| 2002–03 season | |
|---|---|
| Chairman | Luca Campedelli |
| Manager | Luigi Delneri |
| Serie A | 7th |
| Coppa Italia | Quarter-finals |
| UEFA Cup | First round |
| Top goalscorer | Federico Cossato (9) |
A.C. ChievoVerona played its second consecutive season in Serie A, and nearly equaled 5th place from the 2001-02 Serie A season. The club's second season in the premier division was played without Christian Manfredini and Bernardo Corradi, both ending up with Lazio. Due to passport troubles, it also lost key winger Eriberto, who turned out to be four years older and called Luciano, but had faked his identity since he was 21, in order to participate in a Brazilian youth team.
Despite the squad being thinned out, several key players, including Nicola Legrottaglie, Eugenio Corini and Simone Perrotta remained at the club, and those three proved to be the most important players for Chievo, since the absence of the previous starts hardly mattered in terms of results. In the end, only negative results against Udinese hindered Chievo from a second consecutive UEFA Cup qualification. Its European debut ended in a flop, though, as it lost to unfancied Serbian side Crvena Zvezda in the primary round.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | Parma | 34 | 15 | 11 | 8 | 55 | 36 | +19 | 56 [lower-alpha 1] | Qualification to UEFA Cup first round |
| 6 | Udinese | 34 | 16 | 8 | 10 | 38 | 35 | +3 | 56 | |
| 7 | Chievo | 34 | 16 | 7 | 11 | 51 | 39 | +12 | 55 | |
| 8 | Roma [lower-alpha 2] | 34 | 13 | 10 | 11 | 55 | 46 | +9 | 49 | Qualification to UEFA Cup first round |
| 9 | Brescia | 34 | 9 | 15 | 10 | 36 | 38 | −2 | 42 [lower-alpha 3] | Qualification to Intertoto Cup second round |
Associazione Calcio ChievoVerona, commonly referred to as ChievoVerona or simply Chievo, is a former professional Italian football club named after and based in Chievo, a suburban area with 4,500 inhabitants in Verona, Veneto, and owned by Paluani, a bakery product company and the inspiration for their original name, Paluani Chievo. During its years as a professional club, Chievo shared the 38,402 seater Stadio Marcantonio Bentegodi stadium with its cross-town rivals Hellas Verona.
Nicola Legrottaglie is an Italian retired footballer who played as a central defender, and the current technical area director of Sampdoria.
Federico Cossato is an Italian former footballer who played as a forward. He is the brother of fellow former footballer Michele Cossato.
Sergio Pellissier is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a forward. He is currently working as owner and chairman of FC Clivense, a club he founded in 2021.
The Derby della Scala, also known as Derby dell'Arena or the Verona Derby in English and Derby di Verona in Italian, is the name given to any association football match contested between ChievoVerona and Hellas Verona. Its venue is at the Stadio Marc'Antonio Bentegodi. The name refers to the Scaligeri or della Scala aristocratic family, who were rulers of Verona during the Middle Ages and early Renaissance.
2009–10 Serie A is the 62nd Serie A season in Unione Calcio Sampdoria's history. Sampdoria also participated in 2009–10 Coppa Italia, starting from the 3rd round. Sampdoria finished the 2008–09 Serie A season in 13th place, so they failed to qualify for any of the European competitions for the 2009–10 season. On 16 May 2010, Sampdoria finished their great season with a 1–0 win against S.S.C. Napoli, securing 4th place in 2009–10 Serie A and the final 2010–11 UEFA Champions League qualification spot.
Udinese Calcio bounced back from the hugely disappointing 2001–02 Serie A season, in which it only just managed to avoid relegation. Under new coach Luciano Spalletti, Udinese gathered strength, and was a constant feature on the top half of the league table. Even though the squad lacked the goalscoring punch, the defence led by Néstor Sensini and surprising goalkeeper Morgan De Sanctis held it together to such a degree it finished sixth in the league. Also Czech signing Marek Jankulovski impressed, the Napoli signing switching form left-wing to left back, causing interest from several bigger clubs. In the offence, Udinese's most influential player was David Pizarro, who scored seven times from the midfield and grabbed the attention from Lazio, who tried to sign him and teammate Martin Jørgensen immediately after the season had finished. Undisclosed Lazio players refused moving to Udine as compensation for the transfers, and both stayed on, much to the relief of Spalletti.
Genoa C.F.C. had a mixed season, in which it struggled to replace world-class striker Diego Milito, who moved on to Internazionale, where he was key in winning the treble in 2010. Such a player was difficult to find, and his Argentinian replacements Hernán Crespo and Rodrigo Palacio lacked the final punch. Crespo had it in his younger years, of course, but despite four goals in the autumn, he was offloaded to Parma, as Genoa put its faith in David Suazo for the goalscoring. Sergio Floccari also departed, and the Lazio signing scored more goals for the Roman club in half the year than what any player did for Genoa the whole season, while Suazo became a flop. The defence did not perform at expected level either, and even though the team scored several goals by many players, the defensive holes ensured the team did not repeat the fifth position from the year before.
Genoa C.F.C. enjoyed its best season in recent history and finished fifth in Serie A. Topscorer Diego Milito hit the back of the net 24 times, and earned a move to Inter prior to the 2009-10 season. The ex-player and 29-year-old Argentinian Milito, arrived from relegated Spanish side Real Zaragoza, and the returnee performed his best season yet. Thanks to his goals and Thiago Motta's midfield display, Genoa finished in the top 5, and nearly pipped Fiorentina to the final Champions League spot. Motta was also sold to Inter in the summer, which left a huge fold in the Genoa squad.
U.C. Sampdoria enjoyed its best season since 1993–94, when the club finished third in Serie A and won Coppa Italia. In 2004-05 Sampdoria was able to finish fifth in the standings, thanks to a robust defence and a goalscoring ace in secondary striker Francesco Flachi, who played the football of his life. With only 29 goals conceded, the defence of Sampdoria was fully comparable with those of top sides Juventus and Milan, and coach Walter Novellino was hailed for the strong performance in the club's second season since its return to Serie A.
Torino Calcio had a solid season, in which it earned a new contract as a newcomer. The most appreciated player in the squad was right-winger Antonino Asta, who got a late breakthrough at the age of 31, and proved to be the key player as the club stayed above the drop zone by just four points. Marco Ferrante returned from Inter, and scored ten goals, a career best for the experienced striker. The squad also featured the highly rated Swedish striker Yksel Osmanovski, a very young future Italian national team striker in Fabio Quagliarella, and the Turin legend, defender Stefano Fattori.
U.C. Sampdoria returned to Serie A after a four year-absence, and immediately re-established itself as a team on the top half of the domestic championship. Goalkeeper Francesco Antonioli offered crucial experience, but apart from him did the bulk of the squad play in the 2002-03 Serie B, with top goalscorers Fabio Bazzani and Francesco Flachi quickly adjusting themselves to the higher pace of Serie A. Midfielders Sergio Volpi and Angelo Palombo also stood out. Right back Aimo Diana even earned a call-up to the national team following his performances.
U.C. Sampdoria had a successful season in the domestic league, finishing in sixth place. The club also captured Antonio Cassano from Real Madrid, with the notorious troublemaker settling in well at Sampdoria, helping the club to European qualification. The season also saw the first Serie A derbies between Sampdoria and Genoa C.F.C. since 1995, with Sampdoria winning the second one with 1-0, following a goalless draw in the beginning of the league campaign.
Reggina Calcio just renewed its Serie A contract, thanks to a late surge in the league competition and a successful spareggio against Atalanta. Reggina drew 0-0 at home, and then turned around a deficit to win 2-1 away from home, with Francesco Cozza and Emiliano Bonazzoli being the match-winners. The player who got the most headlines during the season was Japanese playmaker Shunsuke Nakamura, who scored seven goals and created several others. He also helped Reggina to get onto the Asian market, so the signing was largely hailed as a genial manoeuvre by president Pasquale Foti.
Reggina Calcio extended its stay in Serie A by a further season, despite being charged with involvement in Calciopoli at the end of the term. Reggina was allowed to retain its Serie A status, but was demoted eleven points out of its 2006-07 campaign, leading to the general consensus that its time in the top-flight division was running out, given that it had only sealed its Serie A stays by the shallowest of margins before.
Reggina Calcio was thought to be a prime candidate to be relegated in the 2006-07 season, since it had been deducted eleven points for its involvement in Calciopoli. At no stage had Reggina renewed its contract with more than a point or two, and therefore its 51 points in 38 games was a very high yield. The Serie A stay was extended thanks to the successful striking force of Rolando Bianchi and Nicola Amoruso, scoring an unprecedented 35 goals between them. Bianchi headed for Manchester City in the summer, and successful coach Walter Mazzarri found a new berth at Sampdoria.
Atalanta B.C. continued to be a midfield team in a competitive Serie A season, in which it dropped two places in spite of recording more points than during its 7th placed season the year before. Cristiano Doni was the most influential player, the playmaker scoring 16 goals, and surprisingly stayed on at Atalanta for a further season. Luciano Zauri also got his breakthrough, earning his first national team cap during the course of the season.
Atalanta B.C. lost its momentum it had built in its first two Serie A seasons in its stint, eventually being relegated following a playoff against Reggina. The championship was such competitive than Atalanta was only four points away from repeating its 9th place from the 2001-02 season, but instead had to face Serie B competition, losing key players such as Cristiano Doni, Luciano Zauri and Ousmane Dabo to bigger clubs.
Piacenza Calcio had the highest-scoring season in the club's history, but in spite of this, a defeat to Verona in the final round would have rendered relegation. Two goals from Dario Hübner helped sealing a 3–0 victory, which propelled Hübner to become top scorer of the entire Serie A, tying for 24 goals with David Trezeguet. The ex-Brescia hitman Hübner came following the promotion, and aged 34, he reached the very top of his level.
During the 2003–04 Italian football season, U.S. Lecce competed in the Serie A.
