The previous season was marred by the outburst of the Calciopoli scandal. Juventus had won the scudetto ahead of Milan, Inter, Fiorentina, Roma and Lazio. By the end of the proceedings, Juventus were demoted to the last position in the table while Milan, Lazio and Fiorentina got a 30-point docking. This changed everything. Inter were awarded the scudetto and were joined by Roma, Milan and Chievo in the Champions League. Palermo, Livorno and Parma qualified for the UEFA Cup.
Inter exploited the situation and signed Patrick Viera and Zlatan Ibrahimovic from Juve and also added Hernan Crespo, Maicon and Fabio Grosso who had scored the winning penalty for Italy in the World Cup final. Milan, out of Europe, sold Andrij Schevchenko to Chelsea. Roma signed David Pizzarro and Mirko Vucinic.
Inter were obvious favourites.
August & September
In August there was the third qualifying round for the Champions League. Milan defeated Red Star Belgrade 3-1 on aggregate and proceeded to the group phase. Chievo was eliminated by Levski Sofia 4-2 on aggregate and were “relegated” to the UEFA Cup.
In the first two games of the group stage, Inter lost to both Sporting Lisbon and Bayern Munich, Roma beat Shakhtar Donetsk but lost to Valencia, Milan beat AEK Athens and drew at Lille.
In the UEFA Cup first round Chievo were eliminated by Braga after a penalty shoot-out, Parma won 2-0 on aggregate against Rubin Kazan, Palermo beat West Ham United 4-0 on aggregate and Livorno won 3-0 against Pasching. The latter three qualified for the group stage.
In August there were also the first three rounds of Coppa Italia to determine who would meet the teams that last year finished in a better position in Serie A. The qualifiers were Messina (who beat Lazio in extra time), Genoa, Sampdoria (who won in Bologna), Reggina (winning the derby with Crotone in extra time), Brescia, Arezzo (eliminating Udinese on penalties), Napoli (who defeated Juventus on penalties) and Triestina who eliminated Atalanta in extra time.
Serie A started on September 10 and in the first four games Inter were already leading after winning in Florence and Rome.
Inter 10, Roma 9, Palermo 9, Messina 8, Empoli 8, Udinese 7, Siena 7, Atalanta 5, Catania 5, Livorno 5, Sampdoria 3, Milan (-8) 2, Cagliari 2, Ascoli 2, Torino 2, Chievo 1, Parma 1, Lazio (-11) -5, Reggina (-15) -11, Fiorentina (-19) -16
October
Surprise Palermo joined Inter at the top of the table. The Rosaneri won in Milan as well as in Florence and had already won seven of their nine games so far. Inter won the derby in a spectacular 4-3.
The final sentencing of the Calciopoli scandal changed the table as Lazio were only docked three points instead of 11 and Fiorentina 15 instead of 19. Milan’s 8-point docking was confirmed. Reggina’s final sentencing would take place in December.
In Champions League Inter recovered a little bit by winning against Spartak Moscow both at home and away, Roma won away to Olympiacos but drew at home, Milan won both games against Anderlecht.
In the UEFA Cup Livorno lost at home to Rangers, Parma won at Odense and Palermo in Frankfurt against Eintracht.
Inter 21, Palermo 21, Roma 17, Siena (-1) 15, Udinese 13, Atalanta 13, Livorno 13, Messina 12, Empoli 11, Sampdoria 10, Catania 10, Cagliari 9, Lazio (-3) 8, Milan (-8) 7, Torino 7, Parma 7, Ascoli 4, Chievo 2, Fiorentina (-15) 0, Reggina (-15) -3
November
Palermo remained “in contention” with Inter until game 11 after which they lost at Cagliari first and at home against leaders Inter. Roma crept up to second place winning in Milan.
In the Champions League, Inter beat Sporting Lisbon and qualified for the knockout stage. The final clash in Germany against Bayern Munich would determine who would come first (Inter were two points behind). Roma lost away to Shakhtar and now were just two points ahead of the Ukrainians with one game left. Milan lost to AEK but had already qualified.
