2008–09 Serie A

Competition	Serie A
Season	2008–09
Winners	Internazionale
Relegated	TorinoRegginaLecce
Continentalcup1	UEFA Champions League
Continentalcup1 qualifiers	InternazionaleJuventusMilanFiorentina
Continentalcup2	UEFA Europa League
Continentalcup2 qualifiers	GenoaLazioRoma
League topscorer	Zlatan Ibrahimović(25 goals)
Biggest home win	Sampdoria 5–0 Reggina
Biggest away win	Roma 0–4 Inter,Siena 1–5 Milan,Palermo 0–4 Catania
Highest scoring	Udinese 6–2 Cagliari
Matches	380
Total goals	988
Average attendance	25,324
Prevseason	2007–08
Nextseason	2009–10

The 2008–09 Serie A (known as the Serie A TIM for sponsorship reasons) was the seventy-seventh season since its establishment. 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 Serie B 2007–08.

20 clubs represented 13 different regions. The most represented region was Lombardy with three teams: Atalanta, Milan and Internazionale. 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 Milan's loss away to Udinese.

Rule changes

The 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.

{| class="wikitable sortable" ! Club ! City ! Stadium ! Capacity ! 2007–08 season |- | Atalanta B.C. | Bergamo | Stadio Atleti Azzurri d'Italia | 26,393 | 9th in Serie A |- | Bologna F.C. 1909 | Bologna | Stadio Renato Dall'Ara | 39,444 | 2nd in Serie B |- | Cagliari Calcio | Cagliari | Stadio Sant'Elia | 23,486 | 14th in Serie A |- | Calcio Catania | Catania | Stadio Angelo Massimino | 23,420 | 17th in Serie A |- | A.C. ChievoVerona | Verona | Stadio Marcantonio Bentegodi | 39,211 | Serie B Champions |- | ACF Fiorentina | Florence | Stadio Artemio Franchi, Florence | 47,282 | 4th in Serie A |- | Genoa C.F.C. | Genoa | Stadio Luigi Ferraris | 36,685 | 10th in Serie A |- | F.C. Internazionale Milano | Milan | Stadio Giuseppe Meazza | 80,074 | Serie A Champions |- | Juventus F.C. | Turin | Stadio Olimpico di Torino | 27,500 | 3rd in Serie A |- | S.S. Lazio | Rome | Stadio Olimpico | 72,700 | 12th in Serie A |- | U.S. Lecce | Lecce | Stadio Via del Mare | 33,876 | Serie B Playoff Winners |- | A.C. Milan | Milan | Stadio Giuseppe Meazza | 80,074 | 5th in Serie A |- | S.S.C. Napoli | Naples | Stadio San Paolo | 60,240 | 8th in Serie A |- | U.S. Città di Palermo | Palermo | Stadio Renzo Barbera | 37,242 | 11th in Serie A |- | Reggina Calcio | Reggio Calabria | Stadio Oreste Granillo | 27,454 | 16th in Serie A |- | A.S. Roma | Rome | Stadio Olimpico | 72,700 | 2nd in Serie A |- | U.C. Sampdoria | Genoa | Stadio Luigi Ferraris | 36,685 | 6th in Serie A |- | A.C. Siena | Siena | Stadio Artemio Franchi, Siena | 15,373 | 13th in Serie A |- | Torino F.C. | Turin | Stadio Olimpico di Torino | 27,500 | 15th in Serie A |- | Udinese Calcio | Udine | Stadio Friuli | 41,652 | 7th in Serie A |}

League table

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Results

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Top goalscorers

Source: corrieredellosport.it

;25 goals Zlatan Ibrahimović (Internazionale)

;24 goals Marco Di Vaio (Bologna) Diego Milito (Genoa)

;19 goals Alberto Gilardino (Fiorentina)

;16 goals Kaká (Milan)

;15 goals Alexandre Pato (Milan)

;14 goals Robert Acquafresca (Cagliari) Edinson Cavani (Palermo) Fabrizio Miccoli (Palermo)

;13 goals Alessandro Del Piero (Juventus) Filippo Inzaghi (Milan) Adrian Mutu (Fiorentina) Sergio Pellissier (Chievo) Fabio Quagliarella (Udinese) Francesco Totti (Roma) Mauro Zárate (Lazio)

Managerial changes

{| class="wikitable sortable" |- ! Team ! Outgoing manager ! Manner of departure ! Date of vacancy ! Replaced by ! Date of appointment |- | Siena | Mario Beretta | Contract expired | 27 May 2008 | Marco Giampaolo | 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 | Sacked | 4 September 2008 | Davide Ballardini | Sacked | 3 November 2008 | Siniša Mihajlović | Sacked | 4 November 2008 | Domenico Di Carlo | Sacked | 8 December 2008 | Walter Novellino | Sacked | 16 December 2008 | Giuseppe Pillon | 16 December 2008 |- | Reggina | Giuseppe Pillon | Sacked | 25 January 2009 | Nevio Orlandi | Sacked | 9 March 2009 | Luigi De Canio | 9 March 2009 |- | Napoli | Edoardo Reja | Sacked | 10 March 2009 | Roberto Donadoni | Sacked | 24 March 2009 | Giancarlo Camolese | Sacked | 14 April 2009 | Giuseppe Papadopulo | Sacked | 18 May 2009 | Ciro Ferrara | 18 May 2009 |}

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 June 5, 2009.

References

2008-2009 Category:2008–09 domestic association football leagues Category:2008 in Italy Category:2009 in Italy