What happened in Serie A 1974-75

The previous season Lazio had triumphantly won the scudetto. A fantastic campionato where once the Biancocelesti reached the top of the table in winter they never let go. It was going to be difficult to repeat the previous year.

The top teams went through a number of revolutions to counterbalance the magnificent Lazio of the past couple of years. Milan chose Gustavo Giagnoni as manager and signed Egidio Calloni, Juventus chose Carlo Parola as head coach and acquired the services of Oscar Damiani and young Gaetano Scirea. Inter also changed managers and gave the keys to the team to former glory Luis Suarez, Napoli signed Tarcisio Burnich and Giusppe Massa.

Lazio basically kept the same team with the exception of Roberto Badiani from Sampdoria. They were among the favourites but were they still as hungry after winning the biggest prize of all last year?

August & September

In the first leg of the Cup Winners Cup first round, Bologna lost 2-1 away to Gwardia Warszawa. In the UEFA Cup, Inter drew their first leg with Etar away, Napoli beat Videoton 2-0, Juventus lost away to Vorwarts Frankfurt 2-1 and Torino drew 1-1 at home with Fortuna Dusseldorf.

Lazio were unable to play the European Cup after a year ban.

The Coppa Italia first group phase took place between the end of August and September. The teams that qualified for the second phase were Inter, Napoli, Juventus, Torino, Roma (eliminating Lazio), Milan and Fiorentina. They would be joined by Bologna who won the previous edition.

October

Lazio started well, winning the first three games and then drawing at Terni. Juventus beat Milan at home.

Bologna were eliminated in the Cup Winners Cup. They lost on penalties against Gwardia Warszawa. In the second leg of the first round of the UEFA Cup, Inter crushed Etar 3-0, Napoli drew with Videoton and Juve beat Vorwarts Frankfurt 3-0. All three qualified for the second round. Torino were instead eliminated by Fortuna Dusseldorf 4-2 on aggregate. In the first leg of the second round Juve won 4-2 away to Hibernian, Inter lost at home against F.C Amsterdam and Napoli beat Porto at home 1-0.

Lazio 7, Napoli 6, Fiorentina 6, Juventus 5, Torino 5, Bologna 5, Inter 4, Varese 4, Milan 4, Cagliari 4, Sampdoria 4, Cesena 3, Vicenza 3, Ascoli 2, Roma 1, Ternana 1

November

Lazio lost at home to Inter and were caught up by several teams. Juve and Bologna took the lead but then the Rossoblu were beaten at home by Torino, and Juve, having won at home against Roma, were all alone at the top. The Milan derby ended in a draw.

In the second leg of the UEFA Cup’s second round, Juventus demolished Hibernian 4-0 and Napoli won in Porto 1-0. Both qualified for the third round. Inter were instead eliminated by F.C Amsterdam after a goalless draw away. In the first leg of the third round, Napoli lost at home to Banik Ostrava and Juve beat Ajax 1-0.

Juventus 11, Lazio 10, Torino 10, Napoli 9, Fiorentina 9, Milan 9, Bologna 9, Inter 8, Cagliari 6, Cesena 5, Vicenza 5, Varese 5, Sampdoria 5, Ternana 4, Roma 4, Ascoli 3

December

Juventus consolidated their lead as they beat Inter and Lazio lost the derby. The Bianconeri then drew their clash with Torino as did Lazio.

In the UEFA Cup Juventus eliminated Ajax on away goals thanks to Oscar Damiani’s goal in Amsterdam in the Bianconeri’s 2-1 defeat. Napoli were instead eliminated by Banik Ostrava after drawing 1-1.

Juventus 18, Lazio 15, Milan 14, Torino 14, Napoli 13, Fiorentina 13, Inter 12, Roma 12, Bologna 11, Varese 9, Vicenza 9, Sampdoria 8, Ternana 7, Cesena 7, Cagliari 7, Ascoli 7

January

In the first group of games of the year Lazio won the crucial match against Juventus and moved to within one point but threw everything away in a terrible defeat at Ascoli, last, so the Bianconeri regained the three-point lead.

