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Italian football : Italian Serie A 2007/2008 season preview

Inter easy to title

Inter secured their 15th Serie A title last season with five games remaining, but the first on the pitch since 1989. The Italian champions, Roma, Lazio and Milan clinched this season's UEFA Champions League. Fiorentina, Palermo and Empoli have all assured themselves of UEFA Cup football on the penultimate day of last campaign. At the foot of the table, Chievo Verona were relegated following a 2-0 loss to fellow strugglers Catania in the last round of the 2006/07 season. Chievo, Catania, Reggina, Parma and Siena were battling to avoid finishing in the final relegation spot, but Chievo were the only team that failed to win and they joined already demoted Messina and Ascoli.

"Controversial" promotion

Napoli and Genoa drew 0-0 in the final round of the 2006/07 Serie B season for both teams to clinch promotion to the Serie A. The result meant Napoli finished second on 79 points and Genoa stayed third on 78. They joined Juventus, who won their first Serie B championship with 85 points. According to Serie B rules, only the top two are automatically promoted but as Genoa finished 10 points above fourth-placed Piacenza, they took a third automatic spot and avoided the need for playoffs between third, fourth, fifth and sixth.

Just a day after Genoa were promoted back to Serie A for the first time in 12 years, club president Enrico Preziosi has been banned from football for five years because of financial irregularities. Preziosi was charged with undermining former club Como in player transfers with Genoa between 2003 and 2004. Genoa, Italy's oldest soccer club, have had a controversial recent history. They won promotion to Serie A in 2005 but instead were demoted to the Italian third division for match-fixing.

teamstitles2002/032003/042004/052005/062006/07
Juventus2713120-
Milan1731234
Inter1524311
Genoa9-----
Torino718---16
Roma382822
Lazio24610163
Fiorentina2--1696
Napoli2-----
Sampdoria1-85129
Cagliari1--121417
Udinese-6741110
Parma-5517712
Reggina-1514131314
Siena--13141515
Empoli-1217-87
Atalanta-13-20-8
Palermo---655
Livorno---9611
Catania-----13

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.

Return of giants

Juventus won their first Serie B title last term, but coach Didier Deschamps has quit after just one season. They were demoted from Serie A last year in Italy's match-fixing scandal but have made an immediate return under Deschamps despite a nine-point deduction. The new coach is former Chelsea manager Claudio Ranieri, who has signed a three-year contract with the Italian giants. Ranieri, 55, has resigned as Parma coach after saving them from Serie A relegation last season. Parma have named Domenico Di Carlo as Ranieri’s replacment. Di Carlo, 43, has done an impressive job at Mantova, leading the club from Serie C2 to Serie B in four seasons. He will make his Serie A coaching debut in the 2007/08 campaign.

This page is introduction to the 2007/2008 Italian Serie A season. Latest news, statistics, results and predictions you can find on our main Euro Football > Italy page.

Roma captain Francesco Totti, 30, has won the 2006/07 Golden Shoe after holding off a late challenge from Real Madrid striker Ruud van Nistelrooy to finish the season on top of the European scorers' charts with 26 Serie A goals. His achievement is an impressive return for a player who broke his ankle last year. Van Nistelrooy is a goal behind Totti on 25 Primera Division strikes.

#teampoints g.dif. win-draw-loss
1Inter974630-7-1 (38)
2Roma754022-9-7 (38)
3Lazio622618-11-9 (38)
4Milan612119-12-7 (38)
5Palermo58716-10-12 (38)
6Fiorentina583121-10-7 (38)
7Empoli54-114-12-12 (38)
8Atalanta50212-14-12 (38)
9Sampdo.49-413-10-15 (38)
10Udinese46-612-10-16 (38)
11Livorno43-1310-13-15 (38)
12Parma42-1510-12-16 (38)
13Siena41-109-14-15 (38)
14Catania41-2210-11-17 (38)
15Reggina40212-15-11 (38)
16Cagliari40-119-13-16 (38)
17Torino40-2010-10-18 (38)
18Chievo39-109-12-17 (38)
19Ascoli27-315-12-21 (38)
20Messina26-325-11-22 (38)

The final standings for the 2006/2007 Serie A season. Fiorentina minus 15 points, Reggina minus 11 points, Milan minus 8 points, Lazio minus 3 points.

