2003–04 Serie A

The 2003–04 Serie A (known as the Serie A TIM for sponsorship reasons) was the 102nd season of top-tier Italian football, the 72nd in a round-robin tournament. It contained 18 teams for the 16th and last time from the 1988–89 season. With the bottom three being relegated, the 15th placed side would face the sixth-highest team from Serie B, with the winner playing in the Serie A in the subsequent 2004–05 season.

Serie A
Season2003–04
ChampionsMilan
17th title
RelegatedPerugia
Modena
Empoli
Ancona (to C2)
Champions LeagueMilan
Roma
Juventus
Internazionale
UEFA CupParma
Lazio
Udinese
Matches played306
Goals scored816 (2.67 per match)
Top goalscorerAndriy Shevchenko
(24 goals)
Biggest home winInternazionale 6–0 Reggina
(22 November 2003)
Roma 6–0 Siena
(22 February 2004)
Biggest away winBologna 0–4 Roma
(23 November 2003)
Highest scoringBrescia 4–4 Reggina
(21 September 2003)
Longest unbeaten runMilan
19 games
Longest winless runAncona
28 games
Highest attendance78,334
Milan v Internazionale
Lowest attendance3,774
Empoli v Udinese
2003–04 Serie A team distribution

As usual, the top two teams would progress directly to the UEFA Champions League group stage, while third and fourth place would have to begin in the third qualifying round. The UEFA Cup places would be awarded to fifth and sixth place, and the winners of the Coppa Italia.

Milan won their 17th scudetto; Roma impressed and were pushing for the title until the last few weeks of the season; Internazionale only made it to the Champions League ahead of Parma and Lazio on the last day thanks to Adriano, who had been signed from Parma earlier in the season; Lazio won the Coppa Italia against Juventus, handing Udinese the UEFA Cup spot; Ancona were relegated with only two wins, the joint lowest tally ever (Brescia's 12 points in 1994–95 Serie A is still the lowest ever); Empoli and Modena were also relegated; Perugia lost their special play-off, imposed to expand the league, against Fiorentina, who returned to Serie A after a two-year absence.

Milan’s Andriy Shevchenko

Ukrainian forward Andriy Shevchenko of Milan was the top scorer, with 24 goals. The 2003–04 league was the last professional season in the career of former European Footballer of the Year and Italian international Roberto Baggio, who finished among the tournament's top ten scorers with 12 goals, and among the all-time top five scorers in Serie A, with 205 career goals. It was also the last Serie A season for Baggio's former teammate Giuseppe Signori, who then moved to the Superleague Greece. Signori ended his career in Italy as the seventh highest scorer ever in Serie A.

Teams

Eighteen teams competed in the league – the top fourteen teams from the previous season and the four teams promoted from the Serie B. The promoted teams were Siena, Sampdoria, Lecce and Ancona. Sampdoria, Lecce and Ancona returned to the top flight after an absence of four, one and ten years respectively, while Siena played in the top flight for the first time in history. They replaced Atalanta (relegated after three seasons in the top flight), Piacenza, Torino (both teams relegated after a two-years presence) and Como (relegated after a season's presence).

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,[1] following provisional measures[2] 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.

Personnel and sponsoring

(as of 16 May 2004)

Team Head Coach Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor
Ancona* Giovanni Galeone Le Coq Sportif Banca Marche
Bologna Carlo Mazzone Macron Area Banca
Brescia Gianni De Biasi Kappa Banca Lombarda
Chievo Luigi Del Neri Lotto Paluani
Empoli Attilio Perotti Erreà Sammontana
Internazionale Alberto Zaccheroni Nike Pirelli
Juventus Marcello Lippi Nike Fastweb
Lazio Roberto Mancini Puma Parmacotto
Lecce* Delio Rossi Asics Salento
Milan Carlo Ancelotti Adidas Opel
Modena Gianfranco Bellotto Erreà Immergas
Parma Cesare Prandelli Champion Parmalat · Cariparma
Perugia Serse Cosmi Galex Toyota
Reggina Giancarlo Camolese Asics Credit Suisse
Roma Fabio Capello Diadora Mazda
Sampdoria* Walter Novellino Asics ERG
Siena* Giuseppe Papadopulo Lotto Monte Paschi Vita
Udinese Luciano Spalletti Le Coq Sportif Bernardi

(*) Promoted from Serie B.

