# 2008–09 Serie A

The 2008–09 Serie A (known as the Serie A TIM for sponsorship reasons) was the 107th season of top-tier Italian football, the 77th in a round-robin tournament. It began on 30 August 2008 and ended on 31 May 2009, with the announcement of the list of fixtures made on 25 July 2008. 20 teams competed in the league, 17 of which returned from the previous season, and three (Chievo, Bologna and Lecce) were promoted from 2007–08 Serie B.
20 clubs represented 13 different regions. The most represented region was Lombardy with three teams: Atalanta, A.C. Milan, and Inter Milan. Piedmont, Liguria, Tuscany, Lazio and Sicily featured two teams each while Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Veneto, Emilia-Romagna, Campania, Apulia, Calabria, and Sardinia were represented by one team each. There was a record number of southern teams in the top division with six teams: Cagliari, Catania, Lecce, Napoli, Palermo, and Reggina.
The new match ball was the Nike T90 Omni.
On 16 May 2009, Internazionale won the league by holding an unassailable lead after A.C. Milan's loss away to Udinese.

## Rule changes

The 2008–09 season saw new rules relating to the transfer of player registration introduced. Clubs without non-EU players in their squad were allowed three incoming non-EU player transfers (whereas previously only newly promoted clubs could have three). Clubs with one non-EU player were allowed two such transfers and clubs with two non-EU players were permitted one transfer and a further one if they cancelled the registration of one of their non-EU players or that player gained EU nationality. Clubs with three or more non-EU players were given two conditional quotas with the caveat that the release (as opposed to transfer) of two non-EU players as free agent would only allow for one further non-EU signing.

## Teams

Three teams were promoted from Serie B: Chievo, Bologna, and Lecce. The first two earned direct promotion, while Lecce won the promotional playoffs, defeating AlbinoLeffe 2–1 on aggregate in a two-legged playoff final.

### Stadia and locations

| Club | City | Stadium | Capacity | 2007–08 season |
| Atalanta | Bergamo | Atleti Azzurri d'Italia | 26,393 | 9th in Serie A |
| Bologna | Bologna | Renato Dall'Ara | 39,444 | 2nd in Serie B |
| Cagliari | Cagliari | Sant'Elia | 23,486 | 14th in Serie A |
| Catania | Catania | Angelo Massimino | 23,420 | 17th in Serie A |
| Chievo Verona | Verona | Marc'Antonio Bentegodi | 39,211 | Serie B Champions |
| Fiorentina | Florence | Artemio Franchi (Florence) | 47,282 | 4th in Serie A |
| Genoa | Genoa | Luigi Ferraris | 36,685 | 10th in Serie A |
| Internazionale | Milan | San Siro | 80,074 | Serie A Champions |
| Juventus | Turin | Olimpico di Torino | 27,500 | 3rd in Serie A |
| Lazio | Rome | Olimpico | 72,700 | 12th in Serie A |
| Lecce | Lecce | Via del Mare | 33,876 | Serie B Playoff Winners |
| Milan | Milan | San Siro | 80,074 | 5th in Serie A |
| Napoli | Naples | San Paolo | 60,240 | 8th in Serie A |
| Palermo | Palermo | Renzo Barbera | 37,242 | 11th in Serie A |
| Reggina | Reggio Calabria | Oreste Granillo | 27,454 | 16th in Serie A |
| Roma | Rome | Olimpico | 72,700 | 2nd in Serie A |
| Sampdoria | Genoa | Luigi Ferraris | 36,685 | 6th in Serie A |
| Siena | Siena | Artemio Franchi (Siena) | 15,373 | 13th in Serie A |
| Torino | Turin | Olimpico di Torino | 27,500 | 15th in Serie A |
| Udinese | Udine | Friuli | 41,652 | 7th in Serie A |

### Personnel and sponsoring

| Team | Head Coach | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor |
| Atalanta | Luigi Delneri | Cristiano Doni | Asics | Sit in Sport, Daihatsu |
| Bologna | Siniša Mihajlović | Marcello Castellini | Macron | Unipol, COGEI |
| Cagliari | Massimiliano Allegri | Diego López | Macron | Tiscali, Sky |
| Catania | Walter Zenga | Davide Baiocco | Legea | SP Energia Siciliana, Provincia di Catania |
| Chievo | Domenico Di Carlo | Sergio Pellissier | Lotto | Paluani/Banca Popolare di Verona |
| Fiorentina | Cesare Prandelli | Dario Dainelli | Lotto | Toyota |
| Genoa | Gian Piero Gasperini | Marco Rossi | Asics | Eurobet |
| Internazionale | José Mourinho | Javier Zanetti | Nike | Pirelli |
| Juventus | Claudio Ranieri | Alessandro Del Piero | Nike | New Holland |
| Lazio | Delio Rossi | Tommaso Rocchi | Puma | Pro Evolution Soccer 2009/Groupama/Cucciolone Algida |
| Lecce | Mario Beretta | Andrea Zanchetta | Asics | Salento, Lachifarma |
| Milan | Carlo Ancelotti | Paolo Maldini | Adidas | Bwin |
| Napoli | Edoardo Reja | Paolo Cannavaro | Diadora | Lete |
| Palermo | Davide Ballardini | Fabio Liverani | Lotto | BetShop |
| Reggina | Nevio Orlandi | Francesco Cozza | Onze | Gicos, Regione Calabria |
| Roma | Luciano Spalletti | Francesco Totti | Kappa | Wind |
| Sampdoria | Walter Mazzarri | Angelo Palombo | Kappa | Erg/Air One (in cup and UEFA matches) |
| Siena | Marco Giampaolo | Simone Vergassola | Umbro | Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena |
| Torino | Walter Novellino | Alessandro Rosina | Kappa | Movida/MG.K Vis/Renault Trucks, Reale Mutua |
| Udinese | Pasquale Marino | Antonio Di Natale | Lotto | Lotto/Automobile Dacia, Regione Friuli/Il Granchio |

