The 2019–20 Serie A (known as the Serie A TIM for sponsorship reasons) was the 118th season of top-tier Italian football, the 88th in a round-robin tournament, and the 10th since its organization under an own league committee, the Lega Serie A. Juventus were the eight-time defending champions and they successfully defended their title following a 2–0 win against Sampdoria on 26 July 2020.[4]
The season was originally scheduled to run from 24 August 2019 to 24 May 2020.[5] However, on 9 March 2020, the Italian government halted the league until 3 April 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy.[3] Serie A did not resume play on this date, citing it would only resume once "health conditions allow it".[6] On 18 May, it was announced that Italian football would be suspended until 14 June.[7] On 28 May, it was announced that Serie A would resume starting 20 June.[8]
Events
On 14 April 2019, Chievo returned to Serie B after 11 years.[9] Following this on 5 May Frosinone was relegated after one year[10] while the last team to be relegated was Empoli (on 26 May 2019) also after just one year.[11]
Teams that were promoted directly from 2018–19 Serie B were Brescia (on 1 May 2019, after 8 years of absence[12]) and Lecce (10 days later, after 7 years[13]) while the last team to join was Hellas Verona (after just one season in Serie B) by winning the promotion play-off on 2 June.[14]
On 28 June 2019, Milan were excluded from the Europa League after breaches of the UEFA Financial Fair Play Regulations.[15]Roma were then moved to the Europa League group phase while Torino entered the preliminary round.[16]
Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Serie A
On 22 February 2020, Prime Minister of Italy, Giuseppe Conte, suspended all sporting events in the regions of Lombardy and Veneto, which included three Serie A matches in those regions, as well as one in Piedmont, that were to be played the following day, due to the COVID-19 pandemicin the country.[17][18] The following week, six matches were initially to be played behind closed doors due to scare of the outbreak, however, all were later outright suspended.[19][20][21] On 4 March, the government ruled that all sporting events in Italy would be played behind closed doors until 3 April.[2] On 9 March, the government ruled that all sporting events in Italy be suspended until 3 April.[3] Serie A did not resume play on this date, citing it will only resume once "health conditions allow it".[6] Even there was considered the option of cancelling the championship. On 13 May, it was announced that team training would be resumed on 18 May,[22] and on 18 May it was announced that Italian football would be suspended until 14 June.[7] On 28 May, Italian Minister for SportVincenzo Spadafora announced that Serie A would resume starting 20 June.[8] Protocol was established wherein the entire squad would be quarantined for 14 days if one member, player or staff, tests positive for COVID-19.[23] On 18 June, Spadafora approved the softening of quarantine rules which allowed for the quarantining of only the individual who tests positive for COVID-19, whereas the rest of the squad will ramp up testing, including a rapid-response test the day before a match.[24]
Source: Serie A, Soccerway Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head points; 3) Head-to-head goal difference; 4) Goal difference; 5) Goals scored; 6) Draw. (Note: Head-to-head record is used only after all the matches between the teams in question have been played) (C) Champions; (R) Relegated Notes:
^ abAtalanta finished ahead of Lazio on head-to-head points: Lazio 3–3 Atalanta, Atalanta 3–2 Lazio.
^Napoli qualified for the Europa League group stage by winning the 2019–20 Coppa Italia.
^ abcPositions determined by head-to-head points: Hellas Verona: 10 pts; Fiorentina: 5 pts; Parma: 1 pt.
^ abUdinese finished ahead of Cagliari on head-to-head points: Udinese 2–1 Cagliari, Cagliari 0–1 Udinese.
Source: Serie A Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win. For upcoming matches, an "a" indicates there is an article about the rivalry between the two participants.
^"Comunicato stampa". bresciacalcio.it (in Italian). Brescia Calcio. 5 February 2020. Archived from the original on 5 February 2020. Retrieved 5 February 2020.