What happened in Serie A 2018-19

Official SS Lazio photo

The scudetto the previous season had been won by Juventus four points ahead of Napoli. Roma had come third. With five games to the end Juventus had a four-point lead but then Napoli had won in Turin reducing the gap to just one. But a collapse in Florence and a home draw with Torino, handed the scudetto to the Bianconeri.

In the summer transfer session, the main coup was the arrival of Cristiano Ronaldo to Juve who also signed Joāo Cancelo and Emre Can. Napoli lost Maurizio Sarri and brought in Carlo Ancelotti. Inter added Stefan de Vrij and Lautaro Martinez, Milan Gonzalo Higuian and Lazio Francesco Acerbi and Joaquin Correa.

Juventus were the favourites and it did not look as if there would be much competition.

Chievo Verona were given a three-point docking due to administrative irregularities before the season started.

August & September

Seven games, seven wins. This is how Juventus presented themselves to the Campionato and already had a six-point lead over Napoli. The two both beat Lazio, Napoli won at home with Milan who in turn beat Roma who won the derby.

In August Atalanta were involved in the third qualifying round for Europa League. They demolished Hapoel Haifa 6-1 on aggregate. They then played Copenhagen in the qualifying round and lost on penalties after two goalless draws.

In the first games of the group stage of Champions League in September, Inter beat Tottenham, Napoli drew away with Red Star Belgrade, Roma were crushed by Real Madrid and Juventus won in Valencia.

In the Europa League Milan won away to F91 Dudelange, Lazio beat Apollon Limassol.

In the first preliminary rounds of the Coppa Italia played in August there were a few surprise exits: Parma, beaten by Pisa, Empoli who lost heavily against Cittadella (3-0) at home and Udinese, beaten by Benevento after extra time. In December there would be a further preliminary round before the big teams entered the competition.

Juventus 21, Napoli 15, Fiorentina 13, Inter 13, Sassuolo 13, Lazio 12, Genoa 12*, Roma 11, Sampdoria 11, Parma 10, Milan 9*, Torino 9, Spal 9, Udinese 8, Bologna 7, Atalanta 6, Cagliari 6, Empoli 5, Frosinone 1, Chievo -1

* one game in hand

October

Juventus’ run of wins ended in the ninth game when they drew at home with Genoa. By the end of the month they still had a six-point lead. Inter won the derby and thrashed Lazio at the Olimpico. Below, Empoli, Frosinone and Chievo were already in deep trouble.

In Champions League, Inter won away at PSV Eindhoven but lost to Barcelona, Napoli beat Liverpool at home and drew away with PSG, Roma beat both Viktoria Plzen and CSKA Moscow as did Juve against Young Boys and Manchester United (away).

In the Europa League Milan beat Olympiakos but lost at home to Real Betis, Lazio lost to Eintracht Frankfurt but beat Olympique Marseille.

Juventus 28, Inter 22, Napoli 22, Milan 18, Lazio 18, Fiorentina 15, Roma 15, Sampdoria 15, Sassuolo 15, Torino 14, Genoa 14, Cagliari 13, Parma 13, Atalanta 12, Spal 12, Udinese 9, Bologna 9, Empoli 6, Frosinone 5, Chievo -1

November

Juventus increased their gap with second place to +8 and won away at Milan who drew with Lazio. Empoli picked up and overtook Bologna.

In the Champions League Inter drew at home with Barcelona and lost away to Tottenham. In their group Barcelona were already qualified top, Inter and Tottenham were second with 7 points, The Nerazzurri needed to have one point more than the Londoners to qualify for the next round with one match left.

Napoli drew at home with PSG and beat Red Star Belgrade. The Azzurri were leading their group with 9 points with PSG second on 8 and Liverpool 6. In their final game they needed to draw in Liverpool to qualify.

Roma won away against CSKA Moscow but lost at home to Real Madrid. The Giallorossi were already qualified as second behind Real.

Juventus lost at home to Manchester United but beat Valencia. They had a two-point lead over Man U and needed one more point to qualify first.

In the Europa League Milan drew with Real Betis and beat F91 Dudelange. Real Betis were first with 11 points, Milan were on 10, Olympiakos 7. Milan needed to avoid losing against Olympiakos to qualify. Lazio beat Marseille but lost to Apollon Limassol away. They had, however, already qualified second.

Juventus 37, Napoli 29, Inter 28, Lazio 23, Milan 22, Parma 20, Roma 19, Sassuolo 19, Fiorentina 18, Atalanta 18, Torino 18, Sampdoria 16, Cagliari 15, Genoa 15, Spal 13, Udinese 12, Empoli 12, Bologna 11, Frosinone 7, Chievo 1

December

After the December games the scudetto seemed to be heading once again to Turin as Juve now had an 11-point lead and they had beaten Inter, Roma and won the derby. Second place was held by Napoli, third by Inter who drew with Roma away but beat Napoli.

In the champions league Inter were unable to beat PSV and would now play in the Europa League as would Napoli who were beaten by Liverpool. Roma lost at Viktoria Plzen but had already qualified second, Juve lost in Switzerland to Young Boys but since Manchester United also lost at Valencia, they qualified first.

In the Europa League, Milan were beaten by Olympiakos and were eliminated. Lazio also lost to Eintracht Frankfurt, but had already qualified second.

In Coppa Italia Sampdoria, Sassuolo, Novara, Benevento, Torino, Virtus Entella, Bologna and Cagliari qualified for the round of 16 where they would play the bigger teams.

