What happened in Serie A 2016-17

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The previous season had seen Juventus win their fifth consecutive scudetto ahead of Napoli and Roma. At the end of the first round of fixtures Napoli were ahead with a two-point lead over the Bianconeri and Inter. Juve had taken the lead in the 25th fixture with a win in Turin over Napoli and had gone +3 two games later. The lead doubled in match 31 and went to +9 two games later. The scudetto had been secured with three games to spare.

In the summer transfer window, Juventus had sold Paul Pogba to Manchester United and Alvaro Morata to Real Madrid but secured Gonzalo Higuain from Napoli and Miralem Pjanic from Roma. Lazio had signed Ciro Immobile.

August & September

Juventus, despite losing away to Inter, started well and took the lead also winning in Rome against Lazio. They were followed closely by Napoli and Roma.

In August there was the playoff round for the Champions League Group stage. Roma were beaten 4-1 on aggregate despite drawing the first leg away. In September Napoli beat both Dynamo Kyiv and Benfica, Juventus drew with Sevilla but beat Dinamo Zagreb.

In late July and early August Sassuolo played in the Europa League Third Round qualifying eliminating Luzern 4-1 on aggregate. In the play-off round they beat Red Star Belgrade again 4-1 on aggregate qualifying for the group stage. In the first two games of the latter, Roma drew away with Viktoria Plzen and beat Astra Giugiu, Sassuolo won against Atheltic Bilbao but lost to Genk, Fiorentina drew with PAOK away and beat Qarabag 5-1 at home, Inter lost both to Hapoel and Sparta Prague.

Juventus 15, Napoli 14, Inter 11, Roma 10, Lazio 10, Milan 10, Chievo 10, Bologna 10, Sassuolo 9, Torino 8, Genoa 8*, Fiorentina 8*, Cagliari 7, Udinese 7, Pescara 6, Atalanta 6, Sampdoria 6, Palermo 5, Empoli 4, Crotone 1

* one match in hand

October

Juventus went off and after 11 games already had a good four-point advantage but again lost in Milan, this time to the Rossoneri. They were followed by Roma, who beat Inter and won in Naples, and by Milan. Below there was already a substantial gap between the last four – Pescara, Empoli, Palermo and Crotone – and the rest of the field.

In Champions League Napoli surprisingly lost at home 3-2 against Besiktas while Juventus won away at Lyon. In Europa League, Roma drew at home with Austria Wien, Sassuolo away to Rapid Wien, Fiorentina beat Slovan Liberec and Inter Southampton.

Juventus 27, Roma 23, Milan 22, Lazio 21, Napoli 20, Atalanta 19, Torino 16, Fiorentina 16*, Cagliari 16, Genoa 15*, Chievo 15, Inter 14, Udinese 14, Sampdoria 14, Bologna 13, Sassuolo 13, Pescara 7, Empoli 7, Palermo 6, Crotone 5

* one match in hand

November

Juventus had reached +7 but lost the last game of the month at Genoa. Milan drew the derby 2-2.

In Champions League Napoli drew away with Besiktas and at home with Dynamo Kyiv. The table read Napoli and Benfica 8 points, Besiktas 7. All they needed to do was not to lose in Portugal to be assured of qualification to the knockout round.

Juventus drew at home with Lyon but won away in Seville. They were leading their group on 11 points with Sevilla on 10 and Lyon 7.

In Europa League Roma won away to Austria Wien and at home with Viktoria Plzen qualifying first with one game to spare. Sassuolo drew at home with Rapid Wien and lost away with Athletic Bilbao and were eliminated with one game left. Fiorentina beat Slovan Liberec but lost at home to PAOK. They led their group with 10 points, PAOK and Qarabag 7. All they needed was a draw in the last game to qualify first. Inter were also out having lost to both Southampton and Hapoel.

The fourth round of Coppa Italia determined who would be playing the top eight teams and these were Spezia, Chievo, Torino, Atalanta, Bologna, Genoa, Cesena and Sampdoria

Juventus 33, Roma 29, Milan 29, Lazio 28, Atalanta 28, Torino 25, Napoli 25, Inter 21, Fiorentina 20*, Genoa 19*, Sampdoria 19, Cagliari 19, Chievo 18, Bologna 16, Udinese 15, Sassuolo 14, Empoli 10, Pescara 7, Crotone 6, Palermo 6

* one match in hand

December

Juventus continued leading, also winning the Turin derby. They beat Roma and now even had a game in hand as two matches were postponed due to the Supercoppa. Roma won the Rome derby. Below there were still four teams battling it out to stay in Serie A, Empoli with a slight advantage.

In Champions League, Napoli won away with Benfica and qualified first as did Juventus after beating Dinamo Zagreb. Roma, who had already qualified first in the group drew away with Astra Giurgiu, Sassuolo, already out of the tournament, lost at home with Genk, Fiorentina won away with Qarabag securing first place, Inter, also out, beat Sparta Prague.

Milan won the Supercoppa, beating Juventus on penalties in the final in Doha. The 90 minutes had ended 1-1.

Juventus 42*, Roma 38, Napoli 35, Lazio 34, Milan 33*, Atalanta 32, Inter 30, Torino 28, Fiorentina 27, Udinese 25, Chievo 25, Genoa 23, Sampdoria 23, Cagliari 23, Bologna 20*, Sassuolo 17, Empoli 14, Palermo 10, Crotone 9*, Pescara 9

* one match in hand

January

Juventus lost in Florence and Roma crept up to just -1, even if the Bianconeri still had a game in hand. But the four-point lead was re-established a couple of games later as Roma lost to Sampdoria and Juve won at Sassuolo.

