The previous season had seen the return to Serie A of Palermo, Verona and Pisa, ahead of Bari, Foggia and Reggiana. Lazio, who had been relegated in the 1966-67 season, had been a disappointment, as had Lecco, only safe after a playoff, and Venezia, relegated to Serie C.
The 1968-69 season had its favourites. Obviously the three teams that had been relegated from Serie A – Spal, Brescia and Mantova – plus the three that had just missed out the previous season - Bari, Foggia and Reggiana – and then there was Lazio.
September-October
Four games between the end of September and October to start the season. Foggia, Livorno and Bari had begun very well, but it was very early on and, as everybody knows, Serie B is a long tournament.
Foggia 6, Livorno 6, Bari 6, Lazio 5, Reggina 5, Catania 5, Catanzaro 5, Como 5, Genoa 5, Perugia 4, Ternana 4, Mantova 3, Spal 3, Brescia 3, Lecco 3, Cesena 3, Reggiana 3, Padova 3, Monza, 2, Modena 1
November
The four games of November saw Genoa take a leap to the top whereas Foggia and Lazio maintained their previous positions. Not a lot of points between the teams, typical of the 2-points per win era.
Genoa 11, Foggia 11, Lazio 10, Como 10, Brescia 9, Reggina 9, Livorno 9, Lecco 9, Bari 9, Ternana 8, Catanzaro 8, Perugia 8, Reggiana 7, Cesena 7, Catania 7, Spal 6, Modena 6, Padova 6, Mantova 5, Monza, 5
December
The five games closing 1968 saw two teams rise to the top: Brescia and Lazio. They were followed by Como and Bari. Still just 9 points between first and last. Everything could still happen. The top two teams had drawn 1-1 at Brescia.
Brescia 18, Lazio 17, Como 16, Bari 16, Genoa 15, Foggia 15, Reggina 14, Livorno 14, Reggiana 13, Perugia 13, Lecco 13, Catania 13, Ternana 12, Catanzaro 12, Spal 11, Modena 10, Padova 10, Monza 10, Mantova 9, Cesena 9
January
In the four games opening 1969 the two leaders consolidated, with a big battle for third behind them. Cesena, Modena, Mantova and Padova would have to wake up if they wanted to avoid further trouble.
Lazio 23, Brescia 23, Bari 21, Como 20, Genoa 19, Reggina 19, Foggia 19, Ternana 17, Reggiana 18, Livorno 17, Catania 17, Catanzaro 16, Perugia 16, Spal 16, Lecco 15, Monza 14, Cesena 13, Modena 13, Mantova 12, Padova 12
February
February’s four games saw Lazio- due to defeats at Reggio Emilia and Genoa- Bari and Como fall back a bit and Reggina and Reggiana take advantage. Brescia solitary first with a two point cushion over the Biancocelesti.
Brescia 28, Lazio 26, Reggiana 26, Reggina 25, Genoa 25, Bari 25, Como 23, Ternana 22, Foggia 22, Catania 22, Spal 21, Perugia 20, Livorno 20, Lecco 18, Catanzaro 18, Mantova 16, Modena 16, Monza 16, Padova 16, Cesena 15
March
Five games in March saw Brescia lose a little bit of their advantage and now the top three teams had a three point lead over the fourth. Behind, Lecco, Modena and Padova were in trouble but there were still 12 games to the end of the season.
Brescia 34, Lazio 33, Reggiana 33, Reggina 30, Bari 30, Genoa 29, Ternana 29, Foggia 28, Perugia 25, Como 25, Catania 25, Mantova 24, Livorno 24, Cesena 23, Catanzaro 23, Monza 23, Spal 22, Lecco 21, Padova 20, Modena 19
April
April’s three games saw Lazio catch up with Brescia, thanks to their win over the Rondinelle in Rome, and Bari join Reggiana just behind. The others were slightly further adrift. In the relegation zone things were very tight with lots of teams involved. The bottom three were Spal, Modena and Padova.
Lazio 38, Brescia 38, Reggiana 35, Bari 35, Reggina 33, Genoa 32, Ternana 31, Foggia 31, Perugia 28, Como 28, Livorno 28, Catania 28, Catanzaro 27, Mantova 26, Cesena 26, Monza 25, Lecco 24, Spal 23, Modena 22, Padova 22
May
The four May games saw Lazio well ahead now with a six point lead over fourth place and four games to go. Serie A was now very close. Brescia, Reggiana and Bari were battling it out for the other two places. Behind, Spal and Padova seemed to have given up, and seven other teams were fighting to avoid that last place which would take them down to Serie C.
Lazio 46, Brescia 42, Reggiana 41, Bari 40, Reggina 38, Genoa 37, Foggia 36, Como 34, Livorno 34, Perugia 33, Ternana 33, Mantova 32, Catania 32, Cesena 31, Catanzaro 31, Monza 30, Lecco 29, Modena 29, Spal 26, Padova 26
June
Final verdicts. By beating Lecco 3-0 Lazio secured Serie A with two games to go. Coming into the last game of the season, Brescia and Bari were tied on 46 points with Reggiana on 45. In the last match the latter drew in Rome so the other two joined Lazio and would play in top tier football next year. The three teams going down to Serie C were Spal, Lecco and Padova. A double relegation for Spal in two years.
Lazio, by winning the Serie B championship, also qualified for the following year’s Mitropa Cup.
The top scorer in Serie B was Virginio Depaoli (Brescia) with 16 goals.
Final Serie B Table: Lazio 50, Brescia 48, Bari 47, Reggiana 46, Reggina 44, Genoa 41, Como 41, Perugia 38, Foggia 38, Ternana 36, Mantova 35, Livorno 35, Monza 35, Catanzaro 35, Catania 35, Cesena 34, Modena 32, Spal 31, Lecco 30, Padova 29
Serie A
Fiorentina won the scudetto with a four-point lead over Cagliari and Milan.
Roma won the Coppa Italia topping the final group ahead of Cagliari, Foggia and Torino.
Milan won the European Cup beating Ajax 4-1 in the final.
Torino were eliminated in the Cup Winners Cup in the quarterfinals by Slovan Bratislava.
Juventus, Bologna, Napoli were eliminated in the second round of the Intercities Fairs Cup by Eintracht Frankfurt, OFK Beograd and Leeds United respectively. Fiorentina were knocked out in the Round of 16 by Vitoria Setubal.
Fiorentina and Milan would play the European Cup next season, Roma the Cup Winners Cup, Cagliari, Inter, Juventus and Napoli the Intercities Fairs Cup.
Varese, Pisa and Atalanta were relegated to Serie B.
Gigi Riva (Cagliari) was top Serie A scorer with 20 goals.
Final Serie A table:
Fiorentina 45, Cagliari 41, Milan 41, Inter 36, Juventus 35, Torino 33, Napoli 32, Roma 30, Bologna 29, Verona 26, Palermo 25, Sampdoria 23, Vicenza 23, Varese 22, Pisa 20, Atalanta 19.
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