There would be no treble for Juventus. In Europe, Barcelona remain a class apart. But the 2014-15 season will be remembered as one in which the bianconeri reinforced their hegemony over Italian football, not only winning a fourth consecutive scudetto but also lifting the Coppa Italia for the first time in 20 years. It is a scenario that few people were predicting when the campaign began.
Antonio Conte’s resignation on day one of pre-season training had appeared to leave Juventus in disarray. His replacement, Massimiliano Allegri, was not exactly a popular choice among those fans who kicked and spat at his car when he arrived to take up his post. More dispassionate observers, too, wondered how the man who discarded Andrea Pirlo at Milan could possibly be the right choice for a team constructed around the midfielder.
At the very least, some growing pains were anticipated. They never materialised. Allegri’s Juventus became the first team ever to win their opening five matches of a Serie A season without conceding a goal. Then came a contentious 3-2 victory over Roma, whose manager, Rudi García, played an imaginary violin and vowed to win the scudetto anyway. Instead, the giallorossi finished the season barely clinging on to second place.
Roma believed they had strengthened last summer, notably signing Juan Iturbe out from under Juventus’s noses. But the winger was just one of many new arrivals who flattered to deceive. He did at least come up with a crucial goal in last month’s derby, which is more than could be said for Ashley Cole.
Far from improving their domestic performance, Roma finished 15 points worse off than a season before. To some extent, that might be explained by the fact they had additional European games to contend with this time around. But their owner, James Pallotta, has said that both the club’s transfer activity and physical fitness preparations were inadequate. Both areas must be addressed.
At least Roma can do so from a position of strength after securing Champions League football, and accompanying revenue streams, for another year. Nobody else has yet proved capable of offering a more serious challenge to Juventus, although Lazio were stronger than their city rivals in the second half of the campaign. The biancocelesti’s third-place finish was well-earned, but a daunting play-off still stands between them and Europe’s top club tournament.
Perhaps Serie A will soon be able to qualify four teams to the Champions League again. Extended European runs from all Italy’s representatives drastically reduced the coefficient gap to England and Germany, even if the Europa League semi-finalists Napoli and Fiorentina might wonder if they damaged their domestic prospects along the way. If nothing else, memories of sitting behind Portugal in the continental pecking order, as Italy did at the start of this season, are rapidly beginning to fade.
That is little thanks to Milan’s two clubs, whose form continued to slide. Roberto Mancini’s return was not enough to reinvigorate Inter, who reached the Europa League last-16 but will not be back next year after finishing eighth in Serie A. The nerazzurri picked up fewer points per game (1.44) under Mancini than they had during the first two-and-a-half months of the season under Walter Mazzarri (1.45).
Milan were supposed to be boosted by Pippo Inzaghi’s appointment, plus the signing of Fernando Torres, whom the manager claimed to have “set records for agility and explosiveness during tests that no Milan player had ever matched”. The striker was gone by January. Inzaghi, after guiding his team to 10th place, will not be back next season.
This was a campaign in which smaller cities stole the spotlight, with both clubs from Genoa finishing above those from Milan. Torino were one point away from ensuring that their hometown did the same. Further down the standings, the likes of Sassuolo, Chievo and even last-placed Parma found ways to give the bigger teams a hard time.
Events off the pitch were often less edifying. Serious questions linger for Italian football’s leadership regarding Parma’s slide into bankruptcy. How were the club allowed to begin the season without proof they could afford to get through it? And why did the league not ensure that successive new ownership groups had the resources and the will to pay the wages of players and staff?
Other low notes included the Lazio owner, Claudio Lotito, raging against the possibility that smaller clubs like Carpi and Frosinone might put ‘his’ hard-earned TV rights deal at risk if they got promoted (happily, they did), and, prior to that, the election of Carlo Tavecchio as president of the Italian Football Federation despite his remarks about “banana eaters” flooding the lower leagues.
But there were positive stories, as well. When floods struck Genoa in October, Luca Antonini and his wife Benedetta Balleggi were seen grabbing shovels and mucking in with efforts to relieve the worst affected areas. Fans hung a banner in the Marassi’s Gradinata Nord to thank him for a gesture that to them was worth “more than a goal in the derby”.
The same might not be said for the virtual gongs that I will now get to handing out. Without further ado, here are the 2015 Bandini awards.