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Replaced by | Date of appointment |
| Siena | Mario Beretta | Contract expired | 27 May 2008 | Marco Giampaolo | 27 May 2008 |
| Cagliari | Davide Ballardini | Contract expired | 27 May 2008 | Massimiliano Allegri | 29 May 2008 |
| Internazionale | Roberto Mancini | Sacked | 29 May 2008 | José Mourinho | 2 June 2008 |
| Lecce | Giuseppe Papadopulo | Contract expired | 23 June 2008 | Mario Beretta | 23 June 2008 |
| Palermo | Stefano Colantuono | Sacked | 4 September 2008 | Davide Ballardini | 4 September 2008 |
| Bologna | Daniele Arrigoni | Sacked | 3 November 2008 | Siniša Mihajlović | 3 November 2008 |
| Chievo Verona | Giuseppe Iachini | Sacked | 4 November 2008 | Domenico Di Carlo | 4 November 2008 |
| Torino | Gianni De Biasi | Sacked | 8 December 2008 | Walter Novellino | 8 December 2008 |
| Reggina | Nevio Orlandi | Sacked | 16 December 2008 | Giuseppe Pillon | 16 December 2008 |
| Reggina | Giuseppe Pillon | Sacked | 25 January 2009 | Nevio Orlandi | 25 January 2009 |
| Lecce | Mario Beretta | Sacked | 9 March 2009 | Luigi De Canio | 9 March 2009 |
| Napoli | Edoardo Reja | Sacked | 10 March 2009 | Roberto Donadoni | 10 March 2009 |
| Torino | Walter Novellino | Sacked | 24 March 2009 | Giancarlo Camolese | 24 March 2009 |
| Bologna | Siniša Mihajlović | Sacked | 14 April 2009 | Giuseppe Papadopulo | 14 April 2009 |
| Juventus | Claudio Ranieri | Sacked | 18 May 2009 | Ciro Ferrara | 18 May 2009 |
^1 Juventus youth sector chief Ciro Ferrara was originally appointed on a temporary basis for the two final weeks of the season. The appointment was made permanent on 5 June 2009.

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Internazionale (C) | 38 | 25 | 9 | 4 | 70 | 32 | +38 | 84 | Qualification to Champions League group stage |
| 2 | Juventus | 38 | 21 | 11 | 6 | 69 | 37 | +32 | 74 | Qualification to Champions League group stage |
| 3 | Milan | 38 | 22 | 8 | 8 | 70 | 35 | +35 | 74 | Qualification to Champions League group stage |
| 4 | Fiorentina | 38 | 21 | 5 | 12 | 53 | 38 | +15 | 68 | Qualification to Champions League play-off round |
| 5 | Genoa | 38 | 19 | 11 | 8 | 56 | 39 | +17 | 68 | Qualification to Europa League play-off round |
| 6 | Roma | 38 | 18 | 9 | 11 | 64 | 61 | +3 | 63 | Qualification to Europa League third qualifying round |
| 7 | Udinese | 38 | 16 | 10 | 12 | 61 | 50 | +11 | 58 | |
| 8 | Palermo | 38 | 17 | 6 | 15 | 57 | 50 | +7 | 57 | |
| 9 | Cagliari | 38 | 15 | 8 | 15 | 49 | 50 | −1 | 53 | |
| 10 | Lazio | 38 | 15 | 5 | 18 | 46 | 55 | −9 | 50 | Qualification to Europa League play-off round |
| 11 | Atalanta | 38 | 13 | 8 | 17 | 45 | 48 | −3 | 47 | |
| 12 | Napoli | 38 | 12 | 10 | 16 | 43 | 45 | −2 | 46 | |
| 13 | Sampdoria | 38 | 11 | 13 | 14 | 49 | 52 | −3 | 46 | |
| 14 | Siena | 38 | 12 | 8 | 18 | 33 | 44 | −11 | 44 | |
| 15 | Catania | 38 | 12 | 7 | 19 | 41 | 51 | −10 | 43 | |
| 16 | Chievo | 38 | 8 | 14 | 16 | 35 | 49 | −14 | 38 | |
| 17 | Bologna | 38 | 9 | 10 | 19 | 43 | 62 | −19 | 37 | |
| 18 | Torino (R) | 38 | 8 | 10 | 20 | 37 | 61 | −24 | 34 | Relegation to Serie B |
| 19 | Reggina (R) | 38 | 6 | 13 | 19 | 30 | 62 | −32 | 31 | Relegation to Serie B |
| 20 | Lecce (R) | 38 | 5 | 15 | 18 | 37 | 67 | −30 | 30 | Relegation to Serie B |
* 1 2 Juventus finished ahead of Milan on head-to-head points: Juventus 4–2 Milan, Milan 1–1 Juventus.
* 1 2 Fiorentina finished ahead of Genoa on head-to-head points: Fiorentina 1–0 Genoa, Genoa 3–3 Fiorentina.
* 1 2 Lazio qualified for the play-off round of the 2009–10 UEFA Europa League by winning the 2008–09 Coppa Italia.
* 1 2 Napoli finished ahead of Sampdoria on head-to-head points: Napoli 2–0 Sampdoria, Sampdoria 2–2 Napoli.

