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ITALIAN GRADES

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The Kings of Italy have been dethroned and there’s a new champion in town. Inter Milan broke Juventus’ record-winning Serie-A streak as they were crowned Serie-A champions for the first time after 2010.

Inter’s campaign will be written with Golden Letters in their history books while Juventus rarely saw sunlight throughout the season. The underdogs Atalanta are ready to play with men whereas Milan has a human ‘God’ scoring goals for them. The season was nothing short of drama and excitement as we saw Juventus players glued to the screen after the final whistle to see if Napoli would drop points.

All in all the season was exceptional in one word and FootTheBall has a report card ready to see who showed promises and who fell short of the expectations.

 

INTER MILAN

This season was nothing short of a roller-coaster ride for teams in Italy. The tables had turned upside down most beautifully. Antonio Conte’s Inter were crowned champions of Italy after they managed to win their first title after a decade.

 It was a season to remember for the Nerazzurri as they repeated their heroics of 2009/10. Last year Inter won the silver medal as they were second to Juventus by just one point. And though Sarri managed to lift the crown, pundits had already predicted that Inter would present a humongous challenge for Ronaldo’s team.

 

 

And as soon as the next season’s campaign arrived, Inter were ready to jump over every hurdle that came in their way. And one person who deserves all the praise is the leader of their pack, Antonio Conte. The Italian has been more than exceptional and has been very successful in creating a winning environment in his team.

The excess baggage of Icardi and Pinaminto was given out to other clubs in Europe. And Romelu Lukaku started to establish himself as Inter’s premier striker. Since his shambolic campaign at Old Trafford, Lukaku has been a magnificent asset for Antonio Conte this campaign. He managed to get 22 goals this campaign and had a deadly combination with Argentinian striker, Lautaro Martinez.

 

https://twitter.com/RomeluLukaku9/status/1389237257345830913

 

The Scudetto winning coach managed to achieve more than 90 points in two seasons in Italy. Conte became the very first coach in the history of Serie-A to gain more than 90 points. They kicked off the campaign with some dominating victories where they scored goals for fun in Serie-A.

 

 

And as they went into the season, the results started coming and Inter never looked back. Wins against Juventus and Napoli meant that their way to the Italian championship started to become visible. And though some holes came in their campaign, Inter managed to stay intact throughout.

Last but not the least, Antonio Conte’s Inter Milan scored 5 more goals than last campaign. Not to forget is the fact that Inter introduced a new formation of 3-5-2 which turned out to be devastating. The midfield was pivotal for Inter’s success in this campaign as the duo of Brozovic and Barella were nothing less than walls defending.

 

GRADE – A

 

JUVENTUS 

The reigning champions of Italy had nothing less than a disappointing season this year. Failing to win their 10 consecutive Scudetto and faltering against Porto in the Champions League, Pirlo’s side were shadows of themselves.

 A team boasting of a dynamic strikeforce of Dybala and Ronaldo failed to prove themselves on the pitch. But unfortunately Dybala’s current season this year was nothing less than an exile. A fulcrum under Sarri was nothing less than a benchwarmer under Italian legend Pirlo. Ronaldo was exceptional once again for the Old Ladies. 

Amassing a mouth-watering 29 goals this campaign, the striker was once again smashing goals and records. But Ronaldo’s teammates couldn’t replicate his heroics as Juventus finished in 4th place. 

 

 

 

A campaign that started with a 5-0 victory against Novara lost its pace in the middle of the season. Underdogs Porto kicked them out of the Champions League as Ronaldo was left disappointed with the historic loss. 

They drew against weaker teams in Serie-A and dropped points against outfits they should have won. Not to forget is the fact that when they came against bigger teams they sometimes failed to get over the line. A 3-0 loss to Milan and a 1-0 loss to champions Inter meant that Pirlo couldn’t guide his team to another title.

 

 

But the reigning champions of Italy didn’t only have negatives this year. Pirlo did manage to guide his team to two domestic trophies which might have come as a relief for him. The first came when they crushed Napoli in January to lift the Supercoppa Italiana. The next piece of silverware came when Juve brushed aside Atalanta 2-1 in the Coppa Italia final.

 

 

 Ronaldo had a goal feast once again as he scored goals week in and week out. But summer signing Federico Chiesa was nothing less than a revelation for the Old Ladies. He became a fan favourite at Juventus as he played a pivotal role in the middle of the park. Juan Cuadrado has also started to settle in Italy as he was important for Juventus’ Champions League qualification. But a 4th place is not something Juventus Fans would be satisfied with.

 

GRADE- B

 

 

 

ATALANTA

In the past few years, Atalanta’s team has converted themselves from underdogs to challengers. A team that has been scoring more than an unimaginable 100 goals for the last two seasons, Atalanta has become one of the strongest teams in Italy. In the last few seasons, they have managed to accumulate UCL qualification twice, and coming into the season the same was expected from them. 

 

 

A fairytale run a year ago was cut short by eventual runners-up PSG in the semifinals but that Atalanta was filled with injuries. But since then Atalanta’s coach Gian Piero Gasperini had done a commendable job. Staying up in a league where there’s competition every week is a difficult task and there’s a lot of battles to be won in Italy.

Before the campaign kicked off, everyone thought Atalanta would face a huge amount of hurdles. But the road to UCL qualification was exceptional for Gasperini’s team once again. Luis Muriel bagged an astonishing 22 goals and was the third top scorer of Italy’s biggest competition. 

 

 

Alejandro Gomez left Atalanta’s ship as he went to Sevilla. Pundits believed that the transfer would cause a lot of challenges to Atalanta’s side. 

But on the other hand, Gasperini’s troops produced an impeccable performance. They did manage to qualify for the Coppa Italia final but unfortunately lost to Chiesa’s magic.

 

GRADE- B

 

AC MILAN

A Champions League spot after 2014, AC Milan might have risen from their grave. A team that conquered Europe in the early decades faced a sudden decline that no one could stop. But the red and black outfit is up and running once again and hopefully it’s just the beginning of a new chapter. Milan’s season would be known for a particular face-off rather than their dominant performance on the pitch. 

 

 

The season before this began with good news for the club when Zlatan Ibrahimovic decided to move to the Italian club. And since his arrival, Milan has turned into lions. The signings of Braham Diaz and Mario Mandzukic provided much-needed stability in the attack. Though Mandzukic didn’t play a huge role he was committed to reaching new heights.

The defence looked solid in most of the matches and Stefana Pioli’s troops rarely conceded unnecessary goals. 

Keeper Donnarumma has put his heart and soul when he’s the man between the posts and the results provide the perfect reflection.

The self-proclaimed King of the world has started to prove his metal in Italy once again and the numbers are extraordinary. In just 19 appearances he was able to get 15 goals and 2 assists under his belt. Whenever he was in the starting eleven the rival defenders had to be on their toes.  

 

 

But on the other hand, Milan once again went trophyless this campaign. There was no addition to the trophy cabinet which gives a true reflection of how difficult the journey is in front of them. 

All in all, Milan was trailing Inter for most parts of the season and with the trophy going to their neighbours, Milan would want to be more than runners-up next campaign.

GRADE-  B

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