What happened in Serie A 1982-83

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The previous season had seen Juventus win the scudetto with a single point over Fiorentina. After the first half of the season the Viola were ahead followed by the Bianconeri one point behind with Inter and Roma at two points. Juventus caught up with Fiorentina in the 18th fixture with the other two falling behind. The Bianconeri took the lead with eight games to the end but four matches later they were back together again after the Bianconeri drew at home with Ascoli. Juve went +1 with two games left when the Viola were stopped by Inter but then Juve drew at home with Napoli and Fiorentina beat Udinese. 90 minutes left, Viola and Bianconeri on 44 points. In the last game however, the Viola did not beat Cagliari and Juve won away with Catanzaro securing the scudetto.

In the summer transfer window Italy opened up to a second foreign player and Juve got hold of Michel Platini and Zibi Boniek. Fiorentina acquired Daniel Passarella, Inter Hansi Muller, Roma Herbert Prohaska.

Juventus were obvious favourites, with Fiorentina, Inter and Roma slightly behind.

August & September

Juve surprisingly lost their first game against Trevor Francis’ Sampdoria who also beat Roma and went ahead.

Juventus passed the first round of the European Cup beating Hvidore 7-4 on aggregate. Inter also passed in the Cup Winners Cup eliminating Slovan Bratislava 3-2 on aggregate. Roma and Napoli also qualified in the UEFA Cup against Ipswich Town 4-3 on aggregate, and Dinamo Tbilisi on away goals. Fiorentina were eliminated by Universtitatea Craiova 3-2 on aggregate.

In Coppa Italia, played before the start of the Serie A, the following qualified for the round of 16: Torino, Cagliari, Ascoli, Varese, Napoli and Avellino, Bologna, Pisa, Roma, Verona, Juventus, Milan, Cesena, Catanzaro, Bari and Inter.

Sampdoria 6, Fiorentina 4, Torino 4, Inter 4, Pisa 4, Roma 4, Udinese 4, Cesena 3, Napoli 3, Juventus 2, Verona 2, Ascoli 2, Avellino 2, Genoa 2, Cagliari 1, Catanzaro 1

October

Sampdoria lost at Pisa in the first game of the month and Roma took the lead. The Giallorossi were then beaten away by Juve and joined by Verona at the top but then the Scaligeri were hold to a draw by Udinese and Roma won against Pisa to go back into the solitary lead.

In the first leg of the European Cup second round Juventus drew away with Standard Liège. Inter lost 1-0 away to AZ in the Cup Winners Cup. In the UEFA Cup Roma beat IFK Norrkoping 1-0 and Napoli lost at home 2-1 with Kaiserslautern.

Roma 12, Verona 11, Torino 10, Juventus 10, Inter 10, Sampdoria 9, Udinese 9, Fiorentina 8, Pisa 8, Genoa 7, Avellino 7, Ascoli 6, Cesena 6, Napoli 6, Catanzaro 5, Cagliari 4

November

Roma lost the top spot in the ninth fixture when they drew at Udine and Verona won at Ascoli but they went back solitary leaders a week later when they beat Fiorentina at home and Verona was stopped by Cagliari and joined second by Juventus who won the derby. In the 11th fixture the Bianconeri surprisingly lost at Ascoli, Roma and Verona drew away, so Inter now were second with the Veneti.

Juventus qualified for the quarter finals of the European Cup by beating Standard Liège 2-0 at home after having drawn away. Inter also qualified for the quarters by winning 2-0 at home against AZ after losing the first leg 1-0. Roma lost 1-0 in the UEFA Cup with IFK Norrkoping but qualified thanks to a penalty shootout. Napoli lost 2-0 with Kaiserslautern and were eliminated. In the first leg of the third round, Roma lost 1-0 away to Koln.

Roma 16, Verona 15, Inter 15, Juventus 14, Sampdoria 13, Torino 11, Cesena 11, Udinese 11, Fiorentina 10, Pisa 10, Ascoli 9, Genoa 9, Avellino 9, Cagliari 9, Napoli 7, Catanzaro 7

December

In the first game of the month, the Giallorossi beat Inter at home and kept their lead even a week later drawing at Avellino since Verona were not able to beat Cesena at home. Juve avoided being overtaken by Inter by drawing in Milan.

Roma qualified for the UEFA Cup quarterfinals by overcoming the away result and winning 2-0 against Koln.

Roma 19, Verona 18, Juventus 17, Inter 16, Udinese 14, Torino 13, Cesena 13, Sampdoria 13, Fiorentina 12, Pisa 12, Genoa 12, Cagliari 12, Ascoli 11, Avellino 10, Napoli 8, Catanzaro 8

January

Verona again unable to take advantage of a Roma draw in the 15th fixture. They only drew at home with Sampdoria and in the next game the Giallorossi went +2 when the Gialloblu were stopped away by Inter. They had their big opportunity in the big match of January 23 against Roma, but it ended in a draw. Verona drew even the next game with Juve and the Giallorossi went +3.

