What happened in Serie A 1995-96

The previous season had seen Juventus win the scudetto with a 10-point lead over Lazio and Parma. At the end of the first half Juve were ahead but Parma were just a point behind and Lazio at -4. The Bianconeri had also won the Coppa Italia but had lost the final of the UEFA Cup to Parma. Milan had reached the final of the Champions League but had lost to Ajax. It was the first season with three points for the win.

The summer transfer window saw Milan protagonist with the signings of Roberto Baggio and George Weah. Juventus had bought Vladimir Jugovic, Inter Roberto Carlos, Sampdoria Clarence Seedorf and Parma Fabio Cannavaro and Hristo Stoichkov.

Juve were obviously favourites but Milan at least on paper looked a lot more dangerous.

August & September

Serie A kicked off at the end of August and Milan won all of the first four games including a win away to Roma. Napoli beat Inter and were second with Juventus. Inter sacked Ottavio Bianchi after a terrible start and gave the team to caretaker manager Luis Suarez.

In the first two games of the Champions League group stage, Juventus won away against Borussia Dortmund and then beat Steaua Bucharest. In the first round of the Cup Winners Cup, Parma eliminated KS Teuta. In the UEFA Cup, Milan, Lazio and Roma eliminated Zagłębie Lubin, Omonia and Neuchâtel Xamax. Inter were eliminated by Lugano.

In the second round of Coppa Italia there were a few surprises with the elimination of Roma, Torino, Napoli and Parma after having been beaten by Bologna, Fiorenzuola, Lecce and Palermo respectively (single matches were played, unlike previous years).

Milan 12, Juventus 10, Napoli 10, Lazio 8, Udinese 7, Parma 7, Sampdoria 6, Fiorentina 6, Vicenza 6, Torino 5, Inter 4, Roma 4, Atalanta 4, Piacenza 4, Bari 2, Padova 1, Cagliari 1, Cremonese 1

October

Milan still ahead but had been joined by Parma with Lazio one point behind. The Rome derby ended in a draw, the Rossoneri beat Juventus as did the Biancocelesti who also drew with Inter. The Milan derby saw no winners. The Nerazzuri chose Roy Hogdson as manager.

In the Champions League Juventus crushed Rangers at home (4-1) and had almost secured top spot in their group to the knockout phase. In the Cup Winners Cup Parma suffered a bad defeat, 3-0, against Halmsted. In the UEFA Cup, Roma and Milan eliminated Eendracht Aalst and Strasbourg. Lazio were eliminated by Olympique Lyonnais.

In the Coppa Italia round of 16 Atalanta (after extra time), Cagliari, Bologna, Milan, Lazio, Inter, Fiorentina and Palermo went through to the quarter finals after beating in single games Juventus, Sampdoria, Reggiana, Forlì, Udinese, Fiorenzuola, Lecce and Vicenza respectively.

Milan 17, Parma 17, Lazio 16, Napoli 15, Fiorentina 15, Juventus 14, Udinese 12, Vicenza 11, Inter 10, Sampdoria 10, Roma 10, Atalanta 10, Torino 9, Bari 8, Cagliari 7, Piacenza 7, Cremonese 3, Padova 2

November

Parma drew with Juventus at home so Milan by beating Piacenza became solitary leaders. Below Bari, Cremonese and Padova were already in great difficulty.

Despite losing to Borussia Dortmund at home, Juventus, by beating Rangers 4-0 away, had already secured the knockout phase and the top of their table. Parma succeeded in overcoming the 3-goal deficit in the Cup Winners Cup against Halmsted and went through to the quarterfinals where they would meet Paris Saint-Germain in March. In the UEFA Cup third round’s first leg, Milan beat Sparta Prague 2-0 and Roma lost 2-1 at Brøndby.

In the first leg of the Coppa Italia quarter finals, Cagliari and Fiorentina beat Atalanta and Palermo 1-0, whereas Inter-Lazio and Bologna-Milan ended 1-1.

Milan 24, Parma 22, Lazio 19, Fiorentina 19, Atalanta 19, Juventus 18, Napoli 17, Roma 16, Vicenza 16, Inter 15, Udinese 15, Sampdoria 14, Cagliari 13, Piacenza 11, Torino 10, Bari 8, Cremonese 6, Padova 5

December

Milan continued to lead but Fiorentina had kept up and were only a point away. In the last game of the year the top two teams had drawn in Florence 2-2. The Rossoneri won in Rome against Lazio, Juventus demolished Torino 5-0 and beat Inter.

In the last game of the group phase of the Champions League, Juventus had drawn with Steaua Bucharest. They would meet Real Madrid in the quarterfinals in March. Roma and Milan also proceed to the quarter finals in the UEFA Cup by eliminating Sparta Prague and Brøndby.

Atalanta, Bologna, Inter and Fiorentina qualified for the Coppa Italia semi-finals after eliminating Cagliari, Milan (on penalties), Lazio and Palermo.

