Italian Serie A seems not to be close to restating as the Minister of Sports in Italy, Vincenzo Spadafora, says authorities in the country are not discussing the resumption of championships.
Italian Serie A, like every other league in Europe, has been suspended since March due to the coronavirus pandemic which has killed 100s of thousands of people and infected close to 4 million others across the world.
Before the season was halted, only 26 matches have been played in the Italian Serie A, leaving Juventus a point clear at the top of the league table. Unlike the 12 points lead Paris Saint Germain used to win the 2019-2020 French Ligue 1 season, a point difference is not enough to declare Juventus winner of a league that still has over 10 fixtures left.
Recently, authorities in Italy which used to be the epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic after Wuhan, where the spread of the virus started, gave clubs the go-ahead to resume individual training sessions from Monday at the clubs’ training grounds.
However, this permission does not allow for team training anywhere in Italy. Clubs are likely to commence team training from May 18 but according to reports, the date is not sacrosanct.
Serie A is Still Like Every Other League
While reacting to viral reports that Italian Serie A would soon resume competitive matches, Vincenzo Spadafora said no such “strange things” are being planned.
“I read strange things around but nothing has changed,” he said.
“In terms of the resumption of the championship – for now, we don’t talk about it.”
Though all clubs are willing to complete the season, the fate of that happening lies in the hands of government and health authorities in Italy.
Besides, Italian Serie A, other major leagues across Europe have not been able to get an exact date when they will restate the season except French Ligue 1 which has ended their 2019-2020 seasons.
French Ligue 1 ended the season by declaring Paris Saint-Germain the winner of the league according to the league table standings. This decision did not go down well with Lazio which lost out from an opportunity to play European football next season due to the decision. The club has threatened to take the matter to court to seek a reversal.
Serie A Current Standing
Italian Serie A is one of the top European leagues that is expected to resume in June. Clubs in the league have already voted June 13 as the date the 2019-2020 season will restart. Recall that the season has been halted since mid-March due to the coronavirus pandemic. Pending any last-minute change, the season is expected to officially come to an end on August 20.
Italian Serie A, like other top European clubs, has started different phases of training in preparation for when the season will eventually kick-off.
But if it becomes impossible to complete the season even with play-offs, the Italian football federation would implement a coefficient system to decide the winner of the league and the clubs that will represent Italy in UEFA competitions next season.
The coronavirus pandemic halted the season when there was still 12 round of matches to play. Besides that, the season is also left with four outstanding games to be played before the league can have a champion.
As the league table currently stands, Juventus is chasing a ninth successive title as they lead with 63 points, a point more than the second-placed Lazio. The extraordinary thing about Lazio this season is that the club has better goal difference that a Juventus team which is being led by the prolific Cristiano Ronaldo.
Inter Milan is sitting on the third spot with 54 points with one outstanding match to play. Followed by Atalanta with 48 points.
Roma and Napoli are struggling to find their way into the top four as they currently sit on the 5th and the 6th spots with 45 and 39 points respectively.
While at the bottom of the table, Sampdoria is fighting to avoid relegation as the club is just one point away from the relegation zone. Also, Genoa is hanging on a thread as he shares the same 25 points with relegation bound Lecce but ahead of Lecce due to better goals difference.
SPAL and Bresc are deep in the relegation zone with 20 and 18 points respectively. It will take a miracle for the two teams to survive the drop through the 12 matches left to play if the season finally restarts.
The Italian Serie A is expected to produce the top 4 teams for next season UEFA Champions League. The club on the 5th spot automatically qualifies for Europa League. While the club occupying the 6th spot will go for Europa League qualifiers. The bottom three are automatically relegated to the lower division.
Here is Futballnews’ Leagues table:
Serie A Table: the biggest Movers and Losers
The 2019-2020 Italian Serie A season was the 118th season in the history of the league and the battle of who would top the Serie A table was one of the fiercest across all the top leagues in Europe.
Prior to the season which started on 24 August 2019 and initially scheduled to end on 24 May 2020 but had to end on 2 August 2020 due to the coronavirus induced break, all eyes were on Juventus to grab the 9th Serie A title in a row.
The club which was led by their talisman Cristiano Ronaldo did not disappoint as they strive against all odds to defend their title. They finally achieved this feat on 26 July 2020 after they defeated Sampdoria 2-0.
The Serie A Table: the biggest movers
After 380 matches have been played by the 20 teams that made up the Italian Serie A in the 2019-2020 season, the league ended somewhat differently from how it started. For instance, when the government of Italy announced that the league should be halted on 9 March 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, Inter Milan were 9 points away from the table toppers.
But when the league resume on 20 June 2020, Inter Milan duo Lautaro Martinez and Romelu Lukaku ensured that they gave their best fight. At the end of the season, they were able to close the gap with Juventus to just a single point.
The Serie A Table: the biggest Drop
Though Lecce, Brescia, and SPAL were relegated to the second-tier league in Italy which is the lowest feat for Serie A teams, from our view, the biggest losers are Lazio.
Before the restart of the Serie A in June, Lazio was on the second spot behind Juventus with just a point. Football lovers across the world thought the team would interrupt the reign of Juventus. Unfortunately, it was not to be.
