The season of Serie B was significant largely for the first ever appearance of giant club in it – the expelled from Seria A AC Milan. They were the obvious favourites. Three more clubs competed for the remaining two promotional spots. At the opposite end of the table 4 teams were going down as usual, but 6 teams were entangled in a battle for survival in the league. This race did not involve three outsiders – only the forth relegation spot was in question.
Monza was hopelessly last with 25 points. Atalanta finished 19th with 30 points.
Taranto took the 18th place, paying the price for its involvement in the Totonero scandal – the ended with 30 points, but that because of starting with minus 5 points. The deduction actually relegated them – if they had their real total, they were safe.
L. R. Vicenza took the 17th place with 33 points. A real plunge – only a year ago they were high in Seria A, even played in the UEFA Cup. Now third division was waiting for them.
Verona – as Hellas Verona was known until recently – was lucky 16th. Lucky not because they earned 1 point more than L. R. Vicenza, but because of Taranto’s penalty: under normal circumstances Taranto would have been higher in the table and Verona going down. Lucky or not, they preserved their place in second division – perhaps a crucial point for the club. Very soon they started their amazing climb to the very top of Italian football. If they were relegated this year – who knows? They may have stayed obscure.
Most of the league was packed closely, but nothing spectacular happened and no club seemed particularly improving. Sampdoria, still modest, topped the general bunch with 43 points at 5th place. Four clubs were above the average and competed for the top three promotional spots.
Lazio, which lost the least matches this season – 5, and scored the most goals in the championship – 50, lost the race and finished 4th with 46 points. Evidently, they paid the price for caution – no matter what, to go up one needs wins and Lazio excelled in ties – 20. That left them 2 points short of promotion – it was no longer the strong team of the first half of the 1970s, but Lazio could blame only itself.
Cesena was 3rd and promoted with 48 points. They lost second place on goal-difference, but it did not matter at all – they were going up. As for staying up… the future could only tell.
Also with 48 points Genoa finished 2nd. Returning to top flight was important for them. Sampdoria was getting stronger, but Genoa was still the number one club of the city. With their promotion Serie B lost its only derby.
Milan – champion. Familiar, but champions of Serie B was hardly the title clubs and fans cared for. They only breathed easier – the punishment did not last longer. But there was still a lot to worry about – Milan was not overwhelming champion. They bested the immediate rivals only by 2 points. They had neither the best attack, nor the best defense in the league. True, Antonelli finished as the top scorer of Serie B, but who was he? In fact, the squad was quite questionable and weak: Franco Baresi and Fulvio Collovati were the big stars, but next to them the only strong names were those of middle-of-the-road veterans – Aldo Maldera and Aldo Bet. Add Walter Novelino and that was that – hardly a team Milan was associated with. Milan had a lot to that in every line, to look for strong players, to build a new squad. But that for the future – presently, the work was done: Milna needed to return to Serie A and this team was just good enough to do it.