# 2002–03 Serie A

The 2002–03 Serie A (known as the Serie A TIM for sponsorship reasons) was the 101st season of top-tier Italian football, the 71st in a round-robin tournament. It was composed by 18 teams, for the 15th consecutive time from season 1988–89.
The first two teams qualified directly to UEFA Champions League. Teams finishing in third and fourth position had to play Champions League qualifications. Teams finishing in fifth and sixth positions qualified to UEFA Cup (another spot was given to the winner of Coppa Italia). The bottom four teams were to be relegated in Serie B.
Juventus won its 27th national title, with Internazionale placing second and Milan third. Lazio was admitted to the UEFA Champions League preliminary phase, whereas Parma, Udinese and Roma (through the Coppa Italia finals) obtained a spot to the next UEFA Cup. Brescia and Perugia were admitted to participate in the UEFA Intertoto Cup, after Chievo declined to participate.
Piacenza, Torino, Como and Atalanta were relegated to Serie B, with the latter after having lost a relegation play-off against Reggina.

## Rule changes

Unlike La Liga, which imposed a quota on the number of non-EU players on each club, Serie A clubs could sign as many non-EU players as available on domestic transfer. But for the 2003–04 season a quota was imposed on each of the clubs limiting the number of non-EU, non-EFTA and non-Swiss players who may be signed from abroad each season, following provisional measures introduced in the 2002–03 season, which allowed Serie A & B clubs to sign only one non-EU player in the 2002 summer transfer window.

## Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
| Udinese | Giampiero Ventura | End of contract | 30 June 2002 | Pre-season | Luciano Spalletti | 1 July 2002 |
| Reggina | Franco Colomba | End of contract | 30 June 2002 | Pre-season | Bortolo Mutti | 1 July 2002 |
| Piacenza | Walter Novellino | End of contract | 30 June 2002 | Pre-season | Andrea Agostinelli | 1 July 2002 |
| Parma | Pietro Carmignani | End of contract | 30 June 2002 | Pre-season | Cesare Prandelli | 1 July 2002 |
| Lazio | Alberto Zaccheroni | End of contract | 30 June 2002 | Pre-season | Roberto Mancini | 1 July 2002 |
| Torino | Giancarlo Camolese | Sacked | 25 October 2002 | 16th | Renato Zaccarelli (caretaker) | 26 October 2002 |
| Torino | Renato Zaccarelli | End of caretaker spell | 29 October 2002 | 17th | Renzo Ulivieri | 30 October 2002 |
| Reggina | Bortolo Mutti | Sacked | 7 November 2002 | 16th | Luigi De Canio | 8 November 2002 |
| Como | Loris Dominissini | Sacked | 25 November 2002 | 18th | Eugenio Fascetti | 25 November 2002 |
| Piacenza | Andrea Agostinelli | Sacked | 3 February 2003 | 16th | Luigi Cagni | 3 February 2003 |
| Torino | Renzo Ulivieri | Sacked | 24 February 2003 | 17th | Renato Zaccarelli | 24 February 2003 |
| Torino | Renato Zaccarelli | Sacked | 15 April 2003 | 18th | Giacomo Ferri | 15 April 2003 |
| Atalanta | Giovanni Vavassori | Sacked | 21 April 2003 | 15th | Giancarlo Finardi | 21 April 2003 |

## Personnel and sponsoring

| Team | Chairman | Head Coach | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor |
| Atalanta | Ivan Ruggeri | Giancarlo Finardi | Asics | Promatech |
| Bologna | Renato Cipollini | Francesco Guidolin | Macron | Area Banca |
| Brescia | Luigi Corioni | Carlo Mazzone | Umbro | Banca Lombarda |
| Chievo | Luca Campedelli | Luigi Del Neri | Joma | Paluani |
| Como* | Enrico Preziosi | Eugenio Fascetti | Erreà | Temporary |
| Empoli* | Fabrizio Corsi | Silvio Baldini | Erreà | Sammontana |
| Internazionale | Massimo Moratti | Héctor Cúper | Nike | Pirelli |
| Juventus | Vittorio Chiusano | Marcello Lippi | Lotto | Fastweb/Tamoil (in UEFA matches) |
| Lazio | Sergio Cragnotti Ugo Longo | Roberto Mancini | Puma | Siemens Mobile |
| Milan | Silvio Berlusconi | Carlo Ancelotti | Adidas | Opel |
| Modena* | Romano Amadei | Gianni De Biasi | Erreà | Immergas |
| Parma | Stefano Tanzi | Cesare Prandelli | Champion | Parmalat |
| Perugia | Luciano Gaucci | Serse Cosmi | Galex | Toyota |
| Piacenza | Fabrizio Garilli | Luigi Cagni | Lotto | LPR Brakes |
| Reggina* | Pasquale Foti | Luigi De Canio | Asics | Caffè Mauro |
| Roma | Francesco Sensi | Fabio Capello | Kappa | Mazda |
| Torino | Attilio Romero | Giacomo Ferri | Asics | Ixfin |
| Udinese | Franco Soldati | Luciano Spalletti | Le Coq Sportif | Bernardi |
(*) Promoted from Serie B.