Despite having the best goalscorer in the league, Ciro Immobile who finished the season with 36 goals, Lazio dropped a whopping 5 points to drop from the second spot on Serie A table to the 4th spot.
Overview of all the 20 clubs based on their table standings at the end of the Serie A 2019-2020 season
- SPAL
SPAL was obviously the punching bag of the league in the just-concluded season. Before the coronavirus induced break, they were already looking like the club that would go down. They did that in style by losing 28 matches, drawing 5, and winning 5 out of 38 games. They managed to score 27 goals in the 38 games and also managed to concede 77 goals.
- Brescia
Brescia was another punching bag of the season. Their relegation was also expected long before June 20, 2020. They performed woefully that they only managed to win 6 games, drew 7 and lost 25. They conceded 79 goals and scored 35 in 38 games.
18. Lecce
Lecce is the third team that was relegated in the league. They lost 21 games, winning 9 and drawing 8 in 35 games. They conceded 85 goals and scored 52 which were not enough to keep them in the league.
- Genoa
Genoa had to wait until the last game of the season before they could be sure of surviving relegation. In the 38 Serie A games they played, they lost 19 games, won 10 and drew 9 to survive the drop. They conceded a total of 73 goals and scored 47 in 38 games.
- Torino
Torino also fought until the end in order to ensure that they survived the drop. Their 11 wins and 7 draws covered up for their 20 losses. They conceded 68 goals and scored 46 goals which helped them to stay in Serie A.
- Sampdoria
Sampdoria also fought to end up anywhere safe on the Serie A table. And at the end of the quest, a 15th place finish was good enough to keep them going in the league. In their quest for survival, they won 12 games and drew 6 games. They also lost 20 games like 16th place, Torino. At the end of the season, Sampdoria conceded 65 goals and scored 46 goals in 38 matches.
- Cagliari
Cagliari was able to keep up on the Serie A table as they finished 14th after losing 15 matches. Their 11 wins and 12 draws were enough to keep them safe on the league table. They conceded 56 goals and scored 52 goals in 38 games.
- Udinese
Udinese did not have much to worry about but to survive on the Serie A table as comfortable as possible. They achieved that by winning 12 games and drawing 9. Their wins and draws were enough to make up for the 17 losses. They scored 37 goals and conceded 51 goals.
- Bologna
Bologna tried to move beyond the bottom 10 but couldn’t because they could only manage to win 12 games and drew 11. They lost 15 games, scoring 52 goals and conceding 65 goals.
- Verona
Verona proved that they could also finish as strong as 11th on the Serie A table. They did that by winning 12 games, drawing 13 and losing 13 games. They scored 47 goals and conceded 51.
- Parma
Parma made it to the middle of the table after winning 14 games, drawing 7 and losing 17 games. They scored 56 goals and conceded 57 in 38 games.
- Fiorentina
Fiorentina as usual survived as strong as finishing in the top ten on the Serie A table. They achieved that by winning 12 games, drawing 13 and losing 13. They scored 51 goals and conceded 48 goals in 38 games.
- Sassuolo
Sassuolo tried to break into a spot that will take them to a European competition but they could not do much. They only managed to win 14 games, drawing 9 and losing 15. They scored 69 goals and conceded 63.
- Napoli
Napoli could not return to a UEFA Champions League spot as they could only manage to finish 7th which only guarantees them a Europa League football next season. They won 18 games, drew 8 and lost 12 games which were enough to keep them away from the top four on the Serie A table. In 38 games, they conceded 50 goals and scored 61 goals.
- AC Milan
AC Milan could not also do much than to settle for Europa League football next season. They lost 10 games, drew 9, and won 19 to finish 6th. They scored 63 goals and conceded 46 goals in 38 games.
- Roma
Roma also settled for Europa League because that was the best their 21 wins, 7 draws and 10 losses can give them. They scored 77 goals and conceded 51 goals in 38 games.
- Lazio
Though Lazio has qualified for next season’s UEFA Champions League no one expected them to finish the season sitting on the 4th spot on the Serie A table. Before the season ended, they won 24 games, drew 6 and lost 8. They conceded 42 goals and scored 79 goals in 38 games.
- Atalanta
Atalanta are the new shining light in Serie A and indeed in Europe. Just like how they finished the 2018-2019 season, they finished the 2019-2020 season as the 3rd best club on the Serie A table. They achieved this by winning 23 games, drawing 9 and losing 6. They ended the season as the highest-scoring side as they scored a total of 98 goals and conceded 48 goals.
2 Inter Milan
Inter Milan gave a good fight in an attempt to win the Serie A but their effort was not enough to overthrown Juventus despite their inconsistency. They won 24 games, drew 10 and lost 4 to finish the season with 82 points, one point less than the champions. They scored 81 goals and conceded 36 goals in 38 matches.
- Juventus
Juventus successfully defended the Serie A title for a record 9 straight times. Their inconsistency almost cost them the title but they were able to win it due to the inconsistency of their competitors like Lazio and Inter Milan. At the end of the 2019-2020 season, Juventus finished in the first spot on the Serie A table by winning 26 games, drawing 5 and losing 7. They managed to score 76 goals and conceded 43 goals in 38 games.
