The 1996–97 Serie A title was won by Juventus, under head coach Marcello Lippi. Cagliari, Perugia, Hellas Verona and Reggiana were relegated.
The 1995–96 Serie A title was won by Milan, with Juventus finishing as runners-up. Fourth placed Fiorentina tasted glory in the Coppa Italia, while seventh-placed Internazionale only narrowly managed to qualify for the UEFA Cup under the management of their new English head coach Roy Hodgson. In fact Internazionale needed both Fiorentina beating Atalanta in the 1995-96 Coopa Italia Final and their (Internazionales) arch rivals AC Milan and Juventus win the Serie A (Milan) and the 1995-96 UEFA Champions League Final (Juventus). Had one of these three things not occurred Internazionale would have missed out on european football for the second time in four years. Bari, Torino, Cremonese and Padova were all relegated.
Società Sportiva Lazio finished fourth in Serie A, reached the quarter-final of the Coppa Italia and the round of 32 in the UEFA Cup.
Associazione Calcio Fiorentina enjoyed its best season in the 1990s on the pitch, but was left wondering what might have been. Leading the domestic Serie A championship a long way into the season, Fiorentina's title charge fell to pieces, as it lost unnecessary points while eventual champions Milan and runners-up Lazio continued winning their matches. In the end, Fiorentina salvaged third place in the league, qualifying for the UEFA Champions League in 1999–2000.
Associazione Sportiva Roma was left trailing in the wake of city rivals Lazio's resurgence to fight for domestic and international glory. In coach Zdeněk Zeman's second season at the reins, Roma finished fifth in the table, and just missed out on qualification for the final Champions League spot. Roma reached the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup, but lost to Atlético Madrid.
Associazione Calcio Fiorentina had its best season for a long time, finishing tied for third in Serie A, plus winning the Coppa Italia following a clear double victory over Atalanta in the final. Strengthened by Stefan Schwarz and Michele Serena, Fiorentina were able to concede fewer goals than previously, but even though Rui Costa and Gabriel Batistuta continued their special partnership, the goals did not come with such ease as the year before.
S.S.C. Napoli continued its steady decline with another lacklustre season. Once more, goalscoring was at a premium, with only 28 goals being scored in the 34 league games. Coach Luigi Simoni was sacked and replaced by youth team coach Vincenzo Montefusco, who led the team to the Coppa Italia final against Vicenza, where Napoli won at home thanks to Fabio Pecchia's goal, but lost 3-0 away from home, and therefore failed to win the trophy. The 13th place in the domestic league was the worst for 14 years, and one year on, Napoli was ultimately relegated.
Juventus Football Club won the domestic title and reached a second consecutive Champions League final, where Karl-Heinz Riedle scored twice for Borussia Dortmund in a 3–1 defeat of Juventus.
The 1996–97 season was Parma Associazione Calcio's seventh consecutive season in Serie A. The team competed in Serie A, the Coppa Italia, and the UEFA Cup, where it suffered a shock first round exit to Portuguese club Vitória de Guimarães.
During the 1996–97 Italian football season, F.C. Internazionale Milano competed in Serie A.
Udinese Calcio had its best season since the days of Zico in the club during the 1980s. With goal scoring trio Oliver Bierhoff, Márcio Amoroso and Paolo Poggi on top form, Udinese finished fifth, even troubling the top three in the standings. Bierhoff and Poggi scored 13 goals each, while Amoroso hit the back of the net on 12 occasions. Despite the sensational results, coach Alberto Zaccheroni remained at the small club, while 1997–98 looked set to become a further improvement for Udinese.
Unione Calcio Sampdoria was once again condemned to midfield mediocrity, despite the services of super striker Enrico Chiesa, who netted 22 goals in just 27 appearances. Sven-Göran Eriksson continued with an attacking style of play, leading to Sampdoria scoring 59 goals in 34 matches, only bettered by champions Milan and Lazio. The backside was the many conceded goals it led to, with even relegated Torino having a better defensive record than the Genua team. Playmaker duo Clarence Seedorf and Christian Karembeu had great seasons, both compensating for the losses of Jugović, Lombardo and David Platt in the summer. The duo caught the attention of Real Madrid, and moved to Spain, with Karembeu staying put until the end of the 1996–97 season.
Unione Calcio Sampdoria had a decent season, in which it troubled the top three in the Serie A, and at half season even threatening to overhaul Juventus's league title, before losing its form during the spring. Vincenzo Montella, brought in from rivals Genoa to replace the departed Enrico Chiesa, sensationally equalled Chiesa's tally of 22 goals. Following the end of the season, coach Sven-Göran Eriksson moved to Lazio, and brought both Roberto Mancini and Siniša Mihajlović with him. With playmaker Clarence Seedorf departing for Real Madrid, Sampdoria was once again in a predicament. It still possessed Juan Sebastián Verón's unique qualities, however. The Argentinian was a genuine sensation in his first European season, and stayed on for another year.
Associazione Calcio Fiorentina did not manage to repeat its spectacular 1995–96 season, and did not win any trophies the following year. A relatively meagre goalscoring season from superstar Gabriel Batistuta was one of the reasons for the declining performance, which head coach Claudio Ranieri sacked at the end of the season. The highlight of Fiorentina's season was reaching the semi-finals of the Cup Winners' Cup, where it lost to Barcelona 2–0 at the Camp Nou, following a 1–1 draw in Florence.
Associazione Sportiva Roma was reinvigorated under new coach Zdeněk Zeman, who recently had been coaching arch rivals Lazio. Zeman brought his attacking 4–3–3 with him, resulting in Roma scoring 67 goals, but also conceding 42, an extreme rarity in defensive-minded Italian football. Roma finished fourth, three places above Lazio in the table. That was the first time it had happened in five years, which delighted the Roma board, and Zeman stayed on for a further season. The season also saw the international breakthrough of former youth-team product Francesco Totti, who at 21 was ready for increased responsibility and captaincy, responding with 13 league goals from a position on the left-wing of the attack. Also noticeable was new signing Cafu's offensive skills as a right-wing back, granting him a reputation among the world's top wing backs.
Piacenza Calcio once again survived in Serie A, this time being on the brink of relegation, and having to beat Cagliari in Naples in a so-called spareggio to decide which team would stay up. Thanks to a 3–1 victory, Piacenza was able to hang onto their Serie A status, which was all that could be expected from new coach Bortolo Mutti. Despite losing Nicola Caccia to Napoli, Piacenza was able to count on a reliable goal scorer in Pasquale Luiso, who grabbed 14 goals in his debut season in Serie A.
The 2017–18 Coppa Italia, also known as TIM Cup for sponsorship reasons, was the 71st edition of the national cup in Italian football. As a minimum, the winners of the Coppa Italia earn a place in the 2018–19 Europa League and would begin play in the group stage unless they qualify for a more favourable UEFA placing based on league play. Seventy-eight clubs participated in this season's cup competition.
During the 1996–97 Italian football season, Vicenza competed in Serie A.
During the 1996–97 season Bologna Football Club 1909 competed in Serie A and Coppa Italia.
During the 1996–97 season 'Atalanta Bergamasca Calcio competed in Serie A and Coppa Italia.