Juventus 23, Lazio 20, Roma 19, Napoli 18, Milan 18, Torino 18, Inter 17, Bologna 17, Fiorentina 15, Cesena 13, Sampdoria 12, Cagliari 11, Ternana 10, Vicenza 10, Varese 10, Ascoli 9

February

Still a three-point gap between Juventus and Lazio. The Biancocelesti were unable to grasp the opportunity of a Juve goalless draw at Ascoli since they too were held to a goalless draw at home vs Ternana. The Bianconeri won in Milan. At the bottom, seven teams in four points.

Juventus 29, Lazio 26, Torino 25, Napoli 24, Milan 22, Roma 22, Bologna 22, Inter 21, Fiorentina 19, Cesena 16, Cagliari 16, Ternana 13, Ascoli 13, Vicenza 12, Varese 12, Sampdoria 12

March

Lazio lost in Milan against Inter as well as the derby and were overtaken in second place by Napoli. Juventus however slowed down and were beaten by Torino in their derby. In the relegation battle Varese were in difficulty and now the seven clubs were within six points of each other with six games to the end.

Juventus qualified for the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup. In the quarter finals they beat SV Hamburger 2-0 on aggregate after winning at home and a goalless draw in Germany.

Juventus 34, Napoli 32, Lazio 30, Roma 30, Torino 29, Milan 27, Bologna 26, Fiorentina 24, Inter 24, Cagliari 21, Cesena 20, Ascoli 19, Ternana 18, Sampdoria 18, Vicenza 17, Varese 15

April

Just before the home game against Torino, the Lazio players were told that their beloved manager Tommaso Maestrelli had cancer. The Biancocelesti lost focus and were thrashed. That same Sunday Juve beat Napoli and now the lead was four points. Juve also beat Lazio pushing them further down. Varese were in Serie B, Vicenza and Ternana almost.

No UEFA Cup final for Juventus. They were eliminated by Twente 4-1 on aggregate, losing both games.

Juventus 39, Napoli 36, Roma 34, Torino 33, Lazio 32, Milan 31, Bologna 29, Fiorentina 27, Inter 27, Cagliari 23, Cesena 23, Ascoli 22, Sampdoria 22, Vicenza 19, Ternana 19, Varese 16

May

With two games to the end of the campionato Juve needed just one point to win the scudetto but they lost in Florence and Napoli closed the gap to two points. In the final match against Vicenza the Bianconeri scored 5 securing their 16th title.

Relegation was decided in the penultimate game with Vicenza and Ternana joining Varese in Serie B.

Coming into the final game the only issue to decide was who would play the UEFA Cup the following season. Napoli and Roma had secured their qualification, Lazio were on 35 points, Milan and Torino on 34. The Biancocelesti and Rossoneri won their last game, Torino did not. The only change could come if Milan, Napoli or Roma were to win the Coppa Italia.

Paolo Pulici (Torino) was top scorer with 18 goals.

Perugia, Como and Verona were promoted to Serie A.

The Coppa Italia second group phase took place between the end of May and June. In the first group, made up of Fiorentina, Torino, Napoli and Roma, after the first two games Napoli were first with three points, Torino and Fiorentina second on 2 and Roma last on 1. In the second group, which included Milan, Juventus, Inter and Bologna, the Rossoneri were first on 4 points having beaten both Inter and Juventus who were on two points whereas Bologna had lost both games. The top two teams would go on to play the final.

Final Table: Juventus 43, Napoli 41, Roma 39, Lazio 37, Milan 36, Torino 35, Bologna 32, Fiorentina 31, Inter 30, Cagliari 26, Cesena 25, Ascoli 24, Sampdoria 24, Vicenza 21, Ternana 19, Varese 17

June

Coming into the final game of Group A of the Coppa Italia second group phase, Torino were leading with 7 points having just beaten Fiorentina who were at 6. Roma, on 4 and Napoli, on 3, were out of contention. However, the Neapolitans in the final game beat Torino allowing Fiorentina, who drew 2-2 in Rome, to reach the final.

In Group B Milan continued to dominate after beating Juve 1-0 and drawing the return derby. The win in Bologna allowed them to reach the final with one game to spare.

The final took place in Rome on June 25. Fiorentina won 3-2 despite Milan equalising twice. It was their fourth Coppa Italia win.

As a consequence, the Viola would be playing the Cup Winners Cup next season and no changes for the teams that qualified for the UEFA Cup.