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Juventus (C) | 34 | 21 | 9 | 4 | 64 | 29 | +35 | 72 | Qualification to Champions League group stage |
| 2 | Internazionale | 34 | 19 | 8 | 7 | 64 | 38 | +26 | 65 | Qualification to Champions League group stage |
| 3 | Milan | 34 | 18 | 7 | 9 | 55 | 30 | +25 | 61 | Qualification to Champions League group stage |
| 4 | Lazio | 34 | 15 | 15 | 4 | 57 | 32 | +25 | 60 | Qualification to Champions League third qualifying round |
| 5 | Parma | 34 | 15 | 11 | 8 | 55 | 36 | +19 | 56 | Qualification to UEFA Cup first round |
| 6 | Udinese | 34 | 16 | 8 | 10 | 38 | 35 | +3 | 56 | Qualification to UEFA Cup first round |
| 7 | Chievo | 34 | 16 | 7 | 11 | 51 | 39 | +12 | 55 | |
| 8 | Roma | 34 | 13 | 10 | 11 | 55 | 46 | +9 | 49 | Qualification to UEFA Cup first round |
| 9 | Brescia | 34 | 9 | 15 | 10 | 36 | 38 | −2 | 42 | Qualification to Intertoto Cup second round |
| 10 | Perugia | 34 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 40 | 48 | −8 | 42 | Qualification to Intertoto Cup third round |
| 11 | Bologna | 34 | 10 | 11 | 13 | 39 | 47 | −8 | 41 | |
| 12 | Modena | 34 | 9 | 11 | 14 | 30 | 48 | −18 | 38 | |
| 13 | Empoli | 34 | 9 | 11 | 14 | 36 | 46 | −10 | 38 | |
| 14 | Reggina | 34 | 10 | 8 | 16 | 38 | 53 | −15 | 38 | Relegation tie-breaker |
| 15 | Atalanta (R) | 34 | 8 | 14 | 12 | 35 | 47 | −12 | 38 | Serie B after tie-breaker |
| 16 | Piacenza (R) | 34 | 8 | 6 | 20 | 44 | 62 | −18 | 30 | Relegation to Serie B |
| 17 | Como (R) | 34 | 4 | 12 | 18 | 29 | 57 | −28 | 24 | Relegation to Serie B |
| 18 | Torino (R) | 34 | 4 | 9 | 21 | 23 | 58 | −35 | 21 | Relegation to Serie B |
* ↑ Milan qualified for the Champions League group stage as defending champions.
* ↑ Parma finished ahead of Udinese on head-to-head points: Udinese 1–1 Parma, Parma 3–2 Udinese.
* ↑ Roma qualified for the first round of the 2003-04 UEFA Cup as Coppa Italia runner-up because the winner, Milan, qualified for Champions League through championship position.
* ↑ Brescia finished ahead of Perugia on head-to-head points: Brescia 3–1 Perugia, Perugia 0–0 Brescia.
* ↑ Perugia gained entry to the 2003 UEFA Intertoto Cup after Chievo renounced; then they qualified to the 2003–04 UEFA Cup First round.
* 1 2 3 Modena finished ahead of Empoli, Atalanta and Reggina on head-to-head points: Modena: 10 pts, Empoli: 9 pts, Atalanta: 7 pts, Reggina: 5 pts.
* ↑ Atalanta to 2003–04 Serie B after tie-breaker.

