Week 38: Final day review

So thats it, the final day. No more Serie A until the last saturday in August. Well, I supose there is the pre season, the mercato and the confederations cup to keep us occupied in the mean time. Bye the way to those who have voted on the site polls thanks. Anyway, back to the review...

Torino down
So the granata bite the dust, in what has been a really poor season for them. With players like Abete, Rosina, Bianchi they were at least expected to avoid their ultimate end but they did not and went down 3-2 in Rome to Roma. Bologna therefore kept their head above water and deservedly so. They will need to improve to do so next season as the return of Parma should seen some decent players go there in the summer, and therefore they are a team I expect to stay up. Bologna in a whole are too reliant on Marco Di Vaio, who scored on sunday in the 3-1 win over Catania. They need to find a way to get the best out of Osvaldo and to strengthern their defence as on occassions they have leaked goals. None the less Bologna can be proud of their season and their fans who have often filled their stadium. Hopefully, Torino can bounce straight back up as they are a team that belongs in Serie A.


Juve hold Second
Juventus beat my beloved Lazio 2-0 on the final day to secure second place in a season that has struggled to live up to expection for their fans at least. For me they have lacked creativity in the midfield, which is where their new signing Diego will blossom. They still need a decent central playmaker for me to balance Camoranesi, Sissoko and Diego out, but they do have good depth with the likes of Marchisio and Marchionni in the side. It was infact Marchisio who played a wonderful through ball to Iaquinta to open the scoring, and he added to that in the second to make it 2-0 against a Lazio side that had none of its first choice options in the side. Ferrara will now have to wait to see if he is confirmed as Juve manager for next season, and we will see whether the conveyor belt of great Italian coaches is set to continue.


Ancelotti's last match and Nedved, Figo and Maldini retire

AC Milan won 2-0 away to Fiorentina on Sunday afternoon to wrap up automatic qualification in the Champions League. Kaka scored and created a goal for the wonderful Pato who scored his 15 goal of the season. Not bad for an 18 year old. But, Fiorentina can also look forward to Champions League football next year as well, and to the improvement to Stefan Jovetic who has shown the skill and technique to suggest that he could become one of the best in the world in the future. Remember the name. But the real story from this match was the news that Ancelotti was leaving Milan as coach, with Leonardo set to take over, and that it was Paolo Maldini's last game. The latter is one of the all time greats and deserved a better send of then he recieved at the San Siro last week. Pavel Nedved, my favourite Lazio player of all time, and Luis Figo also retired at the weekend and will be sorely missed from Italian football.

Serie A wrap up

Champions: Inter Milan
Coppa Italia winners: SS LAZIO!!!!
Super cup winners: Inter Milan
Champions League entrants: Inter, Juve, Milan, Fiorentina
Europa League entrants: Lazio, Genoa, Roma
Relegated: Torino, Reggina, Lecce
Promoted: Bari, Parma and one team from Livorno, Empoli, Brescia, Grosseto
Top Scorer: Ibrahimovic 25, Milito 24, Di Vaio 24

Mercato News

Keep up to date on all the mercato issues from around Italy this summer right here on all things calcio. Even in the few days since the seasons end there has been rampent activity already.

Transfers
Fabio Quagliarella moved from Udinese to Napoli
Luca Cigarini moved from Atalanta to Napoli
Thiago Motta moved from Genoa to Inter Milan
Diego Milito moved from Genoa to Inter Milan
Pablo Barrientos moved from FC Moscow to Catania


Contract Extensions
Vincenzo Iaquinta extends contract contract with Juventus
Pasquale Foggia extends contract with Lazio
Mirko Vucinic extend contract at Roma


Coaching Changes
Leonardo confirmed as coach of Milan
Walter Mazzarri leave coach of Sampdoria
Gigi Del Neri leaves as coach of Atalanta and is confirmed as Sampdoria coach

updates will be added daily, as this is a mercato that we will all undoubtably be obsessed with.