Player of the season
Carlos Tevez would be a deserving winner of this prize. The Argentinian enjoyed one of the best seasons of his career, leading Juventus in both goals and assists as well as being called back up to the national side. Had he not been rested extensively towards the end of the league season – as the club turned its attention to Europe – he would likely have finished as Serie A’s top scorer.
Instead that honour was shared between Luca Toni and Mauro Icardi, and my award goes to the first of those two. Call it a sentimental pick if you wish (because it probably is) but scoring 22 goals for a modest Verona side is no mean feat. In two seasons he has become the club’s all-time leading scorer in Serie A. Toni is, at 38, the oldest capocannoniere in league history, not that you would know it from the nimble footwork he showed off at times. His goals ranged from the spectacular...
37-year-old Luca Toni rolls back the years with the sweetest of volleys for Verona. http://t.co/25MqWnnQwc
— #BTSportEurope (@btsportfootball) April 5, 2015
to the downright cheeky...
Verona's veteran striker Luca Toni produces a perfect Panenka penalty against AC Milan. http://t.co/ZGL2lQ0dIB
— #BTSportEurope (@btsportfootball) March 8, 2015
But invariably they were a joy to watch. He was, in his own words, “having as much fun as a 15-year-old boy”. So were the fans who saw him play every week.
Goal of the season
5) The finish itself was nothing special, but Paulo Dybala earned his place in this list with a filthy rainbow flick to tee himself up against Torino.
4) This was not, on the whole, a very happy season for Mattia Destro, but at least he has this 40-yard gem to show for his efforts.
3) Where’s the fun in rounding the goalkeeper if you can’t chip him with a backheel afterwards, eh, Jérémy Ménez?
2) We had more than our fair share of coast-to-coast solo efforts in Serie A this season. Tevez’s strike against Parma got the most global attention, but personally I am more partial to Bruno Peres’s goal in the first Turin derby...
Additional points here for becoming the first Torino player to score against Juventus since 2002.
1) There were also a fair few spectacular volleys, from Mateo Kovacic’s edge-of-the-box number against Lazio through to Pogba’s outside-of-the-boot effort against Napoli...
Watch Juventus' Paul Pogba score with a superb volley during his side's clash with Napoli, live now on BT Sport 1. https://t.co/TvUebXuPRP
— #BTSportEurope (@btsportfootball) January 11, 2015
But all are superseded by Mauricio Pinilla’s overhead kick against Torino...
Watch @Atalanta_BC's Mauricio Pinilla score this phenomenal overhead kick against Torino in Serie A. #MondayMentions http://t.co/1myhNWxqHz
— BT Sport (@btsport) April 6, 2015
Best goal scored by a centre-back
Inexplicably, Philippe Mexès.
Disallowed goal of the season
Jérémy Ménez indulges in a spot of foot snooker.
Moment most likely to make a grown man inexplicably shout the word ‘tekkers’
Paul Pogba deploys the elastico.
Assist of the season
Meep Meep...
Not content with his first-half screamer, Felipe Anderson makes a sensational driving run to inspire Lazio goal. https://t.co/s8rSpmawb6
— #BTSportEurope (@btsportfootball) January 6, 2015
Miss of the season
We should not judge Paulo Dybala, who had a fine season, on the basis of his open-goal miss against Inter. But we should laugh at him for it.
How did he miss that? Rising star Paulo Dybala guilty of shocking error in front of open goal. http://t.co/Hsb9CD9h17
— #BTSportEurope (@btsportfootball) February 8, 2015
Best save
Francesco Bardi’s denial of a well-struck Gonzalo Higuaín penalty still takes the breath away.
Best moment
Francesco Acerbi scoring for Sassuolo in October after beating cancer for the second time.
Game of the season
Juventus’s 3-2 home victory over Roma in October was wildly contentious. Three penalties were awarded and every single one of them disputed. The bianconeri’s winning goal, a stunning edge-of-the-box volley from Leonardo Bonucci, might also have been disallowed on another day – since Arturo Vidal, stood in an offside position, appeared to have obstructed Lukasz Skorupski’s view of the ball. Two players were sent off late on, and the next day’s headlines were all about the referee Gianluca Rocchi, with the occasion dubbed a “Rocchi Horror Picture Show”.
