What happened in Serie A 2003-04

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Juventus had won the scudetto the previous season. After the first half they were a little behind since Milan were top followed by Lazio and Inter. Juventus were fourth. By mid-February they were joint leaders with Inter and then they went off alone in early March. With five games to the end of the season they had a six-point advantage over Inter and they became champions with two games to spare.

In the summer transfer window, the Bianconeri signed defender Nicola Legrottaglie, Inter got Julio Cruz, Milan acquired Cafu and Kaka and Roma Christian Chivu and Amantino Mancini.

Before the start of the season there was chaos.

Two players in Serie B, Vito Grieco (Catania) and Luigi Martinelli (Siena) had been suspended for one game during the course of 2002-03 Serie B. The two did not play the game after they were suspended but did play with the Primavera that weekend. With two main differences. In the Catania case the first team had already played, whereas in the Siena case the two games were at the same time. The week after Martinelli regularly played Catania-Siena which ended 1-1. Riccardo Gaucci, president of Catania, demanded that Siena should be given a 0-2 defeat because Martinelli should not have been playing since he was suspended.

At the end of the season Catania arrived fourth bottom and were relegated. But if they were to be given the win against Siena, this would mean that there would be a need for a playoff between Napoli and Venezia. There was absolute chaos and a decision was made to have 21 teams in Serie B for 2003-04. But in case this was not enough, Venezia appealed for victory over Catania due to Grieco having played the previous Sunday with the Primavera and they won, meaning that now Catania were relegated and Venezia were still in Serie B. This however created more chaos as Salernitana, Genoa and Cosenza jumped at the opportunity to avoid relegation via the judiciary. In the end, on August 19, the Italian Football Federation determined that Serie B would have 24 teams, hence the annulment of the relegations of the previous season, plus Fiorentina who substituted Cosenza who had gone bankrupt. The Viola only the previous season had been relegated to C2 after they had gone bust and had won their C2 group and should have played in C1. But the Federation promoted them to Serie B on Sporting merit and because of their large fan base.

At this point a final decision was made. Serie A would go from the current 18 clubs to 20 for the 2004-05 season and Serie B from 24 to 22. This meant that five teams would come up from Serie B, three teams would be relegated from Serie A and the final place would be determined by a playoff between the 15th place in Serie A and the sixth place in Serie B.

Juventus were obviously favourites but Milan too could look at the current season with ambition.

August-September

The Supercoppa final, held in East Rutherford in the US between Juventus who had won the previous scudetto and Milan who had won the Coppa Italia in August, ended in a goalless draw and needed extra time. They then scored one each so there was a penalty shootout which Juventus won clinching their fourth title in the competition.

In Serie A Roma, Juventus and Milan took the lead early on since they all won three and drew one. The Giallorossi and Bianconeri drew in Turin.

In August there was the third qualifying round of the Champions League to gain access to the group stage. Lazio defeated Benfica 4-1 on aggregate.

In the first two games of the group stage in September Inter won in London against Arsenal and also beat Dynamo Kyiv, Juventus beat Galatasaray and Olympiakos, Lazio won in Istanbul against Besiktas but drew at home against Sparta Prague, Milan beat Ajax and drew with Celta Vigo.

In the first leg of the UEFA Cup qualifying round, Udinese won away against Wustenrot Salzburg, Parma drew away with Metalurh Donetsk, Perugia won at Dundee and Roma crushed Vardar 4-0 at the Olimpico.

The Coppa Italia started in a weird way. In protest against the last second decision to have 24 teams in Serie B many clubs refused to play the group phase, so some Serie C teams qualified for the second round such as Pro Patria, Teramo and Brindisi. In the end Reggina, Palermo, Modena, Siena, Venezia, Perugia, Sampdoria and Bologna qualified for the round of 16 where they would meet the bigger Serie A clubs.

Roma 10, Juventus 10, Milan 10, Parma 8, Inter 8, Lazio 7, Chievo 7, Siena 5, Sampdoria 5, Bologna 4, Modena 4, Udinese 4, Reggina 3, Lecce 3, Brescia 2, Perugia 2, Empoli 2, Ancona 1

October

Milan, who won the derby, and Juventus took the lead as Roma with a couple of draws lost a little bit of ground.