In the UEFA Cup Livorno drew with Partizan and Maccabi Haifa. They would need to win away against Auxerre to qualify for the next round. Parma beat both Heernveen and Lens hence going through to the next stage. Palermo lost both games against Newcastle and Fenerbahçe. They needed to beat Celta Vigo in their last game to qualify.
In the Coppa Italia Round of 16 no massive surprises with the exception of Arezzo who continued their dream eliminating Livorno. Other quarter finalists were Chievo, Milan, Empoli, Roma, Parma, Inter and Sampdoria.
Inter 33, Roma 29, Palermo 27, Livorno 20, Empoli 19, Catania 19, Lazio (-3) 18, Atalanta 17, Siena (-1) 17, Udinese 16, Cagliari 14, Messina 14, Torino 14, Sampdoria 13, Milan (-8) 11, Parma 8, Chievo 7, Fiorentina (-15) 5, Ascoli 5, Reggina (-15) 1
December
Lazio crushed Roma in the derby 3-0 and by the end of the month Inter increased their lead to +7. Palermo were still holding strong in third place while the Biancocelesti were doing surprisingly well and were moving up the table.
The final sentencing on Reggina on Calciopoli allowed the Calabresi to get four points back to add to their tally. Now the situation down below was a lot clearer.
Inter drew in Munich and qualified to the knockout phase in second place, as did Roma (who beat Valencia). Milan lost at home with Lille but had already secured first place.
Livorno beat Auxerre and qualified for the next round of the UEFA Cup. They were joined by Parma, despite losing at home with Osasuna, but not Palermo who drew with Celta Vigo and were eliminated.
Inter 48, Roma 41, Palermo 35, Catania 26*, Lazio (-3) 25, Sampdoria 23, Udinese 23, Empoli 22*, Livorno 22, Torino 22, Atalanta 21, Milan (-8) 20, Siena (-1) 20, Fiorentina (-15) 18, Cagliari 16, Messina 15, Chievo 14, Reggina (-11) 12, Parma 12, Ascoli 9
* one game in hand
January
Inter continued to win and despite the many games left one could safely say that the scudetto was theirs for the taking. Roma had no opposition for their second place so the battle was for the remaining European slots and relegation. As for the latter, the teams involved for the moment were Chievo, Reggina, Messina, Parma and Ascoli.
The bigger teams all qualified for the semi-finals of Coppa Italia. Inter, Sampdoria, Roma and Milan eliminated Empoli, Chievo, Parma and Arezzo. In the semis, Inter beat Sampdoria 3-0 on aggregate and Roma eliminated Milan 5-3 on aggregate.
Inter 57, Roma 46, Palermo 39, Lazio (-3) 30, Catania 30, Empoli 29, Udinese 29, Atalanta 28, Milan (-8) 27, Sampdoria 24, Siena (-1) 24, Livorno 23, Fiorentina (-15) 22, Cagliari 22, Torino 22, Chievo 18, Reggina (-11) 16, Messina 16, Parma 15, Ascoli 12
February
On February 4 a policeman was killed at the end of the Sicilian derby Catania vs Palermo. As a consequence, all the other games were postponed to April 18. While Inter were dominating, Lazio and Milan were climbing up with a Champions League place now a possibility.
In the first leg of the Champions League Round of 16, Milan drew away to Celtic, Roma and Inter drew at home to Lyon and Valencia respectively. Difficult return games for all three.
Parma and Livorno were eliminated by Braga and Espanyol in the UEFA Cup round of 32.
Inter 67, Roma 53, Palermo 45*, Lazio (-3) 40, Empoli 38, Milan (-8) 37, Sampdoria 33, Fiorentina (-15) 32, Udinese 32, Atalanta 31, Catania 31*, Livorno 28, Siena (-1) 26, Torino 25, Chievo 23, Cagliari 23, Reggina (-11) 21, Messina 20, Parma 17, Ascoli 15
* one game more
March
Inter won the derby and now had an 18-point lead. Lazio were on a six-winning streak and had reached third place. Down the bottom there were eight teams in ten points and the relegation battle was wide open.
