The men’s national team failed to qualify for a third consecutive World Cup, while Serie A clubs suffered repeated defeats in UEFA competitions. Inter went from Champions League finalists to elimination by Bod/Glimt, and Juventus conceded seven goals to Galatasaray. Napoli, the previous season’s Scudetto winners, did not progress from the group stage. Atalanta avoided a first absence from the last 16 in nearly 40 years by overturning a two-goal deficit against Borussia Dortmund, but were then beaten 10-2 on aggregate by Bayern Munich. Bologna eliminated Roma in the Europa League but lost 7-1 across two legs to Aston Villa, and Fiorentina nearly closed a gap against Crystal Palace after falling 4-0 down. Domestic events included a Derby d’Italia incident involving Alessandro Bastoni and Pierre Kalulu, red-card fallout in World Cup qualifying, and a refereeing scandal involving match officials. Scheduling problems around the Rome derby and Italian Open finals were resolved only after outside pressure. Serie A also produced fewer goals than usual, with 922 goals total.
"Inter went from Champions League finalists to elimination in the playoff round by Bod/Glimt, while Juventus conceded seven goals to Galatasaray. They both did better than last year's Scudetto winners, Napoli, who failed to even get through the group stage. At least Atalanta rescued Italy from having no representatives in the last 16 for the first time in almost 40 years when they overturned a two-goal deficit against Borussia Dortmund. And then they got walloped 10-2 on aggregate by Bayern Munich."
"There has been ugliness, too, on the domestic stage. An otherwise gripping Derby d'Italia in February was overshadowed by Alessandro Bastoni exaggerating contact to get Pierre Kalulu sent off, then shamelessly celebrating the success of his deception. When the Inter player got a red card in Italy's World Cup qualifying playoff defeat to Bosnia, some of his own compatriots called it karma."
"All this before we even mention the refereeing scandal that led the designator of match officials for Italy's top two divisions to suspend himself from duties in April. Or the mess of the penultimate round, when an entirely foreseeable scheduling clash between the Rome derby and finals of the Italian Open tennis tournament somehow did not get resolved until a few days before those events were set to take place after courts and politicians got involved."
"The football itself felt austere at times. There were 922 goals in Serie A this season 2.43 per game, the league's lowest a"
Read at www.theguardian.com
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