2008–09 Serie A

The 2008–09 Serie A (known as the Serie A TIM for sponsorship reasons) was the 107th season of top-tier Italian football, the 77th in a round-robin tournament. It began on 30 August 2008 and ended on 31 May 2009, with the announcement of the list of fixtures made on 25 July 2008. 20 teams competed in the league, 17 of which returned from the previous season, and three (Chievo, Bologna and Lecce) were promoted from 2007–08 Serie B.

Serie A

Season	2008–09
Dates	30 August 2008 – 31 May 2009
Champions	Internazionale 17th title
Relegated	Torino Reggina Lecce
Champions League	Internazionale Juventus Milan Fiorentina
Europa League	Genoa Roma Lazio
Matches played	380
Goals scored	988 (2.6 per match)
Top goalscorer	Zlatan Ibrahimović (25 goals)
Biggest home win	Sampdoria 5–0 Reggina
Biggest away win	Roma 0–4 Internazionale Siena 1–5 Milan Palermo 0–4 Catania
Highest scoring	Udinese 6–2 Cagliari
Average attendance	25,324
← 2007–08 2009–10 →

20 clubs represented 13 different regions. The most represented region was Lombardy with three teams: Atalanta, A.C. Milan, and Inter Milan. Piedmont, Liguria, Tuscany, Lazio and Sicily featured two teams each while Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Veneto, Emilia-Romagna, Campania, Apulia, Calabria, and Sardinia were represented by one team each. There was a record number of southern teams in the top division with six teams: Cagliari, Catania, Lecce, Napoli, Palermo, and Reggina.

The new match ball was the Nike T90 Omni.

On 16 May 2009, Internazionale won the league by holding an unassailable lead after A.C. Milan's loss away to Udinese.

Rule changes

The 2008–09 season saw new rules relating to the transfer of player registration introduced. Clubs without non-EU players in their squad were allowed three incoming non-EU player transfers (whereas previously only newly promoted clubs could have three). Clubs with one non-EU player were allowed two such transfers and clubs with two non-EU players were permitted one transfer and a further one if they cancelled the registration of one of their non-EU players or that player gained EU nationality. Clubs with three or more non-EU players were given two conditional quotas with the caveat that the release (as opposed to transfer) of two non-EU players as free agent would only allow for one further non-EU signing.^[1]

Teams

Three teams were promoted from Serie B: Chievo, Bologna, and Lecce. The first two earned direct promotion, while Lecce won the promotional playoffs, defeating AlbinoLeffe 2–1 on aggregate in a two-legged playoff final.

Atalanta

Juventus
Torino

Internazionale
Milan

Genoa
Sampdoria

Udinese

Chievo

Bologna

Fiorentina

Siena

Lazio
Roma

Napoli

Lecce

Cagliari

Palermo

Catania

Reggina

Locations of Serie A 2008–09 teams

Stadia and locations

Club	City	Stadium	Capacity	2007–08 season
Atalanta	Bergamo	Atleti Azzurri d'Italia	26,393	9th in Serie A
Bologna	Bologna	Renato Dall'Ara	39,444	2nd in Serie B
Cagliari	Cagliari	Sant'Elia	23,486	14th in Serie A
Catania	Catania	Angelo Massimino	23,420	17th in Serie A
Chievo Verona	Verona	Marc'Antonio Bentegodi	39,211	Serie B Champions
Fiorentina	Florence	Artemio Franchi (Florence)	47,282	4th in Serie A
Genoa	Genoa	Luigi Ferraris	36,685	10th in Serie A
Internazionale	Milan	San Siro	80,074	Serie A Champions
Juventus	Turin	Olimpico di Torino	27,500	3rd in Serie A
Lazio	Rome	Olimpico	72,700	12th in Serie A
Lecce	Lecce	Via del Mare	33,876	Serie B Playoff Winners
Milan	Milan	San Siro	80,074	5th in Serie A
Napoli	Naples	San Paolo	60,240	8th in Serie A
Palermo	Palermo	Renzo Barbera	37,242	11th in Serie A
Reggina	Reggio Calabria	Oreste Granillo	27,454	16th in Serie A
Roma	Rome	Olimpico	72,700	2nd in Serie A
Sampdoria	Genoa	Luigi Ferraris	36,685	6th in Serie A
Siena	Siena	Artemio Franchi (Siena)	15,373	13th in Serie A
Torino	Turin	Olimpico di Torino	27,500	15th in Serie A
Udinese	Udine	Friuli	41,652	7th in Serie A

