# 2015–16 Serie A

The 2015–16 Serie A (known as the Serie A TIM for sponsorship reasons) was the 114th season of top-tier Italian football, the 84th in a round-robin tournament, and the 6th since its organization under a league committee separate from Serie B. Juventus were the defending champions. The campaign began on 22 August 2015 and ended on 15 May 2016.
On 25 April 2016, Juventus succeeded in defending their title for the fifth consecutive season, after second placed Napoli lost to Roma, giving Juventus a 12-point lead with only three games left.

## Events

On 28 April 2015 Carpi obtained its first promotion ever to Serie A, after debuting in Serie B the year before, becoming the 64th team to participate in Serie A since the 1929–30 season. On 16 May, Frosinone also earned its first promotion to Serie A, becoming the 65th to participate. On 9 June 2015 Bologna won Serie B play-off, returning to the Serie A after just one year.
This season of Serie A was the first season to have goal-line technology implemented after severe complaints from various teams' general managers (first Adriano Galliani) in relation to controversial ghost goals during recent seasons of Serie A.
On 20 March 2016, Gianluigi Buffon broke the previous record of Sebastiano Rossi (929 minutes) by setting a longer period of 974 minutes without conceding a goal.
On 14 May, Gonzalo Higuaín broke Gunnar Nordahl's record for most goals scored in Serie A (20 teams championship) in a season (35 in 1949–50) and equaled Gino Rossetti's record in 1928–29 (that was composed of 32 teams, instead) by scoring 36 goals and winning the Capocannoniere.
Three Serie A icons also retired at the end of the season; the Verona captain Luca Toni, who scored 157 goals in 324 league appearances and was twice the league's top scorer, as well as Gianpaolo Bellini, the left-back who spent his entire career with Atalanta, making 435 appearances with the club. Both players also scored in their final games with their clubs on 8 May 2016, Toni in a 2–1 win over champions Juventus and Bellini in a 1–1 draw with Udinese; and on 14 May, Christian Abbiati for Milan in the last fixture of the season at home against Roma, however, he did not get any playing time, totaling 281 league appearances for the club.

## Teams
### Stadiums and locations

| Team | Home city | Stadium | Capacity | 2014–15 season |
| Atalanta | Bergamo | Stadio Atleti Azzurri d'Italia | 26,542 | 17th in Serie A |
| Bologna | Bologna | Stadio Renato Dall'Ara | 38,279 | Serie B playoffs winner |
| Carpi | Carpi | Stadio Alberto Braglia (Modena) | 21,151 | Serie B Champions |
| Chievo | Verona | Stadio Marc'Antonio Bentegodi | 38,402 | 14th in Serie A |
| Empoli | Empoli | Stadio Carlo Castellani | 16,800 | 15th in Serie A |
| Fiorentina | Florence | Stadio Artemio Franchi | 47,282 | 4th in Serie A |
| Frosinone | Frosinone | Stadio Matusa | 10,000 | 2nd in Serie B |
| Genoa | Genoa | Stadio Luigi Ferraris | 36,685 | 6th in Serie A |
| Hellas Verona | Verona | Stadio Marc'Antonio Bentegodi | 38,402 | 13th in Serie A |
| Internazionale | Milan | San Siro | 80,018 | 8th in Serie A |
| Juventus | Turin | Juventus Stadium | 41,475 | Serie A Champions |
| Lazio | Rome | Stadio Olimpico | 72,698 | 3rd in Serie A |
| Milan | Milan | San Siro | 80,018 | 10th in Serie A |
| Napoli | Naples | Stadio San Paolo | 60,240 | 5th in Serie A |
| Palermo | Palermo | Stadio Renzo Barbera | 36,349 | 11th in Serie A |
| Roma | Rome | Stadio Olimpico | 72,698 | 2nd in Serie A |
| Sampdoria | Genoa | Stadio Luigi Ferraris | 36,685 | 7th in Serie A |
| Sassuolo | Sassuolo | Mapei Stadium – Città del Tricolore (Reggio Emilia) | 23,717 | 12th in Serie A |
| Torino | Turin | Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino | 27,994 | 9th in Serie A |
| Udinese | Udine | Dacia Arena | 25,144 | 16th in Serie A |