In Champions League Inter collapsed in Moscow against Lokomotiv, Juventus beat Real Sociedad, Lazio lost away to Chelsea and Milan at home to Club Brugge.

In the second leg of the UEFA Cup qualifying round, Udinese lost at home to Wustenrot Salzburg and were eliminated on away goals. Parma won 3-0 against Metalurh Donetsk and qualified for the second round, as did Perugia who beat Dundee at home too, and Roma who drew away with Vardar.

Milan 19, Juventus 19, Roma 15, Parma 14, Lazio 13, Chievo 11, Udinese 11, Modena 10, Inter 10, Siena 9, Reggina 8, Sampdoria 6, Brescia 6, Bologna 5, Perugia 5, Lecce 3, Ancona 2, Empoli 2

November

Roma back on top, in the company of Milan, with Juventus one point behind. Roma took advantage of Milan and Juventus drawing in the big clash at the beginning of the month and the Bianconeri's defeat at home against Inter. The Giallorossi also won the derby.

In the Champions League Inter drew at home with Lokomotiv Moscow and were crushed 5-1 by Arsenal in San Siro. They needed to win away to Dynamo Kyiv if they wanted to qualify. Juventus drew away to Real Sociedad and lost to Galatasaray but they had already qualified first in their group. Lazio lost at home to Chelsea and drew with Besiktas. They needed to win against Sparta Prague away in order to qualify. Milan were also already qualified as top in their group after beating both Club Brugge and Ajax away.

In the UEFA Cup, Parma, Roma and Perugia qualified for the next round eliminating Wustenrot Salzburg 9-0, Hajduk Split 2-1 and Aris 3-1, all on aggregate.

Roma 27, Milan 27, Juventus 26, Inter 22, Parma 21, Lazio 19, Sampdoria 16, Udinese 15, Siena 14, Chievo 14, Modena 14, Reggina 10, Brescia 8, Lecce 8, Bologna 7, Perugia 7, Empoli 6, Ancona 4

December

Roma sprinted ahead alone as Juventus lost against Lazio and drew with Lecce, Milan lost at home to Udinese while Roma won all their games. The Biancocelesti also beat Inter. Below, the situation looked dire for Ancona and Empoli.

In the Champions League Inter drew away to Dynamo Kyiv and were “relegated” to the UEFA Cup. Juventus qualified for the next round. They were already certain of first place but still crushed Olympiakos 7-0. Lazio were out of the tournament having lost in Prague against Sparta. Milan, already qualified in first place, lost at home to Celta Vigo.

In the Coppa Italia Round of 16, Juventus, Udinese, Parma, Lazio, Milan, Perugia, Roma and Inter qualified for the quarter finals.

Roma 36, Juventus 30, Milan 30*, Inter 28, Lazio 28, Parma 24, Udinese 24, Sampdoria 21, Chievo 18, Modena 16, Siena 15*, Reggina 14, Brescia 13, Bologna 11, Perugia 9, Lecce 9, Empoli 6, Ancona 4

* one game in hand

January

Roma lost at home against Milan and since the Rossoneri won their game against Siena which had been called off, they were the new leaders with Juventus in third place. Despite the fact there were still half the fixtures  to play one could safely say that Ancona were doomed.

In the quarter finals of Coppa Italia, Inter, Lazio, Milan and Juventus eliminated Udinese, Parma, Roma and Perugia respectively.

Milan 45, Roma 43, Juventus 40, Inter 32, Parma 32, Lazio 32, Sampdoria 27, Udinese 27, Chievo 25, Siena 21, Bologna 21, Brescia 19, Modena 18, Reggina 17, Empoli 13, Lecce 12, Perugia 10, Ancona 5

February

Roma crushed Juventus but in the next game drew away to Ancona allowing Milan to go +5. The Rossoneri won the derby yet again, pushing their city rivals down to sixth place.

In the Champions League Juventus lost the first leg of the Round of 16 away to Deportivo La Coruña and Milan drew in Prague against Sparta.

In the first leg of the UEFA Cup third round, Roma lost away to Gaziantepspor, Perugia drew at home with PSV Eindhoven, Parma lost at home with Gençlerbirliği and Inter drew with Sochaux away.