In my own blog, at the time, I suggested that the game would be remembered for all the wrong reasons, “measured not in goals, but instead in centimetres”. And yet, eight months on, I must confess to feeling differently. Thinking back on the season, this is still the match that stays with me, not simply for the controversy but for the exceptionally high level of football played by two teams who at that stage seemed so evenly matched.
Roma, full of confidence after following up five consecutive league wins with a draw away to Manchester City, attacked Juventus with verve and ambition. At times they looked capable of overwhelming opponents who had won 21 consecutive home games. But Juve kept on rallying, as champions do. Perhaps, with another referee, the outcome would have been different. But the quality of football – in between the protests – would still have been just as high.
Honourable mention: Parma 4-5 Milan.
Team of the season (4-3-3)
Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus); Bruno Peres (Torino), Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus), Stefan de Vrij (Lazio), Matteo Darmian (Torino); Paul Pogba (Juventus), Radja Nainggolan (Roma), Claudio Marchisio (Juventus); Carlos Tevez (Juventus), Luca Toni (Verona), Felipe Anderson (Lazio). Subs: Mattia Perin (Genoa), José Holebas (Roma), Daniele Rugani (Empoli), Miralem Pjanic (Roma), Antonio Candreva (Lazio), Paulo Dybala (Palermo), Mauro Icardi (Inter)
Manager of the season
I have gone back and forth on this decision. Instinctively, a part of me feels the award should go to Allegri, who inherited a situation at Juventus that looked like a poisoned chalice. The bianconeri could have lacked motivation after three straight titles, and they certainly lacked organisation after being left in the lurch by Conte. Allegri not only steered them to within one game of a treble but did so on his own terms, showing the guts to deploy an untested four-man defence at a critical moment in Champions League qualifying, and then the wisdom to remain flexible thereafter, switching between systems to suit not only particular opponents but particular moments in particular matches.
But these awards are supposed to pertain to Serie A, not all competitions. Viewing things strictly on those terms, other candidates start to look more deserving. Giampiero Ventura overcame the sales of both Ciro Immobile and Alessio Cerci to keep Torino punching above their weight – ultimately falling short of Europe but winning their first derby for two decades. Maurizio Sarri ensured that Empoli survived far more comfortably than a club with an €11m annual player wage bill had any right to. Gian Piero Gasperini and Sinisa Mihajlovic did exceptional jobs at Genoa and Sampdoria.
My award, though, will go to Stefano Pioli. The Lazio manager benefited from the fantastic transfer campaign conducted by the club last summer, with the likes of Stefan de Vrij, Marco Parolo and Dusan Basta all thriving in the capital. But he also integrated those new players with returning veterans to optimum effect, and crucially also worked out how to get the best from Felipe Anderson. Cracking the top three was no mean feat for a club that – while hardly poor – still started this season with a wage bill tens of millions of Euros smaller than those of Napoli, Milan and Inter.
Vital statistics
4 – Number of penalties given away by Nemanja Vidic at Inter this season, a Serie A record.
4 - Vidic has now conceded 4 penalties so far this season – a record in Serie A. Troubles. #InterJuve
— OptaPaolo (@OptaPaolo) May 16, 2015
2.69 – Goals per game in Serie A this season. This was joint-most among Europe’s top-five leagues, matched only by the Bundesliga.
2.69 - Among the top-5 Euro leagues, this season only Bundesliga produced on average more goals per game than #SerieA (2.69). Entertaining.
— OptaPaolo (@OptaPaolo) June 8, 2015
1 – Ball to the face taken by Roberto Mancini (Look, I couldn’t think of a better way to crowbar this in, alright?)
Inter Milan manager Robert Mancini has just been poleaxed by a clearance from his own player! #BTEFS https://t.co/29w7uSIZl2
— #BTSportEurope (@btsportfootball) January 11, 2015
1 – Finger up Mancini’s nose when the cameras cut to him during the Inter-Chievo game. (OK, I’ll stop now)
Muco Selvaggio! #InterChievo (segnalata da @Rickyvara13) pic.twitter.com/M4oTG6AC4j
— CALCIATORI BRUTTI (@CB_Ignoranza) May 3, 2015
The Derrick Errol Evans plaque for most motivational pep-talks
Reflecting on happier days during an interview with Radio 24, Gennaro Gattuso recalled how Silvio Berlusconi had got Milan’s players ready for their Champions League final in 2003. “I remember that a few hours before the match every player had to go to his room,” said the former midfielder. “Those 15 minutes of conversation were like taking a Viagra.”
