What happened in Serie B 1980-81

Source Lazio Wiki

The previous season had seen Como, Pistoiese and Brescia promoted to Serie A and Catanzaro, Udinese and Pescara relegated but the Totonero scandal and the decision of the Sports Court changed things. Going down from Serie A were Pescara plus Milan, who had the president involved in match fixing, and Lazio whose only fault was to have four players allegedly involved in the scandal. Furthermore, Taranto and Palermo were docked five points for this season hence started with -5.

This changed everything for the 1980-81 Serie B. Now there were two greats in Serie B who were obviously hot favourites to go straight back up. Other possible candidates were the Genoese clubs, Verona and Cesena.

September

In the first game in Serie B, Lazio were immediately stopped at home with a draw against Palermo and after the first three games Spal and Milan were leaders. A long way to go though.

Spal 5, Milan 5, Lazio 4, Foggia 4, Pescara 4, Atalanta 4, Sampdoria 4, Vicenza 3, Pisa 3, Genoa 3, Rimini 3, Cesena 2, Monza 2, Verona 2, Bari 2, Varese 2, Catania 2, Lecce 1, Palermo* -2, Taranto* -3

* 5 point docking

October

Lazio began to come to terms with the new reality and went top towards the end of October in the company of Milan. Spal and Sampdoria were only a point behind. Taranto and Palermo overcame their initial deficit.

Lazio 11, Milan 11, Spal 10, Sampdoria 10, Genoa 8, Atalanta 8, Pescara 8, Pisa 8, Bari 7, Foggia 6, Cesena 6, Varese 6, Rimini 6, Verona 5, Taranto* 4, Vicenza 4, Lecce 4, Monza 4, Catania 3, Palermo* 1

* 5 point docking

November

The two rogue clubs went off alone and now led the pack with a four-point lead. They had yet to lose a game.

Lazio 18, Milan 18, Genoa 14, Foggia 14, Sampdoria 14, Cesena 13, Pisa 13, Spal 12, Pescara 12, Rimini 11, Bari 11, Atalanta 11, Lecce 11, Catania 11, Verona 10, Varese 10, Taranto* 8, Vicenza 7, Palermo* 6, Monza 6

* 5 point docking

December

In the first game of the month Milan lost 3-0 at Taranto but Lazio could only muster a 2-2 draw at Monza so now they were solitary leaders but just a point ahead, which became two a week after, when the Biancocelesti beat Pisa and the Rossoneri drew at home with Cesena. Seven days later however Lazio were stopped by Sampdoria and Milan won under the leaning tower, so on the eve of the big match between the top two, the Biancocelesti had a one-point lead.

Lazio 22, Milan 21, Spal 17, Cesena 17, Sampdoria 16, Foggia 16, Genoa 16, Pisa 15, Pescara 14, Atalanta 14, Catania 14, Rimini 13, Verona 13, Bari 13, Lecce 13, Taranto* 12, Palermo* 11, Varese 11, Vicenza 10, Monza 10

* 5 point docking

January

Milan beat Lazio 2-0 at the Olimpico and the Biancocelesti took that defeat badly, losing the next game and then drawing two. The Rossoneri now had a four-point lead. Below there were lots of teams involved in the relegation fight, more than half of Serie B!!!

Milan 28, Lazio 24, Cesena 23, Sampdoria** 22, Genoa 21, Spal 20, Pisa 20, Lecce 20, Foggia 19, Pescara 19, Catania 18, Verona 17, Bari 17, Atalanta 16, Taranto* 15, Palermo* 15, Rimini 15**, Varese 14, Monza 13, Vicenza 12

* 5 point docking

** one game in hand

February

Lazio regained some confidence and by the end of the month Milan’s lead was reduced to three points. Cesena and Sampdoria were battling for third place with the others behind.

Milan 32, Lazio 29, Cesena 27, Sampdoria 26, Spal 23, Genoa 23, Pisa 23, Foggia 22, Pescara 22, Bari 21, Lecce 21, Catania 21, Verona 20, Rimini 20, Atalanta 19, Palermo* 17, Varese 17, Taranto* 16, Monza 16, Vicenza 15

* 5 point docking

March

In the first four games of the month Lazio drew 3 and lost one. They had been caught up by Cesena while Milan now had a five-point lead. But in the last game of the month, Milan fell at Palermo and Lazio won at Rimini, narrowing the gap. Genoa and Spal joined the promotion race as they were only four points behind the Biancocelesti. In the fight to avoid Serie C, the -5 start was taking its toll on Taranto and Palermo who had fallen back a bit.

Milan 37, Lazio 34, Cesena 33, Sampdoria 32, Genoa 30, Spal 30, Pisa 27, Pescara 27, Foggia 26, Verona 25, Bari 25, Catania 25, Rimini 24, Atalanta 24, Lecce 24, Varese 23, Vicenza 22, Taranto* 21, Palermo* 21, Monza 20

* 5 point docking

April

Cesena overtook Lazio in April with the Biancocelesti losing at Bari and then drawing with Lecce and Genoa. There were seven games left and Milan with a six-point lead over fourth place had a foot and a half in Serie A. Five teams for the other two places. Below Monza were in trouble but there was still half of Serie B who could potentially be relegated.