## Results

| Home \ Away | ATA | BOL | CAG | CTN | CHV | FIO | GEN | INT | JUV | LAZ | LCE | MIL | NAP | PAL | REG | ROM | SAM | SIE | TOR | UDI |
| Atalanta | | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 1–3 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 4–2 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 3–0 |
| Bologna | 0–1 | | 0–1 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 1–4 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 1–4 | 5–2 | 0–3 |
| Cagliari | 0–1 | 5–1 | | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 1–4 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 |
| Catania | 1–0 | 1–2 | 2–1 | | 1–0 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 3–2 | 2–0 | 0–3 | 3–2 | 0–2 |
| Chievo | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | | 0–2 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–2 |
| Fiorentina | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 | | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 3–0 | 4–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 4–2 |
| Genoa | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 3–3 | | 0–2 | 3–2 | 0–1 | 4–1 | 2–0 | 3–2 | 1–0 | 4–0 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 2–0 |
| Internazionale | 4–3 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 4–2 | 2–0 | 0–0 | | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 3–0 | 3–3 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 |
| Juventus | 2–2 | 4–1 | 2–3 | 1–1 | 3–3 | 1–0 | 4–1 | 1–1 | | 2–0 | 2–2 | 4–2 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 4–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 |
| Lazio | 0–1 | 2–0 | 1–4 | 1–0 | 0–3 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 1–1 | | 1–1 | 0–3 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 4–2 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 1–3 |
| Lecce | 2–2 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–3 | 1–2 | 0–2 | | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–3 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 3–3 | 2–2 |
| Milan | 3–0 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 4–1 | 2–0 | | 1–0 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 2–3 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 5–1 | 5–1 |
| Napoli | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 3–0 | 0–0 | | 2–1 | 3–0 | 0–3 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 2–2 |
| Palermo | 3–2 | 4–1 | 5–1 | 0–4 | 3–0 | 1–3 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 5–2 | 3–1 | 2–1 | | 1–0 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 3–2 |
| Reggina | 3–1 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–3 | 2–2 | 2–3 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–0 | | 2–2 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 |
| Roma | 2–0 | 2–1 | 3–2 | 4–3 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 0–4 | 1–4 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 3–0 | | 2–0 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 1–1 |
| Sampdoria | 1–0 | 2–0 | 3–3 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 3–2 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 0–2 | 5–0 | 2–2 | | 2–2 | 1–0 | 2–2 |
| Siena | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 0–3 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 1–5 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | | 1–0 | 1–1 |
| Torino | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–4 | 2–3 | 1–3 | 0–1 | 1–3 | 3–0 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–3 | 1–0 | | 1–0 |
| Udinese | 3–0 | 1–0 | 6–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 3–3 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | |

## Top goalscorers

Source: gazzetta.it (in Italian)
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Zlatan Ibrahimović | Internazionale | 25 |
| 2 | Diego Milito | Genoa | 24 |
| 2 | Marco Di Vaio | Bologna | 24 |
| 4 | Alberto Gilardino | Fiorentina | 19 |
| 5 | Kaká | Milan | 16 |
| 6 | Alexandre Pato | Milan | 15 |
| 7 | Robert Acquafresca | Cagliari | 14 |
| 7 | Edinson Cavani | Palermo | 14 |
| 7 | Fabrizio Miccoli | Palermo | 14 |
| 10 | Alessandro Del Piero | Juventus | 13 |
| 10 | Filippo Inzaghi | Milan | 13 |
| 10 | Adrian Mutu | Fiorentina | 13 |
| 10 | Sergio Pellissier | Chievo | 13 |
| 10 | Fabio Quagliarella | Udinese | 13 |
| 10 | Francesco Totti | Roma | 13 |
| 10 | Mauro Zárate | Lazio | 13 |