Italy was optimistic news at the 1978 World Cup, but the following season was anti-climactic. It was return to the stubbornly outdated football – defensive, low-scoring, ruled by ties, pinching points. There was not a single team finishing the season with less than 10 ties. Not a single team came even close to 2 goals per game average. The ‘least’ defensive teams finished with 1/3 of their games tied – Milan and Roma ended with 10. At the same time the record was 2/3 of the total matches tied – 19 out of 30. Verona did not score even a goal per two games : their final record was dismal 14 goals. Yet, the season ended with increadible achievement, alas, unlikely to be repeated – it looked chancy, and a triumph of the old ways. Some clubs were seemingly declining – Lazio and Bologna – but a few more alarmingly appeared comfortable with mid-table position and not developing – Fiorentina, Torino, Napoli, Roma. It was tough season, but Italian football was always tough – it was generally tough, not fearcely competitive : two clubs fought for the title. Two, with a stretch of imagination, for one of them was not really able to win the title.
A clear outsider settled at the bottom of the table – Verona – Hellas Verona, to be exact – was hopelessly bellow the rest of the league.
Standing, from left : Logozzo,Bergamaschi,Guidolin,Superchi,Mascetti,Calloni.
First row: Esposito,Franzot,Vignola,Negrisolo,Spinozzi.
Verona, at the time, was small club just lucky to play occasionally in Serie A. So obscure was the football of this city, that in Italy the name was given simply as ‘Verona’ – years had to pass until the need of qualification emerged : there are two clubs in Verona – Hellas, the one above, and the better known, and Chievo. During the 1970s there was no need even to consider Chievo… the boys above were lowly enough : 2 wins, 11 ties, 17 losses, last with 15 points and returning to their usual second division environment.
The other relegated were not a surprise either – they were clubs of the lowere half of the league and potential candidates for relegation. They tried to survive, figthing with similar clubs, and failed. Tough luck. Atalanta was 15th.
During the years Atalanta meandered up and down, but since there was no way of having famous players, second division, not a title, was the likelier option. Like Verona, they hardly had known names in the team and lost the race for survival. Goal-difference was their enemy – three clubs finished with 24 points, two of them inevitably going down. Atalanta was unlucky.
The third relegated team was a bit different. Lanerossi Vicenza was traditionally one of the prime candidates for relegation, so nothing surprising to see them at the bottom of the table. But they had fantastic season just the previous year… alas, the predicament of small clubs worked against them : acidental strong season changed nothing. Small they were, unable to recruit strong players, and therefore immediatley returning to their usual position.
Standing, from left :Galli,Callioni,Faloppa,Miani, Prestanti.
Crouching: Secondini,Briaschi,Guidetti,Salvi,P. Rossi,Cerilli
However, unlike the clubs bellow them, Vicenca had a star – Paolo Rossi was already the player to watch, the player Italian future depended on. He had wonderful World Cup, was noticed and praised around the world, he was the top Italian goalscorer… but he was alone in Vicenze, surrounded by inferior players. It was clear that the big clubs will snatch him form small Vicenze, yet, curiously, he was still playing with red and white stripes and even more curiously he was going down – Italy did not have too many young stars at the time and perhaps the most promissing among them was going to play in Serie B. Unheard of… if going to be true.
The lucky boys were Bologna.
Standing, from left : Roversi,Memo,Paris,Bachlechner,Cresci, Bellugi.
Crouching : Maselli,Vincenzi,Bordon,Juliano, Castronaro.
Traditionally, stronger club and having superior players than the bottom three – Juliano and Bellugi, for instance. But the stars were aging and fading the the squad was not really much. Bologna ended with 24 points, like Vicenza and Atalanta, and were lucky to survive on goal-difference. Pure luck… the club badly needed changes, new players, something… if wanting to stay in Serie A. One time lucky, but good luck hardly lasts. 13th place sounded ominously.
A place above finished Roma. Another lucky survivor – 26 points were just 2 points ahead the relegated. Serie B was a very present danger during the season for 6 clubs – three of them ended with 26 points, Roma had the worst goal-difference among them.
Judging by the squad, it is a mystery why Roma was so low – they had De Sisti, Pruzzo, Paolo Conti, Di Barolomei… a team seemingly for the top 6. True, De Sisti was old and no longer so great, Pruzzo somehow failed to be the really big star, and Conti was only a promising player, but most teams in the league had inferior squads. Well, Roma played a minor rôle in the 1970s and continued doing so. Coming close to relegation, however, was dangerous sign.
Roma was not the only under-performing club : their local rivals Lazio were fading away.
Standing : Nicoli,Manfredonia,Martini,Cordova,Ammoniaci,Cacciatori.
Crouching: Perrone,Garlaschelli,Giordano,Badiani, Agostinelli.
Nothing was left of the champion team of five years ago – the unruly stars left one after another and no great players replaced them. Lazio had Manfredonia and Giordano, but they were not first rate stars. Slowly, the club was slipping down the table – 8th this season.
A place above them finished Fiorentina.
Standing : Galli,Pagliari,Lelj,Rosi,Amenta, Galdiolo.
Crouching: Sella,Tendi,Antognoni,Restelli, Galbiati.
