’ll see if Maxi Lopez can keep his phenomenal form up for another season despite a change at the helm.
14th Associazione Calcio ChievoVerona
The most boring team in Serie A. I neither like nor dislike Chievo. It’s just that there’s really nothing that stands out about the club. While they dug themselves out of the relegation zone last season, I guess you can say their objective was to stay afloat for another year, which they did comfortably. Aside from that, no players stood out to me and their manager has since resigned and replaced Gigi Del Neri at Sampdoria.
15th Udinese Calcio
Up and down year for Udinese but they should begin erecting a statue for Antonio Di Natale. Without a doubt, they would have be relegated if it were not for his 29 goals. Even if another average striker would have been in his spot, he probably wouldn’t have scored any more than 13, a difference of 16 goals. Still, I like this club and I’m glad they’ll be sticking around for another year.
16th Cagliari Calcio
For a decent stretch there, Cagliari were one of the best teams in the league, even vying for 4th place. However they peaked too early and sank all the way down to 16th. AC Milan is hot for their coach Max Allegri and their stand out striker, Alessandro Matri, could be sold over the summer.
17th Bologna Football Club 1909
By the hair on their chiny-chin-chin did they avoid relegation. For a second straight year they manage to avoid the drop and so for that, they receive applause. However, you gotta think the steam has all but run out and will be right in the same spot next season.
18th Atalanta Bergamasca Calcio
They put up a good fight but just couldn’t get it going in time. Their 4 year stay in Serie A is over and will have to duke it out in Serie B.
19th Associazione Calcio Siena
I really thought they had it in them to survive, but I was sadly mistaken. The game that sticks out to me is the match at the San Siro against Inter when Siena took the lead two different times, lead 3-2 until the 88th minute, and eventually lost 4-3 in extra time. I believe there was much speculation about the referees favoring the big clubs and the Siena manager sadly admitting that sides like his could never win that type of a fixture. The ugly side of sports.
20th Associazione Sportiva Livorno Calcio
I don’t want to rag them too bad, but they knew they were relegated back in March. Once they dropped into the relegation spots, they just laid over and played dead.
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