# 1987–88 Serie A

The 1987–88 Serie A was won by Milan.

## Teams

Pescara, Pisa and Cesena had been promoted from Serie B.

## Season summary

The summer of 1987 brought several notable players into the Italian championship: Vincenzo Scifo (for Internazionale), Ian Rush (Juventus), Ruud Gullit and Marco van Basten (Milan). The reigning champions Napoli started well leading the league after five matches. Inter and Juventus had several issues.
Napoli retained top-place in autumn and winter, suffering only one defeat in the first 20 games. Napoli began to struggle in March, and ultimately only won 2 of the 10 remaining fixtures. Milan who had been in second place for much of the season were able to reduce the points deficit with a prolonged undefeated run. Their head-to-head match, played on 1 May 1988, ended in a 3–2 win for Milan putting them 1 point ahead in the title race with two games remaining to play. Milan drew their final games, but Napoli did worse, losing both matches. It led to Milan's 11th title and its first since 1979. This season was the last with 16 teams playing, as two relegations and four promotions from Serie B meant that from 1988–89 there would be 18 clubs in the top flight.

## Final classification

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Milan (C) | 30 | 17 | 11 | 2 | 43 | 14 | +29 | 45 | Qualification to European Cup |
| 2 | Napoli | 30 | 18 | 6 | 6 | 55 | 27 | +28 | 42 | Qualification to UEFA Cup |
| 3 | Roma | 30 | 15 | 8 | 7 | 39 | 26 | +13 | 38 | Qualification to UEFA Cup |
| 4 | Sampdoria | 30 | 13 | 11 | 6 | 41 | 30 | +11 | 37 | Qualification to Cup Winners' Cup |
| 5 | Internazionale | 30 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 42 | 35 | +7 | 32 | Qualification to UEFA Cup |
| 6 | Juventus | 30 | 11 | 9 | 10 | 35 | 30 | +5 | 31 | Qualification to UEFA Cup |
| 7 | Torino | 30 | 8 | 15 | 7 | 33 | 30 | +3 | 31 | |
| 8 | Fiorentina | 30 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 29 | 33 | −4 | 28 | |
| 9 | Cesena | 30 | 7 | 12 | 11 | 23 | 32 | −9 | 26 | |
| 10 | Hellas Verona | 30 | 7 | 11 | 12 | 23 | 30 | −7 | 25 | |
| 11 | Como | 30 | 6 | 13 | 11 | 22 | 37 | −15 | 25 | |
| 12 | Ascoli | 30 | 6 | 12 | 12 | 30 | 37 | −7 | 24 | |
| 13 | Pisa | 30 | 6 | 12 | 12 | 23 | 30 | −7 | 24 | |
| 14 | Pescara | 30 | 8 | 8 | 14 | 27 | 44 | −17 | 24 | |
| 15 | Avellino (R) | 30 | 5 | 13 | 12 | 19 | 39 | −20 | 23 | Relegation to Serie B |
| 16 | Empoli (R) | 30 | 6 | 13 | 11 | 20 | 30 | −10 | 20 | Relegation to Serie B |
* ↑ Juventus won the UEFA Cup qualification match against Torino 0–0*(4:2) then qualified to 1988–89 UEFA Cup.
* ↑ Empoli was penalised of 5 points from the start of the season.

## Results

| Home \ Away | ASC | AVE | CES | COM | EMP | FIO | INT | JUV | MIL | NAP | PES | PIS | ROM | SAM | TOR | VER |
| Ascoli | — | 2–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 1–1 |
| Avellino | 1–1 | — | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–3 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 1–0 |
| Cesena | 1–0 | 1–1 | — | 3–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 |
| Como | 3–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | — | 3–2 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 |
| Empoli | 2–0 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 1–1 | — | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 3–2 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 1–0 |
| Fiorentina | 1–0 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | — | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 4–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 |
| Internazionale | 2–2 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 3–0 | — | 2–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 4–2 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 |
| Juventus | 1–0 | 3–0 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 4–0 | 1–2 | 1–0 | — | 0–1 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 |
| Milan | 2–0 | 3–0 | 3–0 | 5–0 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 0–0 | — | 4–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 |
| Napoli | 2–1 | 4–0 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 4–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–3 | — | 6–0 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 3–1 | 4–1 |
| Pescara | 0–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 0–1 | — | 2–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 3–0 |
| Pisa | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 1–3 | 0–2 | 2–0 | — | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 |
| Roma | 3–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 3–2 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 5–1 | 1–0 | — | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 |
| Sampdoria | 2–0 | 2–0 | 4–1 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | — | 1–1 | 3–1 |
| Torino | 2–1 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 4–1 | — | 1–1 |
| Hellas Verona | 2–1 | 4–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 0–2 | — |

## UEFA Cup qualification

Juventus qualified for 1988–89 UEFA Cup.

## Top goalscorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Diego Maradona | Napoli | 15 |
| 2 | Careca | Napoli | 13 |
| 3 | Pietro Paolo Virdis | Milan | 11 |
| 3 | Giuseppe Giannini | Roma | 11 |
| 5 | Gianluca Vialli | Sampdoria | 10 |
| 6 | Ruud Gullit | Milan | 9 |
| 6 | Walter Schachner | Avellino | 9 |
| 6 | Alessandro Altobelli | Internazionale | 9 |
| 6 | Toni Polster | Torino | 9 |

## Attendances

SSC Napoli drew the highest average home attendance in the 1987-88 edition of the Serie A.
| # | Football club | Home games | Average attendance |
| 1 | SSC Napoli | 15 | 73,745 |
| 2 | AC Milan | 15 | 72,177 |
| 3 | Internazionale | 15 | 47,502 |
| 4 | AS Roma | 15 | 43,696 |
| 5 | Juventus | 15 | 32,732 |
| 6 | Fiorentina | 15 | 31,254 |
| 7 | Torino FC | 15 | 29,071 |
| 8 | Hellas Verona | 15 | 27,077 |
| 9 | US Avellino | 15 | 23,219 |
| 10 | Pescara Calcio | 15 | 22,961 |
| 11 | AC Cesena | 15 | 18,054 |
| 12 | Sampdoria | 15 | 17,440 |
| 13 | Pisa SC | 15 | 16,590 |
| 14 | Ascoli Calcio | 15 | 15,150 |
| 15 | Empoli FC | 15 | 10,977 |
| 16 | Como Calcio | 15 | 10,852 |