Milan 30, Fiorentina 29, Parma 27, Lazio 25, Juventus 24, Roma 24, Atalanta 22, Inter 21, Sampdoria 21, Napoli 20, Vicenza 20, Cagliari 20, Udinese 19, Piacenza 16, Torino 15, Bari 12, Cremonese 10, Padova 9

January

Milan increased their lead to +3 as Fiorentina drew with Vicenza at home. Lazio fell back, losing against Piacenza and Napoli. Below Padova and Bari moved up and started earning points unlike Cremonese who were now rock bottom

Juventus won the Supercoppa beating Parma 1-0 in Turin.

Milan 40, Fiorentina 37, Parma 35, Juventus 32, Lazio 29, Roma 28, Inter 26, Vicenza 26, Napoli 26, Sampdoria 25, Udinese 25, Atalanta 25, Cagliari 23, Piacenza 19, Padova 18, Torino 18, Bari 17, Cremonese 12

February

Milan increased their lead to five points as Fiorentina had a few setbacks but the Viola still maintained second place. Lazio improved and won the derby thanks to a Beppe Signori penalty.

Atalanta and Fiorentina reached the final of the Coppa Italia after having eliminated Bologna and Inter. The final, over two legs, would take place in May.

Milan 50, Fiorentina 45, Parma 42, Lazio 39, Juventus 39, Inter 35, Roma 34, Vicenza 32, Sampdoria 31, Udinese 31, Napoli 29, Cagliari 27, Atalanta 26, Piacenza 24, Padova 21, Torino 21, Bari 18, Cremonese 17

March

With six games left to the end of the season Milan had virtually won the scudetto since they now had an 8-point lead over Juventus who had climbed up. Lazio lost to Inter and Juve and fell behind again.

Juventus reached the semi-finals of the Champions League. After losing to Real Madrid 1-0 in the first leg, they won 2-0 at home. They would meet Nantes next month. Parma instead were eliminated by PSG 3-2 on aggregate in the quarter finals of the Cup Winners Cup. PSG went on to win the Cup by beating Rapid Wien in the Brussels final. In the UEFA Cup Milan and Roma were both eliminated, by Bordeaux and Slavia Prague. The Rossoneri had won the first leg 2-0 but collapsed 3-0 in the second. Roma had lost 2-0 in Prague but had taken the game to extra time in Rome. But after Roma had got their third, Slavia scored and eliminated the Giallorossi.

Milan 59, Juventus 51, Fiorentina 50, Inter 44, Parma 43, Lazio 42, Roma 42, Sampdoria 38, Vicenza 38, Udinese 34, Atalanta 33, Cagliari 33, Napoli 32, Piacenza 28, Cremonese 25, Torino 25, Bari 22, Padova 21

April

Juventus had climbed to second place and -6 from Milan but then they collapsed at home 3-0 to Sampdoria de facto giving the scudetto to the Rossoneri who had won in Naples. Juve then won away to Inter, but Milan, with two games left, beat Fiorentina and won the scudetto.

So, the interest was now on UEFA Cup qualification and relegation. In the former, Lazio held the last available place, but with Juve in the Champions League final and Fiorentina in the Coppa Italia final, two more places could be available for Roma and Inter. Below, it would need a miracle for Bari to avoid Serie B and joining Torino, Cremonese and Bari.

Juventus were in the final of the Champions League. They beat Nantes 2-0 at home and even if they lost 3-2 away, they went on to meet Ajax in Rome in May.

Milan 70, Juventus 61, Fiorentina 56, Parma 55, Lazio 53, Roma 52, Inter 51, Sampdoria 48, Vicenza 47, Udinese 40, Napoli 38, Cagliari 38, Atalanta 36, Piacenza 36, Bari 31, Torino 29, Cremonese 26, Padova 21

May

Bari were unable to avoid Serie B after having lost away to Inter. As far as the UEFA Cup qualifications were concerned, with one game to go Parma had a two-point lead over Lazio and Fiorentina who in turn had one point more than Roma and two more than Inter. In the last game of the season, Lazio and Fiorentina won, Parma lost to Cagliari and Roma beat Inter. So, the qualified teams, prior to the Coppa Italia and Champions League finals, were Juve, Lazio and Fiorentina. Roma and Parma were on equal points so there could be a playoff.

However, Juventus won the Champions League. In the match in Rome against Ajax, the game finished 1-1 and the Bianconeri won after the penalty shootout. So, they would join Milan in next year’s top tier European competition.

Fiorentina then won the Coppa Italia after beating Atalanta both at home and away. As a consequence, Parma and Inter would be playing the UEFA Cup next year since Fiorentina had qualified for the Cup Winners Cup.

Top scorers were Igor Protti (Bari) and Beppe Signori with 24 goals ahead of Enrico Chiesa (Sampdoria) with 22.

Bologna, Verona, Perugia and Reggiana were promoted from Serie B.

Final table: Milan 73, Juventus 65, Lazio 59, Fiorentina 59, Roma 58, Parma 58, Inter 54, Sampdoria 52, Vicenza 49, Cagliari 41, Udinese 41, Napoli 41, Atalanta 39, Piacenza 37, Bari 32, Torino 29, Cremonese 27, Padova 24