In the Coppa Italia semi-finals, Lazio demolished Milan 6-1 on aggregate and Juventus beat Inter on penalties after both games had ended 2-2.

Milan 58, Roma 53, Juventus 52, Lazio 40, Parma 39, Inter 36, Udinese 36, Sampdoria 33, Chievo 29, Brescia 27, Bologna 25, Lecce 25, Modena 23, Siena 22, Reggina 22, Empoli 20, Perugia 17, Ancona 6

March

Milan went to +9 and that was it as far as the scudetto was concerned unless the Rossoneri decided to commit suicide. They won in Turin against Juventus, closing the contest while Roma beat Inter. The Rome derby was suspended after fans interrupted the game following a false rumour that a boy had been run over by a police car.

Juventus were beaten also at home by Deportivo La Coruña and were out of the tournament. Milan beat Sparta Prague and proceeded to the quarter finals where in the first home leg they beat Dépor 4-1 coming from behind.

In the second leg of the UEFA Cup, Roma beat Gaziantepspor 2-0 and qualified for the next round as did Inter on away goals vs Sochaux. Perugia lost away to PSV and were eliminated as were Parma who collapsed in Turkey against Gençlerbirliği.

In the fourth round, Inter drew away against Benfica but then beat them 4-3 at home to qualify for the quarter finals. Roma were instead eliminated by Villarreal 3-2 on aggregate.

In the first leg of the Coppa Italia final, Lazio beat Juventus 2-0 with a Stefano Fiore brace.

Milan 68, Juventus 59, Roma 57*, Lazio 44*, Parma 44, Inter 43, Udinese 39, Sampdoria 38, Bologna 34, Chievo 33, Brescia 31, Siena 30, Lecce 28, Reggina 27, Modena 25, Empoli 23, Perugia 22, Ancona 7

* one game in hand

April

Milan had a couple of draws so Roma went to -6. The Rome derby was played and ended in a draw. For the four champions league positions, Inter, Parma and Lazio were battling it out for the last available place. Below, Ancona were in Serie B, Perugia almost and Empoli were not in a good position. either. Modena, Reggina and Empoli were fighting it out to avoid the last relegation spot and the play off with the Serie B sixth placed team. Three matches to go.

In the Champions League Milan collapsed 4-0 against Deportivo La Coruña and were eliminated. In the UEFA Cup Inter lost both ties against Marseille in the quarter finals and were out.

Milan 76, Roma 70, Juventus 63, Inter 53, Lazio 52, Parma 52, Udinese 46, Sampdoria 45, Bologna 38, Chievo 37, Brescia 34, Lecce 34, Siena 31, Modena 30, Reggina 30, Empoli 27, Perugia 23, Ancona 10

May

Milan beat Roma in the third from last game and secured the title. As far as the champions league positions were concerned, Parma beat Ancona, Juve lost at Lecce and Lazio drew at home with Reggina. The Biancocelesti then lost at Brescia, compromising any hope of qualification, while Inter beat Parma and overtook them. Their final win at Empoli gave them qualification.

In the battle to avoid Serie B, Roma graciously gave Perugia a win, Siena beat Modena and Empoli lost at Ancona. So, with 90 minutes left, the fight was to get to the playoff, with Modena and Empoli on 30 points and Perugia on 29. And it was the Umbrians who clinched the spot by beating Ancona in the final match while the other two lost against Lazio and Inter.

The top five in Serie B were Palermo, Cagliari, Livorno, Messina and Atalanta. Fiorentina were sixth and faced Perugia for the final place. The Viola won in Umbria in the first leg and then drew at home hence were also promoted.

In the second leg of the Coppa Italia final, Lazio and Juventus drew 2-2 hence the Biancocelesti won the Cup for the fourth time. They were trailing 2-0 but then managed to equalise thanks to goals from Bernardo Corradi and Fiore.

Therefore Parma, Lazio and Udinese qualified for the UEFA Cup.

Top scorer was Andrij Shevchenko (Milan) with 24 goals.

Final table: Milan 82, Roma 71, Juventus 69, Inter 59, Parma 58, Lazio 56, Udinese 50, Sampdoria 46, Chievo 44, Lecce 41, Brescia 40, Bologna 39, Siena 34, Reggina 34, Perugia 32, Modena 30, Empoli 30, Ancona 13