What happened in Serie B 1987-88

Photo by Amilcare Niccolai. Source Lazio Wiki

In the previous season Pescara, Pisa and Cesena had been promoted to Serie A, the latter after a playoff with Lecce and Cremonese. The battle for relegation had also needed a playoff and Lazio, despite starting with -9 points, managed to survive alongside Taranto.

For this season, coming down from Serie A were Brescia, Atalanta and Udinese. They had to obviously be considered among the favourites for promotion along with the more glorious clubs such as Bologna, Lazio and Genoa.

Triestina started the season with a five-point deduction due to match fixing.

September

Padova sprinted ahead, winning all of their September games. Bologna and Lazio had already lost one and in their third game in Rome they drew 2-2.

Padova 6, Piacenza 5, Lecce 4, Cremonese 4, Catanzaro 4, Udinese 3, Lazio 3, Bari 3, Atalanta 3, Arezzo 3, Sambenedettese 3, Bologna 3, Brescia 3, Modena 2, Genoa 2, Messina 2, Taranto 2, Barletta 1, Parma 1, Triestina* -2

* 5-point deduction

October

Catanzaro were now leading the pack followed by Padova and Bologna.

Catanzaro 11, Padova 10, Bologna 10, Lecce 9, Piacenza 9, Cremonese 8, Lazio 8, Bari 8, Atalanta 7, Modena 7, Brescia 7, Sambenedettese 7, Udinese 6, Genoa 5, Messina 5, Arezzo 4, Barletta 4, Taranto 4, Parma 4, Triestina* 2

* 5-point deduction

November

Bologna raced ahead followed by Lecce, Padova, Cremonese and Piacenza. Still early and many games to go. Triestina reached a plus sign next to their point tally and had left the bottom of the table.

Bologna 16, Lecce 15, Padova 15, Cremonese 15, Piacenza 15, Atalanta 14, Catanzaro 14, Lazio 14, Bari 13, Sambenedettese 13, Brescia 13, Arezzo 11, Messina 11, Udinese 10, Genoa 10, Parma 9, Modena 9, Taranto 8, Triestina* 5, Barletta 5

* 5-point deduction

December

Bologna continued their march, despite a defeat at Trieste, followed now by Atalanta. Genoa and Lazio drew 1-1. Below, Barletta in trouble, bottom and four points away from safety.

Bologna 20, Atalanta 19, Padova 18, Catanzaro 18, Cremonese 17, Lazio 17, Lecce 17, Brescia 17, Bari 16, Piacenza 16, Messina 15, Sambenedettese 15, Parma 14, Genoa 13, Modena 12, Arezzo 12, Udinese 11, Taranto 11, Triestina* 9, Barletta 8

* 5-point deduction

January

Bologna beat Atalanta 4-0 and now there was a three-point gap. Behind them were now Cremonese but there were a lot of teams in the fight for promotion.

Bologna 27, Atalanta 24, Cremonese 23, Bari 22, Lazio 21, Lecce 21, Catanzaro 21, Padova 20, Piacenza 20, Parma 19, Brescia 19, Messina 18, Udinese 17, Sambenedettese 17, Genoa 16, Arezzo 16, Modena 15, Taranto 15, Triestina* 14, Barletta 10

* 5-point deduction

February

Lazio won two in a row but then lost at Bologna who were still first. But there were at least 12 teams who had a chance of promotion apart from the top two. The table was tight with many teams on the cusp of promotion and relegation.

Bologna 30, Atalanta 28, Cremonese 25, Lazio 25, Bari 25, Lecce 24, Brescia 23, Catanzaro 23, Piacenza 23, Parma 22, Messina 22, Genoa 21, Padova 20, Sambenedettese 20, Udinese 19, Triestina* 18, Taranto 18, Arezzo 17, Modena 17, Barletta 15

* 5-point deduction

March

Seven teams for four Serie A places with Bologna and Atalanta ahead. Below Barletta moved away from last place, now held by Arezzo. Still 12 games left.

Bologna 35, Atalanta 34, Lazio 30, Cremonese 30, Lecce 30, Bari 30, Catanzaro 29, Messina 26, Piacenza 26, Padova 25, Brescia 25, Udinese 24, Parma 24, Taranto 23, Sambenedettese 23, Genoa 22, Barletta 21, Modena 20, Triestina* 19, Arezzo 19

* 5-point deduction

April

Lots of draws between the top teams, all still very close. In the relegation battle Arezzo were in trouble but there were still seven teams for four places. Eight games to the end of the season and still a lot to be decided.