## Results

| Home \ Away | ATA | BOL | BRE | CHV | COM | EMP | INT | JUV | LAZ | MIL | MOD | PAR | PER | PIA | REG | ROM | TOR | UDI |
| Atalanta | | 2–2 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–4 | 1–3 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 0–0 |
| Bologna | 2–3 | | 3–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 1–0 |
| Brescia | 3–0 | 0–0 | | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 2–3 | 1–0 | 1–1 |
| Chievo | 4–1 | 0–0 | 1–2 | | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–4 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 2–0 | 0–4 | 3–0 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 3–2 | 3–0 |
| Como | 1–1 | 5–1 | 1–1 | 2–4 | | 0–2 | 0–2 | 1–3 | 1–3 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–2 |
| Empoli | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | | 3–4 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 4–2 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 1–1 |
| Internazionale | 1–0 | 2–0 | 4–0 | 2–1 | 4–0 | 3–0 | | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 3–0 | 3–3 | 1–0 | 1–2 |
| Juventus | 3–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 4–3 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 3–0 | | 1–2 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 5–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 |
| Lazio | 0–0 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 2–3 | 3–0 | 4–1 | 3–3 | 0–0 | | 1–1 | 4–0 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 2–1 |
| Milan | 3–3 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–2 | | 2–1 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 6–0 | 1–0 |
| Modena | 0–2 | 3–2 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–3 | | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 |
| Parma | 2–1 | 1–2 | 4–3 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | | 2–2 | 3–2 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 3–2 |
| Perugia | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 1–3 | 4–1 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–2 | | 0–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 0–2 |
| Piacenza | 2–0 | 3–1 | 1–4 | 0–3 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 1–4 | 0–1 | 2–3 | 4–2 | 3–3 | 1–1 | 5–1 | | 2–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 |
| Reggina | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 4–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 0–3 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 3–1 | | 2–3 | 2–1 | 3–2 |
| Roma | 1–2 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 3–0 | 3–0 | | 3–1 | 4–1 |
| Torino | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–4 | 0–1 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 0–4 | 2–1 | 1–3 | 1–0 | 0–1 | | 0–1 |
| Udinese | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 3–2 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | |
* ↑ The match was played at Stadio Giglio.
* ↑ The match was played at Stadio Leonardo Garilli.
* ↑ The match was played at Stadio Leonardo Garilli.
* ↑ The match was played at Stadio Leonardo Garilli.
* ↑ The match was abandoned due to Como fans rioting against a third penalty for Udinese in the match. Following previous misses by Vincenzo Iaquinta and Roberto Muzzi; David Pizarro was set to take the third one, but the riots ended the match prematurely. Udinese was handed the win 2–0, with Pinzi as the only goalscorer. Como was given a four-match suspension from playing at home.
* ↑ The match was played at Stadio Giglio.
* ↑ The match was played at Stadio Giglio.
* ↑ The match was played at Stadio Ennio Tardini.
* ↑ The match was played at Stadio Giglio.
* ↑ The match was played at Stadio Giglio.

## Overall

* Most wins - Juventus (21)
* Fewest wins - Como and Torino (4)
* Most draws - Lazio and Brescia (15)
* Fewest draws - Piacenza (6)
* Most losses - Torino (21)
* Fewest losses - Juventus and Lazio (4)
* Most goals scored - Juventus and Internazionale (64)
* Fewest goals scored - Torino (23)
* Most goals conceded - Piacenza (62)
* Fewest goals conceded - Juventus (29)

## Relegation tie-breaker

Reggina won 2 – 1 on aggregate.
Atalanta relegated to Serie B.

## Top goalscorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Christian Vieri | Internazionale | 24 |
| 2 | Adrian Mutu | Parma | 18 |
| 3 | Filippo Inzaghi | Milan | 17 |
| 4 | Alessandro Del Piero | Juventus | 16 |
| 6 | Adriano | Parma | 15 |
| 6 | Claudio López | Lazio | 15 |
| 8 | Dario Hübner | Piacenza | 14 |
| 8 | Francesco Totti | Roma | 14 |
| 10 | Antonio Di Natale | Empoli | 13 |

## Transfer

* Summer Transfer
* Winter Transfer
* co-ownership
* co-ownership

## References and sources

* ↑ "Italy blocks non-EU players". UEFA.com. 2003-03-05. Retrieved 2010-03-09.
* ↑ "Italians bar non-EU imports". UEFA.com. 2002-07-17. Retrieved 2010-03-09.
* ↑ "Piacenza Sack Agostinelli". Soccerway. 3 February 2003. Retrieved 23 May 2012.
* ↑ "Cagni returns as Piacenza sack Agostinelli". Soccerway. 3 February 2003. Retrieved 23 May 2012.
* ↑ With consequent qualification to UEFA Cup first round
* ↑ Almanacco Illustrato del Calcio - La Storia 1898-2004, Panini Edizioni, Modena, September 2005 "Norme organizzative interne della F.I.G.C. - Art. 51.6" (PDF) (in Italian). Italian Football Federation. 12 September 2018. Retrieved 11 November 2018.
* Almanacco Illustrato del Calcio - La Storia 1898-2004, Panini Edizioni, Modena, September 2005