Roma 27, Verona 24, Inter 23, Juventus 21, Fiorentina 20, Torino 19, Udinese 19, Sampdoria 17, Pisa 16, Cesena 16, Genoa 16, Avellino 16, Cagliari 16, Ascoli 15, Napoli 14, Catanzaro 9

February

Roma stopped at Ascoli but even Verona drew at home with Genoa then disaster struck as they lost 3-0 at Avellino and Roma crushed Napoli 5-2. The Giallorossi had a five-point lead at this point, though reduced to four by the end of the month. Behind it was a big struggle with eight teams in five points, taken for granted that Catanzaro were practically already in Serie B.

In the Coppa Italia Round of 16, Juventus, Inter, Pisa, Roma, Napoli, Torino, Verona and Milan qualified for the quarter finals.

Roma 31, Verona 27, Juventus 26, Inter 25, Torino 23, Fiorentina 23, Udinese 22, Sampdoria 21, Genoa 20, Avellino 19, Cagliari 19, Ascoli 18, Cesena 18, Pisa 17, Napoli 16, Catanzaro 11

March

On March 6 the big match between Roma and Juventus at the Olimpico. Roma went up 1-0 in the second half and for everybody this meant that the scudetto was theirs. But the Bianconeri scored two in three minutes towards the end of the match and won it. They were now three points behind in second place. The Giallorossi did not falter and won the next game at Pisa only to draw at home with Udinese in the 24th fixture. But so did Juventus who in the 25th game of the season went 2-0 up in the derby but Torino scored three handing over the scudetto to Roma. The Giallorossi had a four-point lead with five games left in the season. Behind, Cesena were in trouble and so were Napoli. There was not a lot of time left.

Juventus qualified for the semi-final of the European Cup after beating Aston Villa 5-2 on aggregate. Inter were eliminated by Real Madrid in the Cup Winners Cup 3-2 on aggregate and Roma lost against Benfica 3-2 in the UEFA Cup.

Roma 35, Juventus 31, Inter 30, Verona 30, Torino 29, Fiorentina 27, Udinese 27, Sampdoria 26, Cagliari 24, Genoa 23, Avellino 23, Pisa 22, Ascoli 22, Napoli 20, Cesena 18, Catanzaro 13

April

Juventus went to -3 with three to go as Roma drew away with Inter and they won with Catanzaro, but the feeling was that it was too late. Still rather chaotic behind with seven teams in four points. The Genoese derby ended in a draw.

Juventus qualified for the final of the European Cup eliminating Widzew Lodz 4-2 on aggregate. They would be playing Hamburg in May in Athens.

Roma 38, Juventus 35, Inter 33, Fiorentina 31, Verona 31, Torino 30, Sampdoria 29, Udinese 28, Genoa 25, Avellino 25, Cagliari 25, Pisa 23, Napoli 23, Ascoli 22, Cesena 21, Catanzaro 13

May & June

Roma won the scudetto by drawing the penultimate game away to Genoa. This was only the third scudetto to be won in the capital city. Juve and Verona missed too many chances to be able to get near the Giallorossi. With 90 minutes left, the bottom of the table read Pisa, Cagliari and Napoli 26, Ascoli 25. Cesena and Catanzaro were already relegated. The big match was Ascoli-Cagliari on the final day, and the locals won 2-0 relegating the Sardinians.

Despite being the favourites, Juventus lost the Europa Cup final 1-0 with Hamburg.

The Coppa Italia played the quarter finals, semi and final after the end of the Serie A. Inter, Torino, Verona and Juventus eliminated Pisa, Napoli, Milan (on away goals) and Roma (5-0 on aggregate). The Bianconeri then went on to eliminate the Nerazzurri 2-1 on aggregate as did Verona despite losing at home the first leg. In the final, played on two legs, Verona won the at 2-0 but Juventus overturned the result winning 3-0 the return match in extra time.

So Roma would be playing the European Cup, Juventus the Cup Winners Cup, Inter and Verona the UEFA Cup. Milan, Lazio and Catania were promoted to Serie A. Top scorer was Michel Platini with 16 goals.

Roma 43, Juventus 39, Inter 38, Verona 35, Fiorentina 34, Udinese 32, Sampdoria 31, Torino 30, Avellino 28, Napoli 28, Pisa 27, Genoa 27, Ascoli 27, Cagliari 26, Cesena 22, Catanzaro 13