Personnel and sponsoring

Team	Head Coach	Captain	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
Atalanta	Luigi Delneri	Cristiano Doni	Asics	Sit in Sport, Daihatsu
Bologna	Siniša Mihajlović	Marcello Castellini	Macron	Unipol, COGEI
Cagliari	Massimiliano Allegri	Diego López	Macron	Tiscali, Sky
Catania	Walter Zenga	Davide Baiocco	Legea	SP Energia Siciliana, Provincia di Catania
Chievo	Domenico Di Carlo	Sergio Pellissier	Lotto	Paluani/Banca Popolare di Verona
Fiorentina	Cesare Prandelli	Dario Dainelli	Lotto	Toyota
Genoa	Gian Piero Gasperini	Marco Rossi	Asics	Eurobet
Internazionale	José Mourinho	Javier Zanetti	Nike	Pirelli
Juventus	Claudio Ranieri	Alessandro Del Piero	Nike	New Holland
Lazio	Delio Rossi	Tommaso Rocchi	Puma	Pro Evolution Soccer 2009/Groupama/Cucciolone Algida
Lecce	Mario Beretta	Andrea Zanchetta	Asics	Salento, Lachifarma
Milan	Carlo Ancelotti	Paolo Maldini	Adidas	Bwin
Napoli	Edoardo Reja	Paolo Cannavaro	Diadora	Lete
Palermo	Davide Ballardini	Fabio Liverani	Lotto	BetShop
Reggina	Nevio Orlandi	Francesco Cozza	Onze	Gicos, Regione Calabria
Roma	Luciano Spalletti	Francesco Totti	Kappa	Wind
Sampdoria	Walter Mazzarri	Angelo Palombo	Kappa	Erg/Air One (in cup and UEFA matches)
Siena	Marco Giampaolo	Simone Vergassola	Umbro	Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena
Torino	Walter Novellino	Alessandro Rosina	Kappa	Movida/MG.K Vis/Renault Trucks, Reale Mutua
Udinese	Pasquale Marino	Antonio Di Natale	Lotto	Lotto/Automobile Dacia, Regione Friuli/Il Granchio

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Replaced by	Date of appointment
Siena	Mario Beretta[2]	Contract expired	27 May 2008	Marco Giampaolo[2]	27 May 2008
Cagliari	Davide Ballardini[3]	Contract expired	27 May 2008	Massimiliano Allegri[4]	29 May 2008
Internazionale	Roberto Mancini[5]	Sacked	29 May 2008	José Mourinho[6]	2 June 2008
Lecce	Giuseppe Papadopulo[7]	Contract expired	23 June 2008	Mario Beretta[7]	23 June 2008
Palermo	Stefano Colantuono[8]	Sacked	4 September 2008	Davide Ballardini[8]	4 September 2008
Bologna	Daniele Arrigoni[9]	Sacked	3 November 2008	Siniša Mihajlović[9]	3 November 2008
Chievo Verona	Giuseppe Iachini[10]	Sacked	4 November 2008	Domenico Di Carlo[10]	4 November 2008
Torino	Gianni De Biasi[11]	Sacked	8 December 2008	Walter Novellino[11]	8 December 2008
Reggina	Nevio Orlandi[12]	Sacked	16 December 2008	Giuseppe Pillon[13]	16 December 2008
Reggina	Giuseppe Pillon[14]	Sacked	25 January 2009	Nevio Orlandi[14]	25 January 2009
Lecce	Mario Beretta[15]	Sacked	9 March 2009	Luigi De Canio[16]	9 March 2009
Napoli	Edoardo Reja[17]	Sacked	10 March 2009	Roberto Donadoni[17]	10 March 2009
Torino	Walter Novellino[18]	Sacked	24 March 2009	Giancarlo Camolese[18]	24 March 2009
Bologna	Siniša Mihajlović[19]	Sacked	14 April 2009	Giuseppe Papadopulo[19]	14 April 2009
Juventus	Claudio Ranieri[20]	Sacked	18 May 2009	Ciro Ferrara[21]	18 May 2009