Managerial changes
Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Incoming manager Date of appointment Position in table
Empoli Silvio Baldini End of contract 30 June 2003 Daniele Baldini 1 July 2003 Pre-season
Ancona Luigi Simoni Mutual consent 30 June 2003 Leonardo Menichini 1 July 2003 Pre-season
Reggina Luigi de Canio Mutual consent 30 June 2003 Franco Colomba 1 July 2003 Pre-season
Modena Gianni De Biasi End of contract 30 June 2003 Alberto Malesani 1 July 2003 Pre-season
Brescia Carlo Mazzone End of contract 30 June 2003 Gianni De Biasi 1 July 2003 Pre-season
Bologna Francesco Guidolin Sacked 26 August 2003 Carlo Mazzone 28 August 2003 Pre-season
Ancona Leonardo Menichini Sacked 29 September 2003 Nedo Sonetti 1 October 2003 18th
Internazionale Héctor Cúper Sacked 20 October 2003 Alberto Zaccheroni 21 October 2003 8th
Empoli Daniele Baldini Sacked 21 October 2003 Attilio Perotti 22 October 2003 17th
Reggina Franco Colomba Sacked 24 November 2003 Sergio Buso (caretaker) 27 November 2003 13th
Reggina Sergio Buso End of caretaker spell 1 December 2003 Giancarlo Camolese 3 December 2003 12th
Ancona Nedo Sonetti Sacked 27 January 2004 Giovanni Galeone 28 January 2004 18th
Modena Alberto Malesani Sacked 23 March 2004 Gianfranco Bellotto 24 March 2004 15th

League table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Milan (C) 34 25 7 2 65 24 +41 82 Qualification to Champions League group stage
2 Roma 34 21 8 5 68 19 +49 71
3 Juventus 34 21 6 7 67 42 +25 69 Qualification to Champions League third qualifying round
4 Internazionale 34 17 8 9 59 37 +22 59
5 Parma 34 16 10 8 57 46 +11 58 Qualification to UEFA Cup first round
6 Lazio 34 16 8 10 52 38 +14 56
7 Udinese[lower-alpha 1] 34 13 11 10 44 40 +4 50
8 Sampdoria 34 11 13 10 40 42 −2 46
9 Chievo 34 11 11 12 36 37 −1 44
10 Lecce 34 11 8 15 43 56 −13 41
11 Brescia 34 9 13 12 52 57 −5 40
12 Bologna 34 10 9 15 45 53 −8 39
13 Reggina 34 6 16 12 29 45 −16 34[lower-alpha 2]
14 Siena 34 8 10 16 41 54 −13 34[lower-alpha 2]
15 Perugia (R) 34 6 14 14 44 56 −12 32 Qualification play-offs
16 Modena (R) 34 6 12 16 27 46 −19 30[lower-alpha 3] Relegation to Serie B
17 Empoli (R) 34 7 9 18 26 54 −28 30[lower-alpha 3]
18 Ancona[lower-alpha 4] (R, E, R) 34 2 7 25 21 70 −49 13 Moved to Serie C2 for bankruptcy
Source: Almanacco Illustrato del Calcio – La Storia 1898-2004, Panini Edizioni, Modena, September 2005
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) tiebreaker for relevant positions 3) head-to-head points and goal difference; 4) head-to-head goals scored; 5) goal difference; 6) number of goals scored.
(C) Champion; (E) Eliminated; (R) Relegated.
Notes:
  1. Udinese gained entry to the 2004–05 UEFA Cup as Coppa Italia because both finalists Lazio and Juventus qualified for the 2004–05 UEFA Cup and the 2004–05 UEFA Champions League through league position, respectively.
  2. Reggina finished ahead of Siena on head-to-head points: Reggina 2–1 Siena, Siena 0–0 Reggina.
  3. Empoli finished ahead of Modena on head-to-head points: Empoli 0–3 Modena, Modena 1–1 Empoli.
  4. Ancona was denied entry to the 2004–05 Serie B season, having entered administration. It was later admitted to the Lega Professionisti Serie C after bankruptcy.