Long list of changes

Catania Calcio have appointed Silvio Baldini as their new coach. The former Empoli manager replaces Pasquale Marino, who resigned a week ago after Catania stayed in Serie A with a win over relegated Chievo Verona on the season's final day. Baldini also coached Palermo in 2003/04, Parma in 2004/05 and Lecce in 2005/06 but was sacked midway through the campaign at all three club. Meanwhile, 44-year-old Marino has been named the new coach of Udinese after they parted company with Alberto Malesani following a tenth-placed finish in Serie A.

Coach Stefano Colantuono has left Atalanta to take charge of Palermo. The 44-year-old replaces Francesco Guidolin, who was sacked in April but was brought back for the final two games of the 2006/07 season and helped the Sicilians qualify for the UEFA Cup. Atalanta have appointed Luigi Del Neri as Colantuono's successor. Del Neri had made his name during a successful four-year first spell with Chievo, but he left the Verona club at the end of the season after failing to help them avoid relegation from Italy's top flight.

Siena have named Andrea Mandorlini as coach on a one-year contract. He had been without a team after leaving Serie C1 side Padova last summer. Mandorlini replaces Mario Beretta, who has parted company with the club by mutual consent. Beretta secured Siena's Serie A survival by a point with a dramatic last-minute win over Lazio on the final day of the season.

Reggina have appointed Massimo Ficcadenti as the replacement for coach Walter Mazzarri, who joined Sampdoria. Ficcadenti, 39, was free to join Reggina as his former club Verona were relegated to Serie C1 and his old contract was valid only for the top two divisions. He has signed a three-year contract with the Serie A side.

teamoddsteamodds
Inter Milan2.2Milan2.8
Juventus5.5Roma9.5
Fiorentina30Lazio50
Palermo80Udinese100
Sampdoria100Napoli100
Torino500Reggina1000
Atalanta1000Genoa1000
Parma1000Catania1000
Empoli1000Livorno1000
Cagliari5000Siena5000
The preseason odds for the outright winner of the 2007/08 Italian football league.

Italian Cup finals in last five years

2003Milan - Roma4:12:2
2004Lazio - Juventus2:02:2
2005Inter - Roma2:01:0
2006Inter - Roma1:13:1
2007Roma - Inter6:21:2
collapse all | expand all

key players

Atalanta

Goalkeeper Ferdinando Coppola (€1.5m); Defense: Leonardo Jose Talamonti (€2.5m), Claudio Rivalta (€2m), Adriano (€1.8m), Gianpaolo Bellini (€1.5m); Midfield: Costinha (€9m), Adriano Ferreira Pinto (€2.8m), Cristiano Doni (€2.8m), Antonino Bernardini (€0.9m); Forward: Zlatan Muslimovic (€3m), Riccardo Zampagna (€3m).

Cagliari

Goalkeeper Marco Fortin (€0.5m); Defense: Francesco Pisano (€1.5m), Paolo Bianco (€1.4m), Diego Lopez (€1.2m), Alessandro Agostini (€1m), Michele Ferri (€0.7m); Midfield: Daniele Conti (€2.7m), Davide Biondini (€1.6m), Andrea Parola (€1.2m), Alessandro Budel (€1m); Forward: Pasquale Foggia (€2.5m).

Catania

Goalkeeper Albano Benjamin Bizarri (€2.8m); Defense: Juan Vargas (€1.8m), Lorenzo Stovini (€1.7m), Andrea Sottil (€0.9m); Midfield: Guiseppe Colucci (€3.3m), Fabio Caserta (€3.2m), Giacomo Tedesco (€1.8m), Mark Edusei (€1.6m), Davide Baiocco (€1.5m); Forward: Gionatha Spinesi (€7.5m), Giuseppe Mascara (€3.3m).

