What happened in Serie A 1971-72

Source Wikipedia

Inter had won the scudetto the previous season ahead of Milan and Napoli. At the end of the first round of fixtures, Milan was first with a two point lead over Napoli and four more than Inter. But in the second half of the season, the Nerazzurri won the derby in the 20th fixture, joined Milan at the top on the 22nd, and became solitary leader one match later staying top until the end.

In the summer transfer window there were not a lot of big movements. The older generations were slowly taken over by the new ones so in came Alberto Bigon, Ivano Bordon and Gabriele Oriali, and new managers such as Gustavo Giagnoni for Torino and Čestmír Vycpálek (Zdenek Zeman’s uncle) at Juventus. Roma instead went back to the old school and re-called Helenio Herrera.

September

In the first leg of the European Cup first round Inter beat AEK Athens 4-1. They lost 3-2 in the second leg but went through. In the Cup Winners Cup, Torino won 1-0 with Limerick away in the first leg and 4-0 in the second.

The group phase of the Coppa Italia was played between the end of August and September. Inter, Milan, Napoli, Juventus, Bologna, Lazio (only Serie B team) and Fiorentina joined Torino for the semifinal group phase which was to be played in June.

This was the first edition of the UEFA Cup which took the place of the Fairs Cup. In the first round Juventus beat Marsa 11-0, Napoli lost 2-1 to Rapid Bucharest, Bologna beat Anderlecht 3-1, and Milan eliminated Akritas 7-0, all on aggregate.

October

Inter and Milan won all their first three games but both fell in the fourth, the Nerazzurri away to Roma and the Rossoneri at home with Juventus. Torino took advantage and went top.

Inter faced Borussia Mönchengladbach in the second round of the European Cup away. In the 29th minute Roberto Boninsegna was hit by a can. The Nerazzurri lost 7-1 but a repeat was called. However, due to organisational reasons the second leg was played before the first in November. In the Cup Winners Cup, Torino won 1-0 at home against Austria Wien. In the first leg of the UEFA Cup second round, Bologna drew 1-1 away with Željo, Milan beat Hertha BSC 4-2 and Juventus won at home against Aberdeen 2-0.

Torino 7, Inter 6, Juventus 6, Milan 6, Roma 6, Bologna 5, Napoli 5, Atalanta 4, Sampdoria 4, Fiorentina 4, Verona 4, Cagliari 3, Catanzaro 2, Mantova 1, Varese 1, Vicenza 0

November

In the fifth fixture Torino lost away to Inter so there was a trio at the top: Inter, Juventus and Milan. A week later the Bianconeri won in Bologna and the Milanese both drew 0-0. In the seventh fixture Milan won the derby “away” and joined Juve, who were stopped by Napoli, at the top.

Inter beat Borussia Mönchengladbach 4-2 in the European Cup. The second leg would be played in December. In the second leg of the second round of the Cup Winners Cup, Torino drew 0-0 away to Austria Wien and qualified for the quarter finals. In the UEFA Cup Bologna drew 2-2 at home with Željo and were eliminated on away goals, whilst Milan and Juventus proceeded to the third round eliminating Hertha BSC and Aberdeen 5-4 and 3-1 on aggregate. In the first leg of the third round, Juventus won away with Rapid Wien and Milan beat Dundee 3-0.

Juventus 11, Milan 11, Roma 10, Torino 10, Inter 9, Cagliari 8, Fiorentina 8, Napoli 7, Sampdoria 6, Verona 6, Bologna 5, Vicenza 5, Catanzaro 5, Atalanta 4, Mantova 4, Varese 3

December

In the 8th fixture Juventus moved to +2 after winning the derby and Milan losing at home to Mantova. The Rossoneri were joined in second place by Inter and Roma but later in month broke away to take solitary second place. Behind, the fight to remain in Serie A at the moment was between Vicenza, Mantova, Verona, Bologna, Catanzaro and Varese with the latter a little bit further behind.

In the repeat game of the first leg of the second round of the European Cup, Inter drew away with Borussia Mönchengladbach and qualified for the quarter finals. Juventus and Milan qualified for the UEFA Cup quarter finals. The Bianconeri beat Rapid Wien 4-1 and Milan lost 2-0 but won 3-2 on aggregate.

Juventus 19, Milan 17, Torino 14, Fiorentina 14, Inter 13*, Cagliari 13, Roma 13, Sampdoria 12, Napoli 11, Atalanta 11, Vicenza 7*, Mantova 7, Verona 7, Bologna 6, Catanzaro 6, Varese 4

* one game in hand

January

In the 13th fixture, Juventus fell at Cagliari and Milan recovered one point by drawing in Naples. In the 15th they went back to -2 but a game later Juve fell yet again this time vs Catanzaro and Milan joined them at the top after beating Varese.

