Serie A
Champion: Juventus (30th title, 3rd straight)
Champions League (2nd, 3rd): Roma, Napoli
Europa League (4th, 5th, 7th*): Fiorentina, Inter Milan, Torino (Parma finished 6th, but was unable to obtain a UEFA license to play in cups due to overdue tax debt).
Coppa Italia: Napoli
Relegation (18th, 19th, 20th): Catania, Bologna, Livorno
What looked like a potential three horse race for the title became a one horse race in January. Juventus ran away with the Serie A title, winning their 3rd straight. Never before had a Serie A team broken the 100-point barrier, nor won 33 games in a single campaign. Never before had an Italian side posted a perfect home record in a 20-club top flight, nor found the net in 37 out of their 38 fixtures. They failed to make it out of the group stages in the Champions League, however, so they didn't have to play as many games after Christmas. Roma looked like they would mount a serious title challenge by winning their first 10 games, but they faded down the stretch. Napoli also added some firepower before the season, but never threatened Juventus. "The Old Lady", as Juventus is sometimes called, were also seen as favorites to win the Europa League, especially with the final in Turin, but lost to Benfica in the semi-finals. The two big Milan clubs (Inter and AC Milan) had disappointing seasons yet again. These teams once ruled Italy and Europe, but Inter finished 5th and AC Milan 8th. Serie A was the best league in the world 10 years ago, but today one can argue it isn't even top 4. Of course there was more drama with Mario Balotelli (shocker) when in February it turned out he was the father of a child of an Italian model. I've always been a huge Balotelli critic because he has the talent to be one of the best players in the world. Unfortunately, it looks like he refuses to grow up. Nonetheless, Juventus and Roma will be dangerous teams in next year's Champions League. Catania is the most notable team relegated, they leave Italy's top flight after 8 years.
My Awards
Player of the Season: Carlos Tevez (Juventus)
With Juventus breaking all sorts of records, it's only fair to assume they had the best player in the league on their team. Tevez finished third in the scoring race, and added 7 assists. Throughout his career though, Tevez has been notorious for two things: his off the field antics and his incredible on the field work rate. He's probably the best "defensive" forward in the game, in the sense that he helps out by coming back and he also pressures defenders up the field. It looks like he may have found a more permanent home in Turin after spells with West Ham, and both Manchester teams. He was critical to Juventus' record breaking season, and will be crucial for them next year
Manager of the Season: Rudi Garcia (AS Roma)
In one of the biggest surprises of the season, Rudi Garcia guided his men to a second place finish after Roma finished 7th the year before. In fact, in most seasons, Garcia's team would've challenged for the title, but this was, of course, a record breaking year for the champions. Still, hats off to Roma for providing the stiffest challenge to Juventus,easily claiming second place, and more importantly a Champions League spot. Roma could be a Champions League dark-horse next year.
Goal of the Season: Alessandro Lucarelli (Parma) vs. Torino
What makes this goal even more impressive is Lucarelli plays center defense.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26ElMB933F8
Honorable mention goes to Mario Balotelli of AC Milan for his strike against Bologna
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWCd3MNQA8Q
Signing of the Season: Luca Toni (Hellas Verona)
This may be the signing of the season for the entire European Continent. Hellas were picked by many to go right back down to Serie B, but instead, the club challenged for an Europa League spot for most of the season. In the end, Hellas finished 10th, just 3 points outside of a Europa League berth. A big reason for this was Toni, who came over from Fiorentina on a FREE TRANSFER and was the second leading scorer. Talk about bang for your buck! On top of that Toni is 36, so he may have found the fountain of youth. There were even reports that he may make the Italian National Team for this summer's World Cup, which in the end didn't happen. Still, it was a great signing by Hellas, and a great season for Toni.
Rest of Europe Recap
This may be one of the hardest sections to write about, because literally every country in Europe has a soccer league, and some of these leagues have even produced Champions League winners in past years. Recently though, it's hard for teams outside the top 4 leagues (England, Spain, Germany, Italy) to even make it to the quarterfinals of the competition. FC Porto were the last team outside of the top 4 leagues to win the competition in 2004, coincidentally, they beat another team outside of the top 4 leagues in AS Monaco. There may be a change in the top 4 soon though. The French league (Ligue 1) is threatening to displace Italy's Serie A. Serie A was hit by multiple match fixing scandals in the past few years, resulting in players leaving and the league declining. On the flip side, the French league has seen Paris Saint Germain (PSG) and AS Monaco gain new ownership. Both owners are billionaires, and have invested heavily in bringing in new players. In fact, PSG was linked with a move for Barcelona's Lionel Messi, with the French club seriously considering offering almost 200 million Euros for Messi. They've also made it to the quarterfinals in the last two Champions Leagues.
It's also important to mention some of the other leagues because they have great, young players that could be household names very soon. This is especially true if you watch the English Premier League, as more and more teams are bringing in young players from outside of England, rather than developing players from their own youth leagues. One league to always keep an eye on for young talent is the Dutch Eredivisie, specifically Ajax Amsterdam who just wont their 33rd title. While most of the talent Ajax produces is domestic, such as Wesley Sneijder and Clarence Seedorf, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Luis Suarez also spent part of their career with Ajax. What you can expect is at least one player each year going from Ajax to a club in a bigger league and becoming a superstar. The latest is Tottenham midfielder Christian Eriksen.
The Dutch league isn't the only one that serves as a feeder league for players. The Portuguese league may be just as talented, if not more talented. Benfica were this year's champions, winning for the 33rd time. Portugal's big three clubs are Benfica, Porto, and Sporting Lisbon. These three clubs supply most of the players for the Portuguese national team and is where players like Cristiano Ronaldo (Sporting), Luis Figo (Sporting), Hulk (Porto), and James Rodriguez (Porto) spent some time when they were relatively unknown players.
Moving to Eastern Europe, the Ukrainian and Russian leagues have recently seen a rise in prominence. The Ukrainian League is dominated by two teams: Dynamo Kiev and Shakhtar Donetsk, the latter of which won their 9th title this season. Like Portugal, these two leagues provide a lot of players for the national team, but recently, the leagues have seen an influx of players from Brazil and Africa. Some Russian clubs are also splashing massive amounts of money to get quality players. Zenit St. Petersburg, who are sponsored by Russian energy giant Gazprom and have a billionaire owner, spent almost 100 million Euros two years ago to bring in Hulk and Axel Witsel from Porto. They led the Russian Premier League for almost the whole year, but lost it in the second to last week of the season, losing at home to Spartak Moscow. That game was marred by fan violence, as supporters attempted to storm the field with less than 10 minutes left. CSKA Moscow ended up winning the title, their 5th. Interestingly, leading scorer Seydou Doumbia was left off the Ivory Coast's World Cup roster.
Finally, I'll end with a recap of the English Championship, which is the second tier in England. With the Premier League gaining viewers every year, fans may not be familiar with the promotion/relegation system. Norwich City, Fulham, and Cardiff City are relegated from the Premier League. Leicester City, Burnley, and Queens Park Rangers (QPR) will take their place. Leicester won the league, and return to England's top flight for the first time in 10 years. Burnley return after a three year absence and QPR go right back up after being relegated last year. All three teams will have a decent chance at staying up due to the massive amount of money involved in television contracts. It is estimated that the teams will make anywhere from 100 to 150 million pounds!
Stay tuned for World Cup predictions starting Monday.
Adam Bakiera
@abakiera
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