Empoli

Goalkeeper Daniele Balli (€0.5m); Defense: Andrea Raggi (€2m), Lino Marzoratti (€1.5m), Felice Piccolo (€1.5m), Francesco Pratali (€1m); Midfield: Ighli Vannucchi (€7m), Davide Moro (€4m), Antonio Busce (€2.8m), Francesco Marianini (€1.2m); Forward: Luca Saudati (€5m), Nicola Pozzi (€3m).

Fiorentina

Goalkeeper Sebastien Frey (€15m); Defense: Tomas Ujfalusi (€10.5m), Manuel Pasqual (€9m), Dario Dainelli (€7m), Alessandro Gamberini (€4.6m); Midfield: Franco Semioli (€9m), Riccardo Montolivo (€8m), Fabio Liverani (€6.5m), Martin Jorgensen (€5m); Forward: Adrian Mutu (€18.5m), Giampaolo Pazzini (€7.9m).

Genoa

Goalkeeper Gianluca Pegolo (€0.6m); Defense: Cesare Bovo (€3m), Abdoulay Konko (€1.7m), Gaetano De Rosa (€0.8m); Midfield: Matteo Paro (€3m), Manuel Coppola (€0.9m); Forward: Marco Di Vaio (€4.5m), Luciano Figueroa (€3.8m), Giuseppe Sculli (€2m), Adailton (€1.8m), Marco Borriello (€1.5m).

Inter

Goalkeeper Julio Cesar (€10.5m); Defense: Cristian Chivu (€15m), Maicon (€13m), Javier Zanetti (€9m), Marco Materazzi (€8.5m); Midfield: Dejan Stankovic (€24.5m), Patrick Vieira (€21.5m), Esteban Cambiasso (€18.5m); Forward: Zlatan Ibrahimovic (€35m), Adriano (€22.5m), Hernan Crespo (€16m).

Juventus

Goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon (€33m); Defense: Jorge Andrade (€12.5m), Giorgio Chiellini (€7.5m), Jonathan Zebina (€4.3m); Midfield: Tiago (€15m), Mauro Camoranesi (€14.5m), Pavel Nedved (€12m), Sergio Bernardo Almiron (€11m); Forward: David Trezeguet (€21.5m), Alessandro Del Piero (€13.5m), Vincenzo Iaquinta (€12m).

Lazio

Goalkeeper Juan Pablo Carrizo (€6m); Defense: Luciano Zauri (€6.5m), Lionel Scaloni (€3.8m), Emilson Sanchez Cribari (€3.7m), Sebastiano Siviglia (€2.2m); Midfield: Cristian Ledesma (€10m), Stefano Mauri (€8.5m), Gaby Mudingayi (€6m), Valon Behrami (€6m); Forward: Tommaso Rocchi (€10.5m), Goran Pandev (€8.3m).

Livorno

Goalkeeper Marco Amelia (€14m); Defense: Giovanni Pasquale (€5m), Alessandro Grandoni (€2m), Dario Knezevic (€1.2m), Fabio Galante (€0.8m); Midfield: Giuliano Giannichedda (€4.2m), Massimo Loviso (€2.3m), Antonio Filippini (€2m), Vikash Dhorasoo (€1.5m); Forward: Diego Tristan (€7m), Francesco Tavano (€5.8m).

Milan

Goalkeeper Dida (€8.3m); Defense: Alessandro Nesta (€25.5m), Massimo Oddo (€14.5m), Marek Jankulovski (€11m); Midfield: Kaka (€49.5m), Andrea Pirlo (€30m), Gennaro Gattuso (€21m), Clarence Seedorf (€11m), Christian Brocchi (€3m); Forward: Ronaldo (€23m), Alberto Gilardino (€21.5m).

Napoli

Goalkeeper Gennaro Iezzo (€1.8m); Defense: Erminio Rullo (€3.5m), Matteo Contini (€3m), Paolo Cannavaro (€2.5m); Midfield: Manuele Blasi (€5.5m), Marek Hamsik (€5m), Walter Gargano (€3m), Samuele Dalla Bona (€2.5m); Forward: Ezequiel Lavezzi (€6m), Emanuele Calaio (€4m), Marcelo Zalayeta (€3.5m).