Milan 24, Juventus 24, Cagliari 22, Inter 21, Roma 21, Fiorentina 20, Torino 20, Napoli 17, Sampdoria 16, Atalanta 14, Bologna 12, Vicenza 11, Catanzaro 11, Verona 11, Mantova 7, Varese 5

February

In the first game of the month Milan fell in Florence and Juve smashed Verona for four so the Bianconeri retained the +2 solitary lead. The big clash between them occurred on the 19th fixture but it ended in a draw. Behind it looked like Varese were doomed and Mantova almost.

In the UEFA Cup quarter finals’ first leg, Milan beat Lierse 2-0 at home and Juve drew 1-1 in Turin with Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Juventus 29, Milan 27, Torino 27, Cagliari 26, Fiorentina 26, Inter 24, Roma 24, Napoli 23, Sampdoria 19, Atalanta 17, Bologna 17, Catanzaro 15, Vicenza 14, Verona 14, Mantova 11, Varese 7

March

In the 21st fixture Milan lost at Cagliari and were overtaken by the Sardinans along with Fiorentina who beat Verona. Juve, by winning with Bologna, went to +3. In the next match, Cagliari and Fiorentina fell, Milan drew the derby, and the Bianconeri added another point to their lead. Torino were now in second place. But they won the Turin derby and the gap closed to just one point.

In the first leg quarter finals of the European Cup Inter beat Standard Liège 1-0 at home. They lost 2-1 in the second but qualified for the semifinals on away goals. In the Cup Winners Cup Torino drew 1-1 at home with Rangers and lost 1-0 in the second leg. They were eliminated. Milan instead qualified for the semifinal of the UEFA Cup drawing away with Lierse whilst Juventus were eliminated by Wolverhampton Wanderers after losing 2-1 away.

Juventus 32, Torino 31, Cagliari 30, Fiorentina 30, Milan 29, Inter 28, Roma 27, Napoli 25, Sampdoria 22, Atalanta 20, Bologna 20, Vicenza 19, Verona 17, Catanzaro 16, Mantova 13, Varese 9

April

In the 25th fixture, Juventus drew away to Sampdoria and Torino beat Napoli so they were now both leading Serie A. The Granata took solitary lead the next game when they beat Atalanta and Juve drew at Mantua, but it did not last long since they lost with Milan and the Bianconeri crushed Inter 3-0 retaining the solitary lead. Behind, Varese were in Serie B, but Mantova had almost caught up and were just one point behind Catanzaro and Verona. Three games left.

In the first leg of the European Cup semifinal, Inter drew with Celtic 0-0 at home. The same result occurred even in the second so there was a need for a penalty shootout which Inter won 5-4. In the final they would meet Ajax who had eliminated Benfica. In the UEFA Cup Milan missed out on the final, beaten 3-2 on aggregate by Tottenham.

Juventus 38, Cagliari 37, Torino 37, Milan 36, Fiorentina 33, Inter 31, Roma 31, Napoli 27, Sampdoria 26, Atalanta 23, Bologna 23, Vicenza 21, Catanzaro 20, Verona 20, Mantova 19, Varese 10

May

In the 28th fixture the big match Juventus Cagliari. Juve won and now had a two point lead over Milan and Torino and three more than the Sardinians. In the penultimate game of the season the Bianconeri drew in Florence, Milan, Torino and Cagliari won. Juventus needed to win their last match against Vicenza to secure the scudetto and they did.

With one game to go Mantova and Varese were already relegated, the other position was between Catanzaro, Verona and Vicenza. Final games Milan Catanzaro, Roma Verona and Juve Vicenza. All three of them lost so the Calabrians were relegated.

Top scorer was Roberto Boninsegna (Inter) with 22 goals.

Ternana, Lazio and Palermo were promoted from Serie B.

Ajax beat Inter in the final of the European Cup 2-0 thanks to a Johan Cruijff brace.

Final table: Juventus 43, Milan 42, Torino 42, Cagliari 39, Inter 36, Fiorentina 36, Roma 35, Napoli 28, Sampdoria 28, Atalanta 26, Bologna 25, Vicenza 23, Verona 22, Mantova 21, Catanzaro 21, Varese 13

June

The Coppa Italia semifinal group phase was played in June. Group A saw Milan prevail over Torino, Inter and Juventus, whereas Napoli won group B ahead of Fiorentina, Bologna and Lazio. In the final played in Rome in July, Milan beat Napoli 2-0.

As a consequence next season Juve would be playing in the European Cup, Milan in the Cup Winners Cup, Torino, Cagliari, Inter and Fiorentina in the UEFA Cup.