Italian football : Italian Serie A 2009/2010 season preview

Mourinho wins Serie A with Inter

Inter Milan retained their Serie A title with three games to spare last season. Under new coach Jose Mourinho, Inter won a fourth consecutive title, the 17th in their history to move level with city rivals Milan as Serie A's second most successful side behind Juventus. Mourinho has now won titles with Porto, Chelsea and Inter. Juventus finished second thanks to their better record over Milan.

Milan clinched the third automatic UEFA Champions League place after comfortably winning 2-0 at fourth-placed Fiorentina in the last round of Serie A matches. Fiorentina could have snatched third spot with a win, which would have put them level with Milan but with a better head-to-head record, but instead they will have to settle for the UEFA Champions League qualifiers this term. The match also represented Milan captain Paolo Maldini's last match before retiring after 902 matches for the club in 24 seasons.

Genoa have arguably played the most attractive football in Serie A last term and were only one point from earning a first ever UEFA Champions League berth. Sixth-placed Roma joined Genoa and city rivals and Italian Cup winners Lazio in the Europa League this season.

• Champions: Inter (Champions League)
• Runners-up: Juventus (UEFA Champions League)
• Third place: Milan (UEFA Champions League)
• Fourth place: Fiorentina (UEFA Champions League play-off round)
• Fifth place: Genoa (UEFA Europa League)
• Sixth place: Roma (UEFA Europa League)
• Italian Cup winners: Lazio (UEFA Europa League)
• Relegated: Torino, Reggina, Lecce
• Promoted: Bari, Parma, Livorno

At the bottom, Torino needed to win and hope relegation rivals Bologna dropped points to avoid joining Reggina and Lecce in Serie B next season. But Bologna beat Catania 3-1 in the last round to finish in the 17th place, while Torino became the third and final team to be relegated from Serie A when it lost 3-2 at Roma. Livorno have returned to Serie A after a one-year absence by beating Brescia in the Serie B play-off final. They secured promotion alongside Parma and Serie B champions Bari.

This table shows the overall number of titles since 1896 for each club in Italian Serie A and their league standings in the last five seasons.

Jose Mourinho extends Inter deal, Ibrahimovic and Eto'o swap shirts

Coach Jose Mourinho has agreed a new three-year contract with Inter Milan worth a €9.5m a year which, in all probability, makes him the highest-paid man in football. Another significant move for the Italian champions this summer was the Eto'o-Ibrahimovic swap. Cameroon striker Samuel Eto'o moved to Inter from Barcelona and Sweden's Zlatan Ibrahimovic went the other way in a swap deal worth more than €66m. With Eto'o being valued at €20m, Barcelona announced they were paying a separate €46m fee for Ibrahimovic, 27, the top goal scorer in Italy last season with 25 goals for champions Inter. Eto'o, 29, scored 30 league goals for Barcelona last term.

Ferrara confirmed as Juventus coach

Ciro Ferrara has been confirmed as Juventus coach after agreeing a contract that will keep him at the Bianconeri helm until 2011. The former Italy defender was appointed to replace Claudio Ranieri for the last two games of last season and victories against Siena and Lazio gave the Turin club second place in the league and automatic qualification for the UEFA Champions League group stage. The 42-year-old was part of Italy's technical staff in their triumphant 2006 FIFA World Cup campaign and had been working in the Juve academy prior to his elevation to the senior side.

This page is introduction to the 2009/2010 Italian Serie A season. Latest news, statistics, results and predictions you can find on our main Euro Football > Italy page.

Ancelotti To Chelsea, Leonardo new Milan coach

Carlo Ancelotti's eight-year tenure at Milan has ended with the coach terminating his contract a year early by mutual consent after sealing their return to the UEFA Champions League group stage. Ancelotti has agreed a three-year contract with Chelsea and Milan vice president Adriano Galliani announced club director and former player will be the new coach this season. Ancelotti is a former Milan player who steered the club to win two UEFA Champions League titles, one Serie A championship and a Club World Cup. Brazilian Leonardo, 39, is also a former player of Milan, from 1997 to 2001. Milan also sold Brazil playmaker Kaka to Real Madrig for around €68m.

The final standings for the 2007/2008 Serie A season.

Lazio unveil new coach Ballardini

Lazio have named Davide Ballardini as their new coach on a two-year contract. The 45-year-old succeeds Delio Rossi, whose four-year stint at the Rome club ended in June when he quit after winning the Italian Cup but finishing a disappointing 10th in Serie A. Ballardini led Palermo to an eighth-place finish last term but refused to stay on in Sicily after falling out with chairman Maurizio Zamparini, who brought in former Catania coach Walter Zenga to replace him.

Atzori named Zenga successor

Catania have signed coach Gianluca Atzori to replace Walter Zenga, who moved on to the other Sicily club Palermo. Atzori, 38, has agreed a two-year contract after a good past season at the helm of lower-division Ravenna. He was also assistant coach at Catania in 2007/08. Zenga, who has kept Catania in Serie A for the past two campaigns, had been linked with Lazio in the Italian press. But he has made the switch to Catania's Sicilian rivals Palermo.

Atalanta appoint Angelo Gregucci

Atalanta have appointed Angelo Gregucci as their new coach. The 44-year-old succeeds Luigi Del Neri, who left the Nerazzurri at the end of the 2008/09 campaign in order to take over at Sampdoria. Gregucci began his coaching career in 2000 as assistant boss to Roberto Mancini at Fiorentina, and he has since moved on to take full control of Venezia, Salernitana, Lecce and Vicenza.

Inter favourites for "scudetto"

Inter seem to have stayed around the same level as last season despite losing Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Juventus are the only team that appear likely to challenge the Italian champions this season. The question is whether they can actually do this. Milan will have to deal with losing Kaka to Real Madrid. They will need Ronaldinho to find his form of recent years if they are going to want to take the Serie A crown. The three newcomers in the 2009/10 Serie A, Bari, Parma and Livorno, along with a number of teams who narrowly escaped relegation last season, are expected to battle it out to avoid a bottom-three finish this campaign.