Palermo

Goalkeeper Alberto Fontana (€1m); Defense: Andrea Barzagli (€14.5m), Cristian Zaccardo (€12m), Mattia Cassani (€5.5m), Marco Pisano (€4.4m); Midfield: Fabio Henrique Simplicio (€7.5m), Bosko Jankovic (€7m), Marco Bresciano (€7m), Roberto Guana (€3.7m); Forward: Amauri (€11.5m), Fabrizio Miccoli (€6.5m).

Parma

Goalkeeper Luca Bucci (€0.4m); Defense: Giulio Falcone (€3m), Massimo Paci (€1m), Ferdinand Coly (€0.7m), Fernando Couto (€0.1m); Midfield: Daniele Dessena (€3.5m), Stefano Morrone (€3m), Andrea Gasbarroni (€2.8m), Domenico Morfeo (€2.5m); Forward: Igor Budan (€6.3m), Ferreira Reginaldo (€3.5m).

Reggina

Goalkeeper Andrea Campagnolo (€1m); Defense: Francesco Modesto (€6m), Maurizio Lanzaro (€2m), Salvatore Aronica (€1.5m), Miguel Garcia (€1.3m); Midfield: Edgar Barreto (€2.6m), Francesco Cozza (€1.7m), Luca Tognozzi (€1.3m), Luca Vigiani (€1m), Jose Montiel (€0.7m); Forward: Nicola Amoruso (€3.8m).

Roma

Goalkeeper Doni (€5m); Defense: Philippe Mexes (€15.5m), Juan (€12m), Christian Panucci (€4m), Max Tonetto (€3.3m); Midfield: Daniele De Rossi (€19m), Amantino Mancini (€18.5m), Simone Perrotta (€15m), David Pizarro (€11.5m), Rodrigo Taddei (€9.8m); Forward: Francesco Totti (€40m).

Sampdoria

Goalkeeper Luca Castellazzi (€2.7m); Defense: Cristiano Zenoni (€3.5m), Christian Maggio (€3m), Pietro Accardi (€1.4m); Midfield: Angelo Palombo (€6.8m), Daniele Franceschini (€3.8m), Sergio Volpi (€3m), Gennaro Delvecchio (€2.9m); Forward: Antonio Cassano (€8.5m), Emiliano Bonazzoli (€5.7m), Vincenzo Montella (€5m).

Siena

Goalkeeper Alexander Manninger (€3.8m); Defense: Simone Loria (€3.5m), Alessandro Lucarelli (€2.9m), Valerio Bertotto (€1.3m), Daniele Portanova (€1.2m); Midfield: Simone Vergassola (€3.5m), Tomas Locatelli (€2m), Paul Codrea (€1.8m); Forward: Massimo Maccarone (€3.7m), Daniele Corvia (€2.2m), Mario Frick (€1.2m).

Torino

Goalkeeper Matteo Sereni (€1.4m); Defense: Cesare Natali (€4.4m), Gianluca Comotto (€1.8m), Marco Di Loreto (€1.4m); Midfield: Alessandro Rosina (€9.5m), Simone Barone (€6.5m), Vincenzo Grella (€3.2m), Nikola Lazetic (€1.9m); Forward: David Di Michele (€7.5m), Roberto Stellone (€3.8m), Nicola Ventola (€3.5m).

Udinese

Goalkeeper Samir Handanovic (€0.8m); Defense: Cristian Zapata (€6m), Andrea Coda (€5.3m), Andrea Dossena (€1.9m); Midfield: Christian Obodo (€6.8m), Giandomenico Mesto (€5.5m), Gaetano D'Agostino (€4.2m), Giampiero Pinzi (€4m); Forward: Fabio Quagliarella (€10.5m), Antonio Di Natale (€9m), Asamoah Gyan (€8.5m).

 
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