Juventus 53, Napoli 44, Inter 39, Lazio 32, Milan 31, Roma 30, Sampdoria 29, Atalanta 28, Torino 27, Fiorentina 26, Parma 25, Sassuolo 25, Cagliari 20, Genoa 20, Udinese 18, Spal 17, Empoli 16, Bologna 13, Frosinone 10, Chievo 8

January

Just two games in January as the players took a late winter break. Juve extended their lead as Napoli were held to a draw in Milan. Both leaders beat Lazio, as they had done in the beginning of the season. Bologna were dangerously losing ground below following a disastrous 0-4 at home against Frosinone.

In Coppa Italia, Lazio, Milan, Juventus, Fiorentina, Inter, Napoli, Atalanta and Roma qualified for the quarter finals. Milan beat Napoli, Fiorentina demolished Roma 7-1 (a recurrent score), Atalanta beat Juve 3-0 and Lazio won against Inter on penalties in Milan.

Juventus 59, Napoli 48, Inter 40, Milan 35, Roma 34, Sampdoria 33, Atalanta 32, Lazio 32, Fiorentina 30, Torino 30, Sassuolo 29, Parma 28, Genoa 23, Cagliari 21, Spal 21, Udinese 18, Empoli 17, Bologna 14, Frosinone 13, Chievo 8

February

Juve went +13 and it was practically all over for the scudetto and practically also for second place since Napoli were  + 9 over third placed Inter. Milan, fourth, drew against Roma, fifth.

In the first leg of the round of 16 in Champions League, Juventus lost 2-0 away to Atletico Madrid and Roma beat Porto at home 2-1.

In Europa League, Inter beat Rapid Wien 5-0 on aggregate, Napoli won 5-1 against Zurich. Lazio were eliminated by Seville.

In the first leg of the Coppa Italia semi-finals, Lazio drew at home with Milan 0-0, Fiorentina and Atalanta drew 3-3.

Juventus 69, Napoli 56, Inter 47, Milan 45, Roma 44, Lazio 41, Atalanta 38, Torino 38, Fiorentina 36, Sampdoria 36, Sassuolo 31, Parma 29, Genoa 29, Cagliari 24, Spal 23, Udinese 22, Empoli 21, Bologna 18, Frosinone 16, Chievo 10

March

Juve now cruising with a +15 lead after winning in Naples. For the other champions league places, Lazio demolished Roma in the derby and won in Milan against Inter. Below, Bologna back in front of Empoli.

In the second leg of the Champions League round of 16 Juventus overturned the result and beat Atletico Madrid 3-0 qualifying for the next round. Roma however lost 3-1 in extra time and were eliminated.

In the Europa League round of 16, Inter were eliminated 1-0 on aggregate by Eintracht Frankfurt but Napoli qualified for the quarter finals beating Red Bull Salzburg 4-3 on aggregate.

Juventus 78, Napoli 63, Inter 53, Milan 51, Lazio 51, Atalanta 48, Roma 47, Sampdoria 45, Torino 45, Fiorentina 38, Cagliari 33, Parma 33, Genoa 33, Sassuolo 32, Spal 29, Udinese 28, Bologna 27, Empoli 25, Frosinone 17, Chievo 11

April

Juventus won the scudetto with 5 games to go after they beat Fiorentina on April 20. As Lazio collapsed, Atalanta moved up and were now fourth with a one-point lead over Roma. Juve beat Milan and drew with Inter.

In the champions league quarter final Juventus lost to Ajax 3-2 on aggregate despite drawing away and scoring first in Turin. Napoli in the Europa League were eliminated 3-0 on aggregate by Arsenal.

In the second leg of the Coppa Italia semi-finals, Lazio won in Milan and Atalanta beat Fiorentina. They would meet on May 15 at the Stadio Olimpico.

Juventus 88, Napoli 70, Inter 62, Atalanta 59, Roma 58, Milan 56, Torino 56, Lazio 55, Sampdoria 48, Sassuolo 41, Fiorentina 40, Cagliari 40, Spal 39, Parma 37, Bologna 37, Genoa 35, Udinese 33, Empoli 29, Frosinone 23, Chievo 15

May

In the last four games the race for Champions League places got interesting. With one match left, Inter and Atalanta were on 66 points, Milan on 65, Roma on 63. They all won their last games so Napoli, Inter and Atalanta joined Juve for the following year’s top tier European competition. Milan, due to failing to adhere to the UEFA financial fair play regulations, were excluded from Europe, so Roma and Torino would get to play Europa League. Lazio won the Coppa Italia beating Atalanta 2-0 securing their place in the Europa League.

Empoli and Genoa fought to avoid relegation with the Tuscans one point ahead with one game to go. In the last game Empoli lost to Inter and Genoa drew in Florence. Since the Rossoblu had beaten Empoli both at home and away, they stayed in Serie A while the Tuscans joined Frosinone and Chievo in Serie B. Brescia, Lecce and Verona were promoted.

Fabio Quagliarella (Sampdoria) was top scorer with 26 goals.

Final table: Juventus 90, Napoli 79, Inter 69, Atalanta 69, Milan 68, Roma 66, Torino 63, Lazio 59, Sampdoria 53, Bologna 44, Udinese 43, Sassuolo 43, Spal 42, Fiorentina 41, Cagliari 41, Parma 41, Genoa 38, Empoli 38, Frosinone 25, Chievo 17