### Personnel and kits

| Team | Head Coach | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor(s) | Shirt sponsor(s) |
| Team | Head Coach | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Main | Other |
| Atalanta | Edoardo Reja | Gianpaolo Bellini | Nike | SuisseGas | Front Stone City Back Elettrocanali |
| Bologna | Roberto Donadoni | Archimede Morleo | Macron | FAAC | Back Illumia |
| Carpi | Fabrizio Castori | Filippo Porcari | Givova | Azimut Holding | Back Gaudì Jeans |
| Chievo | Rolando Maran | Sergio Pellissier | Givova | Paluani/Payexe/Nobis Assicurazioni/Italgreen/Cubi e Perina/Pescherie Viviani/Buccia di Mela/IM.COS/Midac Batteries/Salumi Negri/Alufer/I. Bis Trading/Ecoprogram/CF Costruzioni/Salumi Coati/Centro Atlante Verona/Contri Spumanti/SimetBus | Front Payexe/Paluani Back Nobis Assicurazioni/Paluani/Authoitalia/Filo diretto Assicurazioni |
| Empoli | Marco Giampaolo | Massimo Maccarone | Joma | Gensan | Front Computer Gross Back NGM Mobile |
| Fiorentina | Paulo Sousa | Gonzalo Rodríguez | Le Coq Sportif | Save the Children | Back Save the Children (in UEFA matches) |
| Frosinone | Roberto Stellone | Alessandro Frara | Legea | Banca Popolare del Frusinate | Front Gruppo GALA Back 7Sette Carburanti |
| Genoa | Gian Piero Gasperini | Nicolás Burdisso | Lotto | AT.P.CO | Back LeasePlan |
| Hellas Verona | Luigi Delneri | Luca Toni | Nike | Metano Nord | Front Leaderform/SEC Events Back Manila Grace/Jetcoin |
| Internazionale | Roberto Mancini | Mauro Icardi | Nike | Pirelli (H)/Driver (A) | None |
| Juventus | Massimiliano Allegri | Gianluigi Buffon | Adidas | Jeep | None |
| Lazio | Simone Inzaghi | Lucas Biglia | Macron | Clinica Paideia | None |
| Milan | Cristian Brocchi | Riccardo Montolivo | Adidas | Fly Emirates | None |
| Napoli | Maurizio Sarri | Marek Hamšík | Kappa | Lete | Front Pasta Garofalo |
| Palermo | Davide Ballardini | Stefano Sorrentino | Joma | None | None |
| Roma | Luciano Spalletti | Francesco Totti | Nike | Football Cares/Telethon | None |
| Sampdoria | Vincenzo Montella | Angelo Palombo | Joma | Parà Tempotest/Samsung Galaxy/Samsung Galaxy S7/UNICEF | Back SsangYong Tivoli/SsangYong XLV |
| Sassuolo | Eusebio Di Francesco | Francesco Magnanelli | Kappa | Mapei | None |
| Torino | Giampiero Ventura | Kamil Glik | Kappa | Suzuki Vitara | Front Fratelli Beretta Back Tecnoalarm |
| Udinese | Luigi De Canio | Antonio Di Natale | HS Football | Dacia | Back Udinese TV (H) |
* Additionally, referee kits are now being made by Diadora, and Nike has a new match ball, the Ordem Serie A.

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Replaced by | Date of appointment |
| Napoli | Rafael Benítez | Signed by Real Madrid | 25 May 2015 | Pre-season | Maurizio Sarri | 12 June 2015 |
| Udinese | Andrea Stramaccioni | Resigned | 1 June 2015 | Pre-season | Stefano Colantuono | 4 June 2015 |
| Sampdoria | Siniša Mihajlović | Signed by Milan | 1 June 2015 | Pre-season | Walter Zenga | 4 June 2015 |
| Milan | Filippo Inzaghi | Sacked | 4 June 2015 | Pre-season | Siniša Mihajlović | 16 June 2015 |
| Empoli | Maurizio Sarri | Signed by Napoli | 5 June 2015 | Pre-season | Marco Giampaolo | 9 June 2015 |
| Fiorentina | Vincenzo Montella | Sacked | 8 June 2015 | Pre-season | Paulo Sousa | 21 June 2015 |
| Carpi | Fabrizio Castori | Sacked | 28 September 2015 | 20th | Giuseppe Sannino | 29 September 2015 |
| Bologna | Delio Rossi | Sacked | 28 October 2015 | 18th | Roberto Donadoni | 28 October 2015 |
| Carpi | Giuseppe Sannino | Sacked | 3 November 2015 | 20th | Fabrizio Castori | 3 November 2015 |
| Palermo | Giuseppe Iachini | Sacked | 10 November 2015 | 12th | Davide Ballardini | 10 November 2015 |
| Sampdoria | Walter Zenga | Sacked | 10 November 2015 | 10th | Vincenzo Montella | 15 November 2015 |
| Hellas Verona | Andrea Mandorlini | Sacked | 30 November 2015 | 20th | Luigi Delneri | 1 December 2015 |
| Palermo | Davide Ballardini | Sacked | 11 January 2016 | 16th | Fabio Viviani (caretaker) | 11 January 2016 |
| Roma | Rudi Garcia | Sacked | 13 January 2016 | 5th | Luciano Spalletti | 13 January 2016 |
| Palermo | Fabio Viviani (caretaker) | End of caretaker spell | 18 January 2016 | 14th | Giovanni Tedesco | 26 January 2016 |
| Palermo | Giovanni Tedesco | End of interim spell | 10 February 2016 | 14th | Giovanni Bosi | 10 February 2016 |
| Palermo | Giovanni Bosi | Sacked | 15 February 2016 | 15th | Giuseppe Iachini | 15 February 2016 |
| Palermo | Giuseppe Iachini | Sacked | 10 March 2016 | 17th | Walter Novellino | 10 March 2016 |
| Udinese | Stefano Colantuono | Sacked | 14 March 2016 | 16th | Luigi De Canio | 15 March 2016 |
| Lazio | Stefano Pioli | Sacked | 3 April 2016 | 8th | Simone Inzaghi (caretaker) | 3 April 2016 |
| Palermo | Walter Novellino | Sacked | 11 April 2016 | 18th | Davide Ballardini | 12 April 2016 |
| Milan | Siniša Mihajlović | Sacked | 12 April 2016 | 6th | Cristian Brocchi | 12 April 2016 |