In the Coppa Italia Round of 16, Napoli, Fiorentina, Milan, Juventus, Inter (aet), Lazio, Cesena and Roma eliminated Spezia, Chievo, Torino, Atalanta, Bologna, Genoa, Sassuolo and Sampdoria. In the quarter finals, Napoli beat Fiorentina, Juventus won against Milan, Lazio won away to Inter and Roma beat Cesena with a 97th minute penalty. There would be a Rome derby semifinal.

Juventus 51, Roma 47, Napoli 45, Inter 42, Lazio 40, Atalanta 39, Milan 37*, Fiorentina 34*, Torino 31, Udinese 28, Chievo 28, Sampdoria 27, Bologna 27*, Cagliari 27, Genoa 25, Sassuolo 24, Empoli 21, Crotone 13*, Palermo 11, Pescara 9

* one match in hand

February

Fixture 23 saw Napoli bury Bologna 7-1; Lazio did the same in Pescara winning 6-2 and Roma destroyed Fiorentina 4-0. Juventus played the game that had been postponed and won at Crotone taking their lead to +7 and de facto ending the run for the scudetto. Roma were strong contenders for second place with Lazio and Atalanta still having hopes for Champions League qualification. Below, it all seemed settled with Empoli now +7 on the relegation zone.

In the Champions League Round of 16 first leg Napoli lost 3-1 to with Real Madrid while Juventus won 2-0 away in Porto. In the Europa League Round of 32 first leg, Roma won away 4-0 against Villarreal and Fiorentina at Borussia Monchengladbach. In the second round, Roma lost 1-0 at home and Fiorentina were eliminated despite being 2-0 after half an hour. They collapsed 4-2.

In the first leg of the Coppa Italia semifinal, Juventus beat Napoli 3-1.

Juventus 66, Roma 59, Napoli 54, Atalanta 51, Lazio 50, Inter 48, Milan 47, Fiorentina 41, Torino 36, Sampdoria 35, Chievo 35, Cagliari 31, Sassuolo 30, Udinese 29, Bologna 28, Genoa 26, Empoli 22, Palermo 15, Crotone 13, Pescara       12

March

Napoli beat Roma, reduced the gap with second place and consolidated their Champions League position. Four teams battling it out for the Europa League places with Lazio leading the pack.

Juventus qualified for the Champions League quarter finals after also winning the second leg of the Round of 16 against Porto. Napoli instead lost 3-1 to Real Madrid and were out. Roma were eliminated in Europa League by Lyon 5-4 on aggregate.

In the other Coppa Italia semifinal, Lazio beat Roma 2-0.

Juventus 73, Roma 65, Napoli 63, Lazio 57, Inter 55, Atalanta 55, Milan 53, Fiorentina 48, Sampdoria 41, Torino 40, Chievo 38, Udinese 36, Bologna 34, Cagliari 32, Sassuolo 31, Genoa 29, Empoli 22, Palermo 15, Crotone 14, Pescara 12

April

Inter and Milan drew their derby and Lazio won the Roman one. Behind Crotone had a rush of energy and were now only four points behind Empoli with Palermo and Pescara relegated.

In the Champions League quarter final Juventus demolished Barcelona 3-0 in the first leg at home and managed to draw 0-0 away hence qualifying for the semi-final.

The Coppa Italia final would be between Juventus and Lazio. They both lost the second legs of the semi-finals, but the advantage obtained in the first leg was enough to go through.

Juventus 84, Roma 75, Napoli 74, Lazio 67, Atalanta 64, Milan 59, Inter 56, Fiorentina 55, Torino 49, Sampdoria 46, Udinese 43, Chievo 41, Cagliari 41, Sassuolo 39, Bologna 38, Genoa 30, Empoli 29, Crotone 25, Palermo 19, Pescara 14

May

While Lazio demolished Sampdoria 7-3, Juventus drew the derby and then lost 3-1 to Roma, allowing the Giallorossi to go to -4 with two games left. A win against Crotone was thenenough to secure the scudetto with one match to go. By this time all European qualifications were settled with Roma and Napoli joining the Bianconeri in Champions League, Lazio, Atalanta and Milan in Europa League.

Below the battle continued. With 90 minutes left, Empoli had a single point advantage over Crotone with the last two games being Palermo-Empoli and Crotone-Lazio. The Sicilians, despite already being in Serie B, won. Crotone, faced with a team that had given up once Europe was conquered, easily beat Lazio and were safe.

Edin Dzeko (Roma) was top scorer with 29 goals. Spal, Verona and Benevento were promoted from Serie B.

In Champions League Juventus won both semifinal ties against Monaco and qualified for the final where they would meet Real Madrid in Cardiff.

At the Stadio Olimpico, Juventus beat Lazio 2-0 in the final of the Coppa Italia.

Juventus 91, Roma 87, Napoli 86, Atalanta 72, Lazio 70, Milan 63, Inter 62, Fiorentina 60, Torino 53, Sampdoria 48, Cagliari 47, Sassuolo 46, Udinese 45, Chievo 43, Bologna 41, Genoa 36, Crotone 34, Empoli 32, Palermo 26, Pescara 18

June

In the Champions League final in Cardiff Real Madrid thrashed Juventus 4-1.