Serie A 2026/27 (M)

In 1929 the Italian federation tore down the regional groups and built two national divisions with promotion and relegation. That is where the single-table Serie A comes from. The first edition, 1929/30, went to Inter, who were then called Ambrosiana. Ever since, the Scudetto has been settled in one table, and the country has spent almost a century arguing over how many sit in each trophy cabinet.

Three clubs run the place. Juventus appear with 36 titles in the FIGC's records, Inter with 21, Milan with 19. Behind them stand names from another age: Genoa on 9, and Bologna, Torino and Pro Vercelli on 7 apiece. Napoli have 4, Roma 3, Lazio and Fiorentina 2, and Verona, Cagliari and Sampdoria one each.

The Juventus tally is not a bookkeeping quibble. In May 2006 the Calciopoli wiretaps exposed the pressure applied to Italy's refereeing appointers; on 26 July the FIGC handed Inter the 2005/06 title, left 2004/05 unassigned and sent Juventus down to Serie B, where they began nine points in arrears once the appeals were done. Fiorentina were docked 15 points, Reggina 11, Milan 8 and Lazio 3. One consequence is still visible on the shirt: when Juventus reached 30 titles won on the pitch, in 2012, they were barred from stitching on the third star and played with "30 sul campo" embroidered across the chest instead.

Three rounds were still to play when Inter beat Parma 2-0 at home on 3 May 2026 and took a twenty-first Scudetto. They finished on 87 points, 27 wins and 89 goals, the sharpest attack in the division. Lautaro Martínez was capocannoniere with 17, a modest haul by Italian standards. Napoli came second on 76, Roma third on 73.

The season's discovery was Como. Cesc Fàbregas's side conceded 29 goals, fewer than anyone, gathered 71 points and reached the Champions League for the first time in the club's history. They sealed it on the final day, winning 4-1 at Cremona while Milan lost 2-1 at home to Cagliari. Milan (70) and Juventus (69) settled for the Europa League, Atalanta (59) for the Conference play-off.

At the bottom there was no argument. Pisa went down on 18 points and two wins in 38 matches, Verona on 21 and three, Cremonese on 34. Average attendance was 30,739 a match, and the biggest crowd of the year, 75,681, watched the goalless draw between Milan and Juventus on 26 April.

The fixture list was drawn at the Teatro Regio in Parma on 5 June, and it sends Juventus to Frosinone on 23 August to open their season. The campaign starts on the weekend of the 22nd — Udinese v Como and Inter v Monza get Saturday going — and does not finish until Sunday 30 May 2027, when the last ten matches all kick off together.

Three familiar faces come up. Venezia won Serie B under Giovanni Stroppa, Frosinone finished second under Massimiliano Alvini, and Monza came through the narrow door with Paolo Bianco, beating Alberto Aquilani's Catanzaro in the play-off final. None has been away long: Monza and Venezia went down in 2025, Frosinone in 2024. Cremonese, Verona and Pisa took their places in Serie B.

Inter defend the title, and the draw has pulled the big nights well apart: Milan v Inter falls on matchday 10 and the return on 24; Inter v Juventus on 19, Juventus v Inter on 36. Lazio host Roma on matchday 15 and travel across the city on 32. There are two midweek rounds, on 28 October and 6 January, a long international break from 21 September to 6 October, and a two-day Christmas truce on 26 and 27 December.

Three go down, three come up, and there is no play-off for the title or for survival. The top four enter the Champions League; fifth goes to the Europa League alongside the Coppa Italia winner, and if that winner is already qualified the place drops to the next club in the table — exactly what handed it to Juventus last season. Seventh gets a Conference League play-off.

What sets Italy apart is the tie. If two clubs finish level on points at the top, goal difference does not decide it: they play a spareggio, one match at the home of the better-placed side by the classifica avulsa, ninety minutes and then straight to penalties, no extra time. The tie for 17th, the relegation place, is played over two legs. Everywhere else the head-to-head record outranks overall goal difference. It has been needed exactly once: on 7 June 1964, at the Olimpico in Rome, Bologna beat Inter 2