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Juventus (C) | 38 | 29 | 4 | 5 | 75 | 20 | +55 | 91 | Qualification to Champions League group stage |
| 2 | Napoli | 38 | 25 | 7 | 6 | 80 | 32 | +48 | 82 | Qualification to Champions League group stage |
| 3 | Roma | 38 | 23 | 11 | 4 | 83 | 41 | +42 | 80 | Qualification to Champions League play-off round |
| 4 | Internazionale | 38 | 20 | 7 | 11 | 50 | 38 | +12 | 67 | Qualification to Europa League group stage |
| 5 | Fiorentina | 38 | 18 | 10 | 10 | 60 | 42 | +18 | 64 | Qualification to Europa League group stage |
| 6 | Sassuolo | 38 | 16 | 13 | 9 | 49 | 40 | +9 | 61 | Qualification to Europa League third qualifying round |
| 7 | Milan | 38 | 15 | 12 | 11 | 49 | 43 | +6 | 57 | |
| 8 | Lazio | 38 | 15 | 9 | 14 | 52 | 52 | 0 | 54 | |
| 9 | Chievo | 38 | 13 | 11 | 14 | 43 | 45 | −2 | 50 | |
| 10 | Empoli | 38 | 12 | 10 | 16 | 40 | 49 | −9 | 46 | |
| 11 | Genoa | 38 | 13 | 7 | 18 | 45 | 48 | −3 | 46 | |
| 12 | Torino | 38 | 12 | 9 | 17 | 52 | 55 | −3 | 45 | |
| 13 | Atalanta | 38 | 11 | 12 | 15 | 41 | 47 | −6 | 45 | |
| 14 | Bologna | 38 | 11 | 9 | 18 | 33 | 45 | −12 | 42 | |
| 15 | Sampdoria | 38 | 10 | 10 | 18 | 48 | 61 | −13 | 40 | |
| 16 | Palermo | 38 | 10 | 9 | 19 | 38 | 65 | −27 | 39 | |
| 17 | Udinese | 38 | 10 | 9 | 19 | 35 | 60 | −25 | 39 | |
| 18 | Carpi (R) | 38 | 9 | 11 | 18 | 37 | 57 | −20 | 38 | Relegation to Serie B |
| 19 | Frosinone (R) | 38 | 8 | 7 | 23 | 35 | 76 | −41 | 31 | Relegation to Serie B |
| 20 | Hellas Verona (R) | 38 | 5 | 13 | 20 | 34 | 63 | −29 | 28 | Relegation to Serie B |
* ↑ Since the winners of the 2015–16 Coppa Italia, Juventus, qualified for European competition based on league position, the spot awarded to the cup winners (Europa League group stage) was passed to fifth-placed team and the spot awarded to the fifth-placed team (Europa League third qualifying round) was passed to the sixth-placed team.
* 1 2 Empoli ahead of Genoa on head-to-head goal difference; Empoli +1, Genoa –1.
* 1 2 Torino ahead of Atalanta on head-to-head points; Torino 6 points, Atalanta 0 points.
* 1 2 Palermo ahead of Udinese on head-to-head points; Palermo 6 points, Udinese 0 points.