^1 Juventus youth sector chief Ciro Ferrara was originally appointed on a temporary basis for the two final weeks of the season. The appointment was made permanent on 5 June 2009.^[22]

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Internazionale (C)	38	25	9	4	70	32	+38	84	Qualification to Champions League group stage
2	Juventus	38	21	11	6	69	37	+32	74[a]
3	Milan	38	22	8	8	70	35	+35	74[a]
4	Fiorentina	38	21	5	12	53	38	+15	68[b]	Qualification to Champions League play-off round
5	Genoa	38	19	11	8	56	39	+17	68[b]	Qualification to Europa League play-off round[c]
6	Roma	38	18	9	11	64	61	+3	63	Qualification to Europa League third qualifying round
7	Udinese	38	16	10	12	61	50	+11	58
8	Palermo	38	17	6	15	57	50	+7	57
9	Cagliari	38	15	8	15	49	50	−1	53
10	Lazio	38	15	5	18	46	55	−9	50	Qualification to Europa League play-off round[c]
11	Atalanta	38	13	8	17	45	48	−3	47
12	Napoli	38	12	10	16	43	45	−2	46[d]
13	Sampdoria	38	11	13	14	49	52	−3	46[d]
14	Siena	38	12	8	18	33	44	−11	44
15	Catania	38	12	7	19	41	51	−10	43
16	Chievo	38	8	14	16	35	49	−14	38
17	Bologna	38	9	10	19	43	62	−19	37
18	Torino (R)	38	8	10	20	37	61	−24	34	Relegation to Serie B
19	Reggina (R)	38	6	13	19	30	62	−32	31
20	Lecce (R)	38	5	15	18	37	67	−30	30

Source: lega-calcio.it (in Italian)
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head goals scored; 5) goal difference; 6) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:

1. Juventus finished ahead of Milan on head-to-head points: Juventus 4–2 Milan, Milan 1–1 Juventus.
2. Fiorentina finished ahead of Genoa on head-to-head points: Fiorentina 1–0 Genoa, Genoa 3–3 Fiorentina.
3. Lazio qualified for the play-off round of the 2009–10 UEFA Europa League by winning the 2008–09 Coppa Italia.
4. Napoli finished ahead of Sampdoria on head-to-head points: Napoli 2–0 Sampdoria, Sampdoria 2–2 Napoli.