Milan 43, Cesena 40, Lazio 38, Genoa 37, Sampdoria 36, Pescara 33, Pisa 32, Spal 31, Catania 30, Verona 29, Rimini 29, Foggia 29, Bari 29, Lecce 27, Vicenza 26, Taranto* 25, Palermo* 25, Atalanta 25, Varese 25, Monza 21

* 5 point docking

May

While Milan and Cesena continued in first and second place, Lazio and Genoa had managed to obtain a slight advantage. Then came Lazio Sampdoria where an incredible penalty was not given to the Biancocelesti. On a corner Gianluca De Ponti, Samp forward, dived towards the ball and clearly handballed it. But Lazio were not given the penalty and ended up losing the game. The week later the Biancocelesti drew away with Milan and were caught up by Genoa.

Milan 47, Cesena 44, Lazio 42, Genoa 42, Sampdoria 40, Pisa 37, Pescara 36, Catania 35, Rimini 34, Foggia 34, Spal 33, Verona 32, Bari 32, Lecce 32, Palermo* 30, Varese 30, Vicenza 30, Atalanta 29, Taranto* 28, Monza 23

* 5 point docking

June

Final three games. In the first of the month Lazio beat Cesena at home and Genoa also won hence there were three teams on 44 points in second place with due games left. Milan needed just one point to go back to Serie A and in the penultimate match they beat Monza.

Genoa won away at Atalanta and Cesena did the same at Foggia. Lazio instead struggled at home against Vicenza. They fell behind, managed to equalise and had a penalty in the last second which they missed. With one match to the end Genoa and Cesena were on 46 points, Lazio on 45. In the last match they both won, the Biancocelesti drew at Taranto and were forced to another year of Serie B.

With one game to go, Monza and Taranto were relegated, Atalanta were on 30 points, Vicenza 31 and Varese 32. Varese won their last game against Pisa 4-0 so it was Vicenza and Taranto to go down to Serie C.

Top scorer was Roberto Antonelli (Milan) with 15 goals.

Final Table: Milan 50, Genoa 48, Cesena 48, Lazio 46, Sampdoria 43, Pescara 41, Pisa 39, Bari 37, Rimini 36, Foggia 36, Lecce 36, Spal 35, Catania 35, Palermo* 34, Varese 34, Verona 34, Vicenza 33, Taranto* 30, Atalanta 30, Monza 25

* 5 point docking

What happened in Serie A

This was the first year with foreign players after 15 years. Juventus chose Liam Brady, Roma signed Paulo Roberto Falcao, Ruud Krol went to Napoli, Ricardo Bertoni to Fiorentina and Herbert Prohaska to Inter.

At the end of the first half of the season Roma were first on 20 points followed by Inter on 19, Juventus and Napoli on 18. Five games to the end, the Giallorossi, Bianconeri and Neapolitans were tied on 35 points with Inter fourth on 29. Juve then went top after winning at Udine with Roma drawing at Ascoli and Napoli losing at home with Perugia. In the third from last game there was Juventus vs Roma. It was an ugly game and the Bianconeri were down to ten men when, in the 74th minute, Bruno Conti crossed into the area where Roberto Pruzzo headed on to Maurizio Turone whose diving header beat Dino Zoff. The goal would in all likelihood mean the Scudetto was on its way to Rome but unfortunately the linesman's flag was up. No goal, the match ended up goalless. The Romanisti however still lose sleep over it 43 years later. The Bianconeri won the next two and secured the scudetto.

Inter reached the semi-final of the European Cup. They were eliminated by Real Madrid 2-1 on aggregate. Roma were eliminated in the first round of the Cup Winners Cup by Carl Zeiss Jena despite having won the first leg 3-0. They then lost 4-0 in East Germany. In the UEFA Cup, Juventus were eliminated in the second round by Widzew Lodz on penalties and Torino in the third round, again on penalties, by Grasshopper.

The Coppa Italia final was between Torino and Roma. After the first leg in Rome ended 1-1, the second toe finished 1-1 (with a ridiculous penalty awarded to the Giallorossi). Roma eventually won on penalties.

Juventus would play in the European Cup, Roma in the Cup Winners Cup, Napoli and Inter in the UEFA Cup. Top scorer was Roberto Pruzzo (Roma) with 18 goals.

Final table: Juventus 44, Roma 42, Napoli 38, Inter 36, Fiorentina 32, Cagliari 30, Bologna* 29, Catanzaro 29, Torino 26, Avellino* 25, Ascoli 25, Udinese 25, Como 25, Brescia 25, Perugia* 18, Pistoiese 16

* 5 point docking

Sources

Lazio Wiki