Bologna 40, Atalanta 38, Lazio 36, Lecce 36, Cremonese 36, Bari 35, Catanzaro 34, Messina 30, Brescia 30, Padova 30, Udinese 29, Parma 29, Piacenza 28, Genoa 25, Taranto 25, Modena 24, Sambenedettese 24, Triestina* 23, Barletta 23, Arezzo 20

* 5-point deduction

May

Bologna with a foot in Serie A and Arezzo with one in Serie C. Lazio managed to avoid defeat at Catanzaro with a Paolo Monelli goal in injury time but the Calabrians caught up with them at the end of the month as Lazio was stopped at Bari. At the other end Genoa had to be careful, they were very close to the relegation zone.

Bologna 48, Atalanta 44, Lecce 44, Lazio 42, Catanzaro 42, Cremonese 40, Bari 39, Brescia 36, Parma 35, Messina 34, Padova 34, Udinese 33, Taranto 31, Piacenza 31, Sambenedettese 30, Genoa 28, Modena 28, Barletta 27, Triestina* 26, Arezzo 23

* 5-point deduction

June

Bologna clinched promotion to Serie A with two games to spare with a draw at Bergamo. Lecce beat Catanzaro and Lazio won against Brescia, so the Bergamaschi needed just one point for promotion. With 180 minutes to the end the table read Lecce 46, Atalanta 45, Lazio 44, Catanzaro 42. Cremonese and Bari on 40 points were out of the race.

In the penultimate match Lecce drew at Messina and joined Bologna, Atalanta lost at Catanzaro and Lazio drew so Biancocelesti and Bergamaschi on 45, Catanzaro on 44. If they won their last game, it would mean Serie A. They did.

At the relegation end, with two games left Arezzo and Triestina were in Serie C. The table read Sambenedettese and Taranto 31, Modena 30, Barletta 29, Genoa 28. 90 minutes later, Genoa, Barletta and Modena all on 30 battling out to avoid the last slot. Final games Barletta-Bologna and Modena-Genoa. The Ligurians won and Barletta drew, so Modena down to Serie C.

Final table: Bologna 51, Lecce 49, Lazio 47, Atalanta 47, Catanzaro 46, Cremonese 41, Bari 41, Brescia 39, Padova 39, Udinese 38, Parma 38, Messina 35, Piacenza 33, Genoa 32, Sambenedettese 32, Taranto 32, Barletta 31, Modena 30, Triestina* 28, Arezzo 26

* 5-point deduction

What happened in Serie A

Milan won the scudetto ahead of Napoli and Roma. It was neck and neck between the Rossoneri and the Azzurri throughout the season. Napoli were first at the halfway mark with a three-point lead over Milan which was increased to four with 5 games left. Then Napoli lost to Juventus and drew at Verona and the Rossoneri were only one point behind. On May 1 the big clash at the San Paolo. Milan won 3-2 and with Napoli losing the next two games the scudetto went back to Lombardy.

In the European Cup, Napoli were eliminated in the first round by Real Madrid. Atalanta reached the semifinal of the Cup Winners Cup but were beaten by Mechelen 4-2 on aggregate. In the UEFA Cup Milan were eliminated in the second round by Espanol (2-0 on aggregate) and Juventus by Panathinaikos (on away goals), Inter in the third round by Espanol (2-1) and Verona by Werder Bremen in the quarterfinals (2-1).

In the Coppa Italia group phase, there were a few changes to the rules. A win was given three points, in the case of a draw penalties were taken with the winner taking two points and the loser 1. This was the first and only time this experiment was made. The semi finals were between Inter and Sampdoria and the Turin derby. Samp won 1-0 on aggregate and Torino defeated Juventus 3-2.

The final, over two games, saw Sampdoria prevail in extra time.

As a consequence, Milan would play the European Cup the following season, Sampdoria the Cup Winners Cup, Napoli, Roma, Inter and Juventus the UEFA Cup. Avellino and Empoli were relegated. Top scorer was Diego Maradona with 15 goals.