## Results

| Home \ Away | ATA | BOL | CRP | CHV | EMP | FIO | FRO | GEN | HEL | INT | JUV | LAZ | MIL | NAP | PAL | ROM | SAM | SAS | TOR | UDI |
| Atalanta | | 2–0 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 2–3 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–3 | 3–0 | 3–3 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 |
| Bologna | 3–0 | | 0–0 | 0–1 | 2–3 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 3–2 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 3–2 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 |
| Carpi | 1–1 | 1–2 | | 1–2 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 4–1 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 2–3 | 1–3 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 2–1 | 1–3 | 2–1 | 2–1 |
| Chievo | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | | 1–1 | 0–0 | 5–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–4 | 4–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 3–3 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–3 |
| Empoli | 0–1 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 1–3 | | 2–0 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–3 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 |
| Fiorentina | 3–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 2–2 | | 4–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 1–3 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 3–0 |
| Frosinone | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 0–0 | | 2–2 | 3–2 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 2–4 | 1–5 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 2–0 |
| Genoa | 1–2 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 3–2 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 4–0 | | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 4–0 | 2–3 | 2–3 | 2–1 | 3–2 | 2–1 |
| Hellas Verona | 2–1 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 1–1 | | 3–3 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 1–1 |
| Internazionale | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–4 | 4–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | | 0–0 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 3–1 |
| Juventus | 2–0 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 2–0 | | 3–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 4–0 | 1–0 | 5–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 0–1 |
| Lazio | 2–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 4–1 | 2–0 | 2–4 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 5–2 | 2–0 | 0–2 | | 1–3 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–4 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 3–0 | 2–0 |
| Milan | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 3–3 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 | | 0–4 | 3–2 | 1–3 | 4–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 |
| Napoli | 2–1 | 6–0 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 5–1 | 2–1 | 4–0 | 3–1 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 5–0 | 1–1 | | 2–0 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 |
| Palermo | 2–2 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–3 | 4–1 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 0–3 | 0–2 | 0–1 | | 2–4 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 1–3 | 4–1 |
| Roma | 0–2 | 1–1 | 5–1 | 3–0 | 3–1 | 4–1 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 5–0 | | 2–1 | 2–2 | 3–2 | 3–1 |
| Sampdoria | 0–0 | 2–0 | 5–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 0–3 | 4–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 2–4 | 2–0 | 2–1 | | 1–3 | 2–2 | 2–0 |
| Sassuolo | 2–2 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 0–2 | 0–0 | | 1–1 | 1–1 |
| Torino | 2–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 4–2 | 3–3 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–4 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–3 | | 0–1 |
| Udinese | 2–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–4 | 0–4 | 0–0 | 2–3 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–5 | |

## Attendances

| Pos | Team | Total | High | Low | Average | Change |
| 1 | Internazionale | 865,226 | 79,154 | 31,494 | 45,538 | +22.2%$^†$ |
| 2 | Napoli | 736,434 | 56,452 | 18,766 | 38,760 | +20.1%$^†$ |
| 3 | Juventus | 734,580 | 41,305 | 28,899 | 38,662 | +0.3%$^†$ |
| 4 | Milan | 719,352 | 77,043 | 25,517 | 37,861 | +3.3%$^†$ |
| 5 | Roma | 668,449 | 55,508 | 27,000 | 35,182 | −12.3%$^†$ |
| 6 | Fiorentina | 545,947 | 36,297 | 22,791 | 28,734 | −5.2%$^†$ |
| 7 | Sampdoria | 417,513 | 31,375 | 20,223 | 21,974 | +1.1%$^†$ |
| 8 | Genoa | 405,813 | 31,770 | 19,061 | 21,359 | +6.6%$^†$ |
| 9 | Lazio | 399,471 | 31,108 | 10,000 | 21,025 | −39.8%$^†$ |
| 10 | Torino | 368,449 | 25,868 | 14,327 | 19,392 | +16.2%$^†$ |
| 11 | Bologna | 359,078 | 29,463 | 15,576 | 18,899 | +24.5%$^1$ |
| 12 | Hellas Verona | 345,678 | 23,423 | 15,198 | 18,194 | −5.7%$^†$ |
| 13 | Palermo | 324,241 | 33,445 | 10,223 | 18,013 | +3.0%$^†$ |
| 14 | Udinese | 307,974 | 25,467 | 12,704 | 16,209 | +81.9%$^†$ |
| 15 | Atalanta | 302,959 | 19,770 | 12,352 | 15,945 | +5.2%$^†$ |
| 16 | Sassuolo | 217,298 | 20,570 | 7,000 | 11,437 | −10.9%$^†$ |
| 17 | Chievo | 213,700 | 25,000 | 7,500 | 11,247 | +5.6%$^†$ |
| 18 | Empoli | 180,695 | 14,693 | 7,309 | 9,510 | +3.0%$^†$ |
| 19 | Carpi | 170,393 | 17,775 | 5,268 | 8,968 | +197.0%$^1$ |
| 20 | Frosinone | 138,478 | 9,400 | 6,007 | 7,288 | +38.9%$^1$ |
| | League total | 8,241,728 | 79,154 | 5,268 | 22,221 | +0.7%$^†$ |
Updated to games played on 15 May 2016 Source: Stadia Postcards Notes: $^1$ Team played last season in Serie B.