Results
Home \ Away ANC BOL BRE CHV EMP INT JUV LAZ LCE MIL MOD PAR PER REG ROM SAM SIE UDI
Ancona 3–2 1–1 0–2 2–1 0–2 2–3 0–1 0–2 0–2 1–1 0–2 0–0 1–1 0–0 0–1 0–0 0–3
Bologna 3–2 3–0 3–1 2–1 0–2 0–1 2–1 1–1 0–2 1–1 2–2 2–2 2–2 0–4 0–1 3–1 2–0
Brescia 5–2 0–0 1–1 2–0 2–2 2–3 2–1 1–2 0–1 0–0 2–3 1–1 4–4 1–0 1–1 4–2 1–2
Chievo 1–0 2–1 3–1 0–0 0–2 1–2 0–0 2–3 0–2 2–0 0–2 4–1 0–0 0–3 1–1 1–1 0–0
Empoli 2–0 2–0 1–1 0–1 2–3 3–3 2–2 0–0 0–1 0–3 1–0 1–0 1–1 0–2 1–1 1–0 2–0
Internazionale 3–0 4–2 1–3 0–0 0–1 3–2 0–0 3–1 1–3 2–0 1–0 2–1 6–0 0–0 0–0 4–0 1–2
Juventus 3–0 2–1 2–0 1–0 5–1 1–3 1–0 3–4 1–3 3–1 4–0 1–0 1–0 2–2 2–0 4–2 4–1
Lazio 4–2 2–1 0–1 1–0 3–0 2–1 2–0 4–1 0–1 2–1 2–3 3–1 1–1 1–1 1–1 5–2 2–2
Lecce 3–1 1–2 1–4 1–2 2–1 2–1 1–1 0–1 1–1 1–0 1–2 1–2 2–1 0–3 0–0 0–0 2–1
Milan 5–0 2–1 4–2 2–2 1–0 3–2 1–1 1–0 3–0 2–0 3–1 2–1 3–1 1–0 3–1 2–1 1–2
Modena 2–1 2–0 1–1 0–3 1–1 1–1 0–2 1–1 2–0 1–1 2–2 1–0 1–2 0–1 1–0 1–3 0–1
Parma 3–1 0–0 2–2 3–1 4–0 1–0 2–2 0–3 3–1 0–0 3–0 3–0 1–2 1–4 1–0 1–1 4–3
Perugia 1–0 4–2 2–2 0–2 1–1 2–3 1–0 1–2 2–2 1–1 1–1 2–2 0–0 0–1 3–3 2–2 3–3
Reggina 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 2–0 0–2 0–2 2–1 1–3 2–1 1–1 1–1 1–2 0–0 2–2 2–1 0–1
Roma 3–0 1–2 5–0 3–1[lower-alpha 1] 3–0[lower-alpha 2] 4–1 4–0 2–0 3–1 1–2 1–0 2–0 1–3[lower-alpha 3] 2–0 3–1 6–0 1–1
Sampdoria 2–0 3–2 2–1 1–0 2–0 2–2 1–2 1–2 2–2 0–3 1–1 1–2 3–2 2–0 0–0 2–1 1–3
Siena 3–2 0–0 0–1 1–2 4–0 0–1 1–3 3–0 2–1 1–2 4–0 1–2 2–1 0–0 0–0 0–0 1–0
Udinese 3–0 1–3 4–3 1–1 2–0 0–0 0–0 1–2 1–0 0–0 1–0 1–1 1–1 1–0 1–2 0–1 1–1
Source: lega-calcio.it (in Italian)
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
Notes:
  1. The match was played at Stadio Renzo Barbera.
  2. The match was played at Stadio Renzo Barbera.
  3. The match was played at Stadio Renzo Barbera.

Qualification play-offs

Perugia had to play a qualification match with 6th-placed team of Serie B, Fiorentina.

Perugia0–1Fiorentina
Fantini  10'
Attendance: 23,500
Fiorentina1–1Perugia
Fantini  47' do Prado  82'
Attendance: 43,000

Fiorentina won 2–1 on aggregate and were promoted to 2004–05 Serie A; Perugia were relegated to 2004–05 Serie B.

Top goalscorers
Rank Player Club Goals
1 Andriy Shevchenko Milan 24
2 Alberto Gilardino Parma 23
3 Francesco Totti Roma 20
4 Javier Chevantón Lecce 19
5 Adriano Internazionale, Parma 17
6 David Trezeguet Juventus 16
7 Antonio Cassano Roma 14
8 Fabio Bazzani Sampdoria 13
Christian Vieri Internazionale
10 Roberto Baggio Brescia 12
Andrea Caracciolo Brescia
Dino Fava Udinese
Jon Dahl Tomasson Milan

Number of teams by region
Region Number of teams Teams
1  Emilia-Romagna3Bologna, Modena and Parma
 Lombardy3Brescia, Internazionale and Milan
3  Lazio2Lazio and Roma
 Tuscany2Empoli and Siena
5  Apulia1Lecce
 Calabria1Reggina
 Friuli-Venezia Giulia1Udinese
 Liguria1Sampdoria
 Marche1Ancona
 Piedmont1Juventus
 Umbria1Perugia
 Veneto1Chievo

Season transfers

References
  • Almanacco Illustrato del Calcio – La Storia 1898-2004, Panini Edizioni, Modena, September 2005

Footnotes
  1. "Italy blocks non-EU players". UEFA.com. 2003-03-05. Retrieved 2010-03-09.
  2. "Italians bar non-EU imports". UEFA.com. 2002-07-17. Retrieved 2010-03-09.
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