Results

Home \ Away	ATA	BOL	CAG	CTN	CHV	FIO	GEN	INT	JUV	LAZ	LCE	MIL	NAP	PAL	REG	ROM	SAM	SIE	TOR	UDI
Atalanta		0–1	1–0	1–0	0–2	1–2	1–1	3–1	1–3	2–0	0–0	0–1	3–1	2–2	0–1	3–0	4–2	1–0	2–0	3–0
Bologna	0–1		0–1	3–1	1–1	1–3	2–0	1–2	1–2	3–1	2–1	1–4	0–1	1–1	1–2	1–1	3–0	1–4	5–2	0–3
Cagliari	0–1	5–1		1–0	2–0	1–0	0–1	2–1	0–1	1–4	2–0	0–0	2–0	1–0	1–1	2–2	1–0	1–0	0–0	2–0
Catania	1–0	1–2	2–1		1–0	0–2	1–0	0–2	1–2	1–0	1–1	0–2	3–1	2–0	2–0	3–2	2–0	0–3	3–2	0–2
Chievo	1–1	0–0	1–1	1–1		0–2	0–1	2–2	0–2	1–2	1–1	0–1	2–1	1–0	2–1	0–1	1–1	0–2	1–1	1–2
Fiorentina	2–1	1–0	2–1	2–0	2–1		1–0	0–0	1–1	1–0	1–2	0–2	2–1	0–2	3–0	4–1	1–0	1–0	1–0	4–2
Genoa	1–1	1–1	2–1	1–1	2–2	3–3		0–2	3–2	0–1	4–1	2–0	3–2	1–0	4–0	3–1	3–1	1–0	3–0	2–0
Internazionale	4–3	2–1	1–1	2–1	4–2	2–0	0–0		1–0	2–0	1–0	2–1	2–1	2–2	3–0	3–3	1–0	3–0	1–1	1–0
Juventus	2–2	4–1	2–3	1–1	3–3	1–0	4–1	1–1		2–0	2–2	4–2	1–0	1–2	4–0	2–0	1–1	1–0	1–0	1–0
Lazio	0–1	2–0	1–4	1–0	0–3	3–0	1–1	0–3	1–1		1–1	0–3	0–1	1–0	1–0	4–2	2–0	3–0	1–1	1–3
Lecce	2–2	0–0	2–0	2–1	2–0	1–1	0–2	0–3	1–2	0–2		1–1	1–1	1–1	0–0	0–3	1–3	1–1	3–3	2–2
Milan	3–0	1–2	1–0	1–0	1–0	1–0	1–1	1–0	1–1	4–1	2–0		1–0	3–0	1–1	2–3	3–0	2–1	5–1	5–1
Napoli	0–0	1–1	2–2	1–0	3–0	2–1	0–1	1–0	2–1	0–2	3–0	0–0		2–1	3–0	0–3	2–0	2–0	1–2	2–2
Palermo	3–2	4–1	5–1	0–4	3–0	1–3	2–1	0–2	0–2	2–0	5–2	3–1	2–1		1–0	3–1	2–2	2–0	1–0	3–2
Reggina	3–1	2–2	2–1	1–1	0–1	1–1	0–1	2–3	2–2	2–3	2–0	1–2	1–1	0–0		2–2	0–2	1–1	1–1	0–2
Roma	2–0	2–1	3–2	4–3	0–0	1–0	3–0	0–4	1–4	1–0	3–2	2–2	1–1	2–1	3–0		2–0	1–0	3–2	1–1
Sampdoria	1–0	2–0	3–3	3–0	1–1	0–1	0–1	1–1	0–0	3–1	3–2	2–1	2–2	0–2	5–0	2–2		2–2	1–0	2–2
Siena	1–0	1–1	2–0	1–1	0–2	1–0	0–0	1–2	0–3	2–0	1–2	1–5	2–1	1–0	1–0	1–0	0–0		1–0	1–1
Torino	2–1	1–1	0–1	2–1	1–1	1–4	2–3	1–3	0–1	1–3	3–0	2–2	1–0	1–0	0–0	0–1	1–3	1–0		1–0
Udinese	3–0	1–0	6–2	1–1	0–1	3–1	2–2	0–1	2–1	3–3	2–0	2–1	0–0	3–1	0–1	3–1	1–1	2–1	2–0

Source: lega-calcio.it (in Italian)
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Top goalscorers

Internazionale supporters celebrate the 17th title

Zlatan Ibrahimović, top scorer of the season with 25 goals

Source: gazzetta.it (in Italian)

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Zlatan Ibrahimović	Internazionale	25
2	Diego Milito	Genoa	24
	Marco Di Vaio	Bologna
4	Alberto Gilardino	Fiorentina	19
5	Kaká	Milan	16
6	Alexandre Pato	Milan	15
7	Robert Acquafresca	Cagliari	14
	Edinson Cavani	Palermo
	Fabrizio Miccoli	Palermo
10	Alessandro Del Piero	Juventus	13
	Filippo Inzaghi	Milan
	Adrian Mutu	Fiorentina
	Sergio Pellissier	Chievo
	Fabio Quagliarella	Udinese
	Francesco Totti	Roma
	Mauro Zárate	Lazio