Sadly, it seems that even Silvio might be losing his magic touch. One day after persuading his players to join in with this high-spirited round of “Hip hip hurra!” he watched them lose 2-1 at home to Sassuolo.
The reverse Samson certificate for services to bald managers
By naming Rolando Maran as Eugenio Corini’s successor this October, Chievo extended their series of consecutive bald managers to four. (Hats off to ForzaItalianFootball’s editor Dov Schiavone for the spot.)
The last four #Chievo coaches… Notice a trend? pic.twitter.com/rCEtAOwFLj
— Dov Schiavone (@DovSchiavone) October 19, 2014
Worst corner
Lukas Podolski, ladies and gentlemen.
Greatest goalkeeping blunder
Honourable mention: Get rid of it, Morgan. Get rid of it, Morgan! GET RID OF IT MO … oh, never mind.
Best celebration
Yeah, Francesco Totti’s selfie under the Curva Sud was great entertainment, but his was not even the best goal celebration at the Stadio Olimpico this season. That honour falls to Alessandro Florenzi, who bounded up into the stands after scoring against Cagliari, to get a hug from his 82-year-old grandmother Aurora. It was the first game she had ever attended at the stadium, and she promptly burst into tears, noting later that: “My husband Nisio used to play football, too. Alessandro reminded me of him.”
Honourable mention: Massimo Ferrero. Just all the time.
Worst breath
Leonardo Bonucci – whose mental coach, Alberto Ferrarini, gave him some garlic-flavoured sweets to chew on before Juventus’s first meeting with Roma in October. “Hundreds of years ago, soldiers ate garlic to keep themselves strong, healthy and alert in battle,” explained Ferrarini. “Leo is a soldier, and by eating those sweets it was as though he had returned to his origins. I also told him to breathe in Gervinho and Totti’s faces.”
Groundhog club
Sassuolo’s manager Eusebio Di Francesco described his team’s 7-0 thrashing by Inter in September 2013 as “an educational experience”. What exactly they learned is unclear. They lost by the same scoreline, to the same opponents, in the same month, at the start of this campaign.
Best Christmas present
“I don’t have a magic wand,” protested Pippo Inzaghi as Milan struggled through the early part of this season. And so a group of beat reporters got together and gave him one before his final game of 2014. Sadly, it turns out he still didn’t know how to use it.
Best random act of (on-pitch) kindness
Samuel Eto’o pausing to tie up the laces of opposing goalkeeper Zeljko Brkic.
Best pizza
The one with Rafa Benítez’s face melted into it.
Best gallows humour
Three seasons ago, a nine-year-old boy named Filippo made international headlines when he showed up to an Inter game holding a sign that begged the team to get better so that his friends would stop teasing him at school. This April he returned to San Siro with a new sign pointing out, “I’ve still got six years of school left”.
Worst sex
“My first time was with an Austrian girl, on holiday in Rimini. It was so quick that as I walked down the stairs after all I could say was ‘is that it?’ The problem is that she must have said the same thing. She disappeared. I never saw her again” – Luca Toni confirms that scoring did not always come so naturally.
Best reason for sex
“Videogames take away energy and concentration, it’s been shown by a scientific study. Would sex before a match be better? Certainly, it’s less dangerous” – Sassuolo’s manager Eusebio Di Francesco takes steps to get his players’ priorities.
Best calendar
Only in Naples could you find Rafa Benítez holding up a tactics scroll while plotting the downfall of Troy...
Rafa Benítez in a picture from SSC Napoli Official 2015 Calendar • Tratto dal Calendario Ufficiale SSC Napoli 2015 pic.twitter.com/HYqdfWtLg0
— Montegrappa Italia (@Montegrappa1912) November 13, 2014
...just a few pages down from José Callejón prepping a bow-and-arrow in his Y-fronts...
Nothing over the top or dramatic about Napoli's 2015 calendar. Move on, nothing to see here pic.twitter.com/gUNeghZk2x
— Sheridan Bird (@SheridanBird) December 2, 2014
Best reason for not joining Juventus
“Juve are like a beautiful pussy that does not get me horny” – Antonio Cassano (of course) explains why he has turned the Old Lady down “four times”.
Most appetising match-up for next season
Empoli’s Massimo Maccarone vs Carpi’s Kevin Lasagna.