In the Champions League, Milan reached the quarter finals beating Celtic in extra time, joined by Roma who won in Lyon while Inter drew 0-0 in Valencia and were eliminated on away goals.
Inter 76, Roma 58, Lazio (-3) 49, Palermo 47*, Milan (-8) 43, Empoli 42, Fiorentina (-15) 37, Sampdoria 35, Udinese 35, Atalanta 32, Catania 32*, Torino 31, Livorno 29, Chievo 27, Siena (-1) 27, Cagliari 27, Reggina (-11) 25, Messina 24, Parma 22, Ascoli 19
* one game more
April
With five games to the end of the campionato, Inter won their second title in a row. Roma, who drew the derby, were comfortably in second place. Lazio stopped at eight consecutive wins and with the Champions League qualification in sight took a breather. Milan took advantage and advanced to third place.
Despite the fact that the previous month the relegation battle had seemed wide open, the April matches were detrimental to Ascoli and Messina who now had more than one foot in Serie B. For the third and last slot there were eight teams in 4 points with four games left.
In the Champions League Milan reached the semi-finals by eliminating Bayern Munich 4-2 on aggregate. Roma won at home with Manchester United 2-1 but were humiliated 7-1 in the return leg and eliminated. In the first leg of the semi-final, Milan lost 3-2 in Manchester.
Inter 87, Roma 69, Milan (-8) 59, Lazio (-3) 58, Palermo 52, Fiorentina (-15) 50, Empoli 50, Sampdoria 45, Atalanta 43, Udinese 43, Livorno 36, Catania* 36, Parma 35, Reggina (-11) 34, Siena (-1) 34, Cagliari 34, Torino 33, Chievo 32, Messina 25, Ascoli* 20
* one game in hand
May
Lazio and Milan secured Champions League places two games from the end. A remarkable result for both seeing the initial penalisation.
For the final place in Serie B with two games to the end Chievo and Reggina were on 36 points, Siena and Cagliari 37, Parma and Catania 38, Livorno and Torino 39. Cagliari (who beat Roma), Livorno and Torino (who drew in the direct clash), reached the safety mark of 40 points. One final match and the table below read: Chievo and Parma 39 points, Catania 38, Reggina and Siena 37.
At the end of the first 45 minutes, Catania-Chievo was goalless, Parma were winning 2-1 against Empoli, Reggina-Milan 1-0, Siena-Lazio 1-0. This meant that whoever won Catania-Chievo would stay in Serie A. Catania won 2-0. The other results were confirmed.
In the return game of the Champions League semi-final, Milan crushed Manchester United 3-0. In the final in Athens they played Liverpool, who had eliminated Chelsea after a penalty shootout. Milan then went on to win the competition beating the Reds 2-1.
In the first leg of the Coppa Italia final, Roma thrashed Inter 6-2. In the return match the Neroazzurri could only muster a 2-1 win so the Giallorossi won the Cup.
Inter, Roma, Lazio and Milan would play in the Champions League. Palermo, Fiorentina and Empoli in the UEFA Cup and Sampdoria in the Intertoto Cup. Chievo, Ascoli and Messina were relegated and would be replaced by Juventus, Napoli and Genoa.
Francesco Totti (Roma) was top scorer with 26 goals.
Final table: Inter 97, Roma 75, Lazio (-3) 62, Milan (-8) 61, Palermo 58, Fiorentina (-15) 58, Empoli 54, Atalanta 50, Sampdoria 49, Udinese 46, Livorno 43, Catania 41, Parma 35, Reggina (-11) 40, Siena (-1) 40, Torino 40, Cagliari 40, Chievo 39, Ascoli
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