One expects more from a team lead by Antognoni, but this is superficial – what can be really expected from Antognoni plus some others ? Not a great team, to be sure, and a single superstar can only keep the club in the upper half of the table.
More was expected from Torino.
Graziani, Claudio and Patrizio Sala, Zaccarelli, Pulici, aided by respecable and solid teammates, champions not long ago, Torino looked like a candidate for the title. Yet, they earned only 36 points and finished 6th. The title, as it happened, was 8 points away…
Inter edged Torino and finished 5th on better goal-difference.
Standing : Marini,Scanziani,Fedele,Altobelli,Bordon, Bini.
Crouching: Oriali,Muraro,Chierico,Beccalossi,Baresi.
Inter was rebuilding and not yet ready for anything, so their final place was not bad at all – it was still a team for the future, taking shape. Altobelli, Bordon, Baresi, Oriali, Marini, Bini… it was still half a team, in need of additions. But the players were young and promising, so Inter was perhaps the sole positive sign this year.
Promising season for Inter, but lukewarm one for Juventus. Bronze medals were not satisfying. Finishing a point ahead of Inter was not great. Not even participating in the race for the title was a shame.
Juventus had the best Italian team by far – 12 stars, most of them in their prime, plus some very promising youngsters. Roberto Bettega was arguably the top Italian at the moment. Coached by rapidly becoming famous Giovanni Trapattoni. Winners of the UEFA Cup of the previos year. The wonderful Italian 1978 World Cup selection was based on Juventus… may be this was their undoing. May be tired from all those international matches and the pressure. May be a little over-confident too. Juventus were the top Italian club in the 1970s and, to a point, their slip was not a big deal – every great team has occasional bad year. But Juve was not in the race for the title, and this is usually considered as a disaster by tha fans. The good thing was that there was no sign of decline – Juventus was not over the hill at all.
Yet, Juventus finished behind unlikely team. One which normally was seen at the bottom of the table, if playing first division at all.
AC Perugia, modest club during its history, had terrific season. They did not lose even one match. This was significant record – however strong, even great champions lost some games, but the nobodies finished with a clean sheet. Did it ever happened in Italian football before ? Or after ? Something for posterity. With such a record, it was no surprising Perugia finished above Juventus and 4 points ahead. Alas, Perugia tied most of their games – 19, which is almost 2/3 of the total. With so many ties it was impossible to really compete for the title – they came close, but second place was pretty much the best they could achieve. And second they were – 3 points behind the champions. Nevertheless, it was fantastic season.
Here is the historic team of Perugia. Does not look like winners with the half-painted wall behind them, yet they were the big surprise of the season.
Once again, the modest surroundings do not suggest strong performance, but here are the heroes : standing, from left : Grassi,Vannini,Della Martira,Speggiorin,Casarsa,Frosio.
Crouching: Ceccarini,Bagni,Dal Fiume,Butti, Nappi.
Anonimous squad… Della Martira and Bagni eventually became respected players, but not stars. Evidently, a tied and enthusiastic team and may be taking advantage of relatively weak form of the big clubs. This was the greatest success ever of Perugia, their best – and unmatched so far – season. It was great to see the small club coming close to the title, setting a league record, and leaving mighty Juventus, not to mention Inter, in the dust. Unfortunately, it was also clearly one time wonder… Without strong players, there was simply no way to stay on top – one did not have to look far : Lanerossi Vicenza finished second just the previous year – and were relegated in the next, this very season. And they had Paolo Rossi – Perugia had nobody. Of course, they tried to change their fate, getting (on loan) this very Rossi from Vicenza for the next season. Superstitious people may have chuckled at that… and rightly, if one looks at the final table for 1979-80. But let’s not run ahead of ourselves – this was the greatest season for Perugia. So far – their greatest ever.
However brave, a small club was no match for the status quo – it was a matter of money at the end : big clubs had plenty of cash and the best players as a result. Perugia run ahead of Juventus and Inter, but not from Milan. To say that Milan were great at the time will be wrong : they largely struggled to maintain their leading position. Juventus had superior squad and the only real chance for Milan was a temporary weakness of Juve – which they used. Nils Lidholm, the Swedish great star of the 1950s, was coaching them – on paper looks great, but Lidholm was not exceptional coach. He enjoyed relatively good career in the 1970s, but no more. However, his skills sufficed this season – Milan won 17 matches, the only team in the league winning more than 50% championship games and that was the big difference between Milan and Perugia. At the end, it was Milan comfortably on top, enjoying their 10th title. A record for the club, round 10, not bad at all.
Historic record, but this was not a great team. It was a rather dangerous mix – Rivera, Albertosi, Capello, Bigon, Morini were getting too old. Gianni Rivera played his last season, in fact, and stepped down in style, but with clearly coming to retirement stars future did not look promissing : Baresi and Collovati were the young stars, yet, too young. In the middle were experienced, but not outstanding players like Bet and Maldera. Milan seemed capable of occasional victory – if the opposition was not in great from – and no more. The season is largely remembered for the record breaking title, giving the right to place a star on their shirts, but no more – no great squad, no great playing. Still, champions were not judged harshly. It was a great moment for the fans – their beloved club finally won the title after 10 miserable years. Their first title since 1968, their first – and as it turned, only – title in the 1970s.