Serie A regains its position

Inter (right) and Napoli create an exciting two-horse race - Photo: Reuters

Early morning of May 13 (Vietnam time), Atalanta beat AS Roma with a score of 2-1 to officially finish in the race for a ticket to next season's Champions League.

Compete on all fronts

Specifically, Atalanta is currently ranked 3rd with 71 points, 7 points more than the 4th ranked team Juventus, while there are only 2 rounds left in the tournament. Above, Mr. Gasperini's team is also behind the top of the table Napoli by exactly the same number of points.

The season for Atalanta is over. They are sure of a top 4 spot, and also have no hope of winning the championship. But Atalanta is the only team that is "relaxed" in the last 2 rounds. In the context of all other major tournaments having been decided, the Serie A championship race becomes the most exciting tournament in May when there are too many overlapping races.

In the top group, Napoli is only 1 point ahead of Inter Milan. Napoli has the advantage in terms of schedule, because Inter Milan still has to face Lazio in the last 2 rounds. Meanwhile, Napoli only faces teams with much lower level, Parma and Cagliari. However, both of the above names are thirsty for points in the relegation race. Therefore, it will not be easy for Napoli to win all 6 points.

That's the championship race, and in the top 4 group, the competition has now expanded to 6 representatives. It includes 4th place Juventus (64 points) to 9th place Fiorentina (59 points), sandwiched in between Lazio, Roma, Bologna and AC Milan respectively.

In the relegation group, only Monza is certain to surrender. The rest, from 14th place (Cagliari) to 19th place (Empoli), are still fighting fiercely.

The appeal is back

As of round 36, the average attendance for Serie A this season is around 30,700 people per match. This is a good number for Italian fans. For nearly 20 years, Serie A has been in a long slump, most clearly shown by the decreasing number of spectators coming to the stadium.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, Serie A's average attendance was only around 25,000 people per match. That was an extremely low number because in the 1990s, the number of spectators coming to their stadium was always over 30,000 people per match, sometimes even approaching 40,000. Not only did the number of fans in the stands decrease, the number of people watching Serie A on television also decreased significantly.

The decline of Serie A has opened up a golden period for La Liga and then the Premier League. Serie A stars have flocked to other leagues. And so have top coaches. Over the past decade, fans have witnessed top Italian coaches such as Ancelotti, Conte, Sarri move to the Premier League to work. Not to mention a generation of young coaches such as De Zerbi, Maresca...

In terms of stars, the days when Serie A was home to the Ballon d'Or are long gone. The last time a Serie A player made it into the top 3 was in 2019 - with Ronaldo in Juventus colours. Before that, the last time something similar happened was in 2007 (Kaka).

But after a period of extreme decline, Serie A has shown signs of improvement in recent seasons. As the overall level of the league has become more synchronized, Serie A has escaped the situation that the Bundesliga and Ligue 1 have encountered: the dominance of one club that is too strong. Their last three seasons have seen three different champions. And this season, Napoli and Inter Milan have created the most exciting two-horse race in the group of European leagues.

On the continent, Inter Milan have reached the Champions League final for the second time in the last three seasons. Who dares to say Serie A is bad?

HUY DANG

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/serie-a-lay-lai-vi-the-20250514102213592.htm