# 2003–04 Serie B

The 2003–04 Serie B is the 72nd season since its establishment in 1929. It is the second highest football league in Italy.
This 46 matchdays championship was the longest tournament in all the history of the Italian football.

## Teams

Treviso, Avellino, AlbinoLeffe and Pescara had been promoted from Serie C, while Atalanta, Piacenza, Como, and Torino had been relegated from Serie A. Following the Caso Catania, Fiorentina was added.

### Personnel and sponsoring

| Team | Manager | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor |
| AlbinoLeffe | Elio Gustinetti | Legea | SCAME |
| Ascoli | Aldo Ammazzalorso | Uhlsport | Carisap |
| Atalanta | Andrea Mandorlini | Asics | Promatech |
| Avellino | Zdeněk Zeman | Devis | NewNet Gruppo Tufano |
| Bari | Giuseppe Pillon | Lotto | Pasta Ambra |
| Cagliari | Edoardo Reja | A-Line | Terra Sarda |
| Catania | Nedo Sonetti | Galex | Toyota |
| Como | Roberto Galia | Erreà | Integratori Integra Sport |
| Fiorentina | Emiliano Mondonico | Adidas | Fondiaria-Sai |
| Genoa | Luigi De Canio | Erreà | Costa Cruises |
| Hellas Verona | Sergio Maddè | Legea | Clerman |
| Livorno | Walter Mazzarri | Asics | Gruppo Banca Carige |
| Messina | Bortolo Mutti | Legea | Confcommercio/Caffè Miscela d'Oro, Confcommercio |
| Napoli | Luigi Simoni | Legea | Russo di Cicciano |
| Palermo | Francesco Guidolin | Lotto | Provincia di Palermo, Regione Siciliana |
| Pescara | Cetteo Di Mascio | Ennedue | Saquella Caffè |
| Piacenza | Luigi Cagni | Lotto | UNICEF |
| Salernitana | Stefano Pioli | Devis | Centrale del Latte di Salerno |
| Ternana | Bruno Bolchi | Erreà | EnerTAD |
| Torino | Ezio Rossi | Asics | Bavaria |
| Treviso | Adriano Buffoni | Lotto | Segafredo, Provincia di Treviso |
| Triestina | Attilio Tesser | Asics | San Marco Imaging |
| Venezia | Angelo Gregucci | Sportika | Gioco Calcio |
| Vicenza | Giuseppe Iachini | Biemme | Caffè Vero |

## Events

Following the Caso Catania, the league had been expanded to 24 clubs, and six special promotions were decided to descend to 22.
Relegation play-offs were also introduced.

## Final classification

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 1 | Palermo (P, C) | 46 | 22 | 17 | 7 | 75 | 39 | +36 | 83 | Promotion to Serie A |
| 2 | Cagliari (P) | 46 | 23 | 14 | 9 | 80 | 51 | +29 | 83 | Promotion to Serie A |
| 3 | Livorno (P) | 46 | 20 | 19 | 7 | 75 | 45 | +30 | 79 | Promotion to Serie A |
| 4 | Messina (P) | 46 | 21 | 16 | 9 | 71 | 45 | +26 | 79 | Promotion to Serie A |
| 5 | Atalanta (P) | 46 | 19 | 20 | 7 | 59 | 36 | +23 | 77 | Promotion to Serie A |
| 6 | Fiorentina (P) | 46 | 19 | 16 | 11 | 53 | 48 | +5 | 73 | Promotion play-offs |
| 7 | Ternana | 46 | 18 | 15 | 13 | 64 | 52 | +12 | 69 | |
| 8 | Piacenza | 46 | 17 | 17 | 12 | 50 | 47 | +3 | 68 | |
| 9 | Catania | 46 | 18 | 13 | 15 | 53 | 53 | 0 | 67 | |
| 10 | Triestina | 46 | 15 | 19 | 12 | 50 | 50 | 0 | 64 | |
| 11 | Ascoli | 46 | 14 | 18 | 14 | 54 | 54 | 0 | 60 | |
| 12 | Torino | 46 | 14 | 17 | 15 | 57 | 54 | +3 | 59 | |
| 13 | Vicenza | 46 | 12 | 20 | 14 | 48 | 51 | −3 | 56 | |
| 14 | Napoli (D, R, E) | 46 | 10 | 26 | 10 | 35 | 43 | −8 | 56 | Revival in Serie C1 |
| 15 | Treviso | 46 | 12 | 19 | 15 | 48 | 51 | −3 | 55 | |
| 16 | Genoa | 46 | 13 | 16 | 17 | 57 | 62 | −5 | 55 | |
| 17 | Salernitana | 46 | 14 | 13 | 19 | 36 | 53 | −17 | 55 | |
| 18 | AlbinoLeffe | 46 | 13 | 15 | 18 | 47 | 59 | −12 | 54 | |
| 19 | Hellas Verona | 46 | 13 | 14 | 19 | 54 | 65 | −11 | 53 | |
| 20 | Venezia | 46 | 12 | 15 | 19 | 40 | 57 | −17 | 51 | Relegation play-offs |
| 21 | Bari (T) | 46 | 13 | 11 | 22 | 50 | 63 | −13 | 50 | Spared from relegation |
| 22 | Pescara (T) | 46 | 11 | 13 | 22 | 46 | 69 | −23 | 46 | Spared from relegation |
| 23 | Avellino (R) | 46 | 8 | 13 | 25 | 51 | 69 | −18 | 37 | Relegation to Serie C1 |
| 24 | Como (R) | 46 | 7 | 12 | 27 | 34 | 71 | −37 | 33 | Relegation to Serie C1 |
* ↑ Folded after bankruptcy, new entity re-admitted to Serie C1 by Lodo Petrucci.
* ↑ Relegated after relegation play-off and later readmitted in place of Napoli.
* ↑ Relegated and later readmitted after newly relegated Ancona's bankruptcy.

## Results

| Home \ Away | ALB | ASC | ATA | AVE | BAR | CAG | CTN | COM | FIO | GEN | LIV | MES | NAP | PAL | PES | PIA | SAL | TER | TOR | TRV | TRI | VEN | HEL | VIC |
| AlbinoLeffe | — | 3–3 | 0–4 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 |
| Ascoli | 2–1 | — | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 4–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 3–2 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 1–3 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 3–1 |
| Atalanta | 2–1 | 2–0 | — | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 4–1 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 3–2 |
| Avellino | 0–3 | 2–2 | 1–1 | — | 1–2 | 2–3 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 3–2 | 1–3 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 1–3 | 2–3 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 6–0 | 0–1 |
| Bari | 0–1 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 2–1 | — | 0–0 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 1–3 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 4–1 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 2–1 |
| Cagliari | 1–0 | 3–0 | 5–1 | 3–1 | 2–1 | — | 2–1 | 3–2 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 4–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 3–0 | 0–2 | 3–1 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 0–0 |
| Catania | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–3 | — | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–3 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 |
| Como | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–3 | 0–3 | 1–3 | 1–3 | 1–4 | — | 0–2 | 1–3 | 3–5 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–1 |
| Fiorentina | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 3–2 | 1–0 | — | 2–2 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 |
| Genoa | 4–2 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 4–2 | 1–3 | 0–1 | 2–1 | — | 0–1 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 4–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 4–1 | 2–0 |
| Livorno | 3–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | — | 3–0 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 5–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 1–2 |
| Messina | 4–1 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 3–2 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 3–0 | 3–0 | 3–0 | 4–0 | 2–1 | — | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 |
| Napoli | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–3 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | — | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 1–1 |
| Palermo | 2–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 5–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 4–1 | 0–0 | 4–0 | — | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 2–3 | 3–1 | 4–0 | 3–1 | 3–0 |
| Pescara | 4–3 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 0–2 | — | 1–0 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 |
| Piacenza | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 4–4 | 1–3 | 1–0 | 2–3 | 2–2 | 2–1 | — | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 1–0 |
| Salernitana | 0–3 | 0–0 | 1–3 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 3–2 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–3 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 0–0 | — | 2–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 |
| Ternana | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 3–2 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 1–2 | — | 0–0 | 3–2 | 1–0 | 5–2 | 2–0 | 1–0 |
| Torino | 4–0 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 3–2 | 4–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 4–2 | 0–1 | 2–1 | — | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 |
| Treviso | 2–1 | 3–1 | 0–3 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 4–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | — | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 |
| Triestina | 3–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 4–3 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | — | 1–0 | 2–2 | 0–1 |
| Venezia | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 3–2 | 1–2 | 0–3 | 3–1 | 0–2 | 2–2 | 3–2 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | — | 0–2 | 1–1 |
| Hellas Verona | 2–3 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 4–3 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 4–3 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 3–2 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | — | 2–3 |
| Vicenza | 1–0 | 2–3 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 1–2 | — |

## Promotion play-offs

Fiorentina had to play a qualification match with 15th-placed team of Serie A, Perugia.
A.C. Perugia relegated to Serie B, while ACF Fiorentina was promoted to Serie A.

## Relegation play-off*

A.S. Bari was relegated but was later readmitted in place of S.S.C. Napoli.

## Top scorers

* Luca Toni, Palermo: 30
vte2003–04 in Italian football :