| 2004–05 season | |
|---|---|
| Chairman | Ivan Ruggeri |
| Manager | Andrea Mandorlini Delio Rossi |
| Serie A | 20th |
| Coppa Italia | Quarter-finals |
| Top goalscorer | Stephen Makinwa (6) |
Atalanta B.C. failed to prolong its Serie A stint by more than one season, due to a poor start to the season. Delio Rossi took over at the helm, and helped by the breakthroughs of striker Stephen Makinwa and playmaker Riccardo Montolivo, Atalanta was able to catch up with the teams above the relegation zone, but went down due to a 1-0 defeat to Roma in the penultimate round.
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| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Juventus [lower-alpha 1] | 38 | 26 | 8 | 4 | 67 | 27 | +40 | 86 | Qualification to Champions League group stage |
| 2 | Milan | 38 | 23 | 10 | 5 | 63 | 28 | +35 | 79 | |
| 3 | Internazionale | 38 | 18 | 18 | 2 | 65 | 37 | +28 | 72 | Qualification to Champions League third qualifying round |
| 4 | Udinese | 38 | 17 | 11 | 10 | 56 | 40 | +16 | 62 | |
| 5 | Sampdoria | 38 | 17 | 10 | 11 | 42 | 29 | +13 | 61 | Qualification to UEFA Cup first round |
| 6 | Palermo | 38 | 12 | 17 | 9 | 48 | 44 | +4 | 53 | |
| 7 | Messina | 38 | 12 | 12 | 14 | 44 | 52 | −8 | 48 | |
| 8 | Roma [lower-alpha 2] | 38 | 11 | 12 | 15 | 55 | 58 | −3 | 45 | Qualification to UEFA Cup first round |
| 9 | Livorno | 38 | 11 | 12 | 15 | 49 | 60 | −11 | 45 | |
| 10 | Reggina | 38 | 10 | 14 | 14 | 36 | 45 | −9 | 44 | |
| 11 | Lecce | 38 | 10 | 14 | 14 | 66 | 73 | −7 | 44 | |
| 12 | Cagliari | 38 | 10 | 14 | 14 | 51 | 60 | −9 | 44 | |
| 13 | Lazio [lower-alpha 3] | 38 | 11 | 11 | 16 | 48 | 53 | −5 | 44 | Qualification to Intertoto Cup third round |
| 14 | Siena | 38 | 9 | 16 | 13 | 44 | 55 | −11 | 43 | |
| 15 | Chievo | 38 | 11 | 10 | 17 | 32 | 49 | −17 | 43 | |
| 16 | Fiorentina | 38 | 9 | 15 | 14 | 42 | 50 | −8 | 42 | |
| 17 | Parma | 38 | 10 | 12 | 16 | 48 | 65 | −17 | 42 | Relegation tie-breaker |
| 18 | Bologna (R) | 38 | 9 | 15 | 14 | 33 | 36 | −3 | 42 | Serie B after tie-breaker |
| 19 | Brescia (R) | 38 | 11 | 8 | 19 | 37 | 54 | −17 | 41 | Relegation to Serie B |
| 20 | Atalanta (R) | 38 | 8 | 11 | 19 | 34 | 45 | −11 | 35 |
Riccardo Montolivo is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He most notably played for Fiorentina, AC Milan, and the Italy national team.
National squads of the 2006 UEFA European Under-21 Championship. Players in bold have now been capped at full International level.
Adriano Pereira da Silva, known as Adriano, is a Brazilian football defender. He most recently played for Monaco.
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.
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.
Udinese Calcio had its most successful season for seven years, in which it reached the Champions League thanks to a stable fundament in the team, with several players attractive for bigger clubs. Following the season, coach Luciano Spalletti left to take over Roma, while playmaker David Pizarro was sold to Inter.
ACF Fiorentina returned to Serie A, following a two-year absence after the bankruptcy of the previous incarnation of the club. Fiorentina returned only due to the expansion in terms of the number of top-league teams, and therefore had to significantly strengthen the squad in pre-season. Dario Dainelli, Giorgio Chiellini, Hidetoshi Nakata, Fabrizio Miccoli, Martin Jørgensen, goalkeeper Cristiano Lupatelli, Enzo Maresca, Tomáš Ujfaluši and Javier Portillo were among the highly rated players to sign up for Fiorentina, either permanently or on loan. With this squad, Fiorentina was expected to challenge for a place on the top half of the table, but slipped into the relegation battle that affected more than half of the Serie A clubs during the dramatic season. In the end, a strong finish to the season under incoming coach Dino Zoff saved La Viola from relegation, with an emotional 3–0 victory against Brescia confirming their survival.
The 2005–06 season was ACF Fiorentina's 80th season in its history and its 68th season in Serie A. The club had its best season on the pitch since the 1998–99 season, originally finishing 4th with 74 points and securing a spot in the qualifying round of the 2006–07 UEFA Champions League. However, the club was punished with a 30-point penalty for its involvement in the 2006 Italian football scandal, resulting in Fiorentina being pushed down the table to 9th. This was a much better outcome than its original punishment, as La Viola were originally relegated to Serie B. Following a successful appeal, Fiorentina was admitted to play in Serie A the following season, albeit losing its Champions League slot and having to start the season with a 15-point penalty, removing any chance of mounting a genuine title challenge and building on the success of the 2005–06 season.
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 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.
ACF Fiorentina had a fantastic season points-wise, scoring just a couple of points less than second-positioned Roma, but due a 15-point penalty because of the club's involvement in the Calciopoli scandal, it missed out on the Champions League, and had to settle for 6th and a position in the 2007–08 UEFA Cup. New signing Adrian Mutu was able to compensate for Luca Toni not having such a spectacular season as the one before, and both players netted 16 goals. Goalkeeper Sébastien Frey also had a top-class season, conceding only 31 goals all year, despite having a defensive line without renowned stoppers.
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.
Reggina Calcio managed to save its Serie A berth at the last minute, for the sixth consecutive season. Nicola Amoruso delivered 12 goals, which was five goals fewer than in the previous season, but enough to land a deal with Torino for the next season.
Reggina Calcio finally dropped out of Serie A, following seven years of balancing around the drop zone. Following its previous six years, the club had stayed in Serie A by less than three points on all occasions. In 2008–09, Reggina dropped off the pace mid-season and was nowhere near survival.
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.
Atalanta B.C. was promoted to Serie A, despite finishing only 5th in Serie B. The reason for the promotion was the expansion of the top domestic division from 18 to 20 teams. That offered a reprieve to an underperforming Atalanta side that failed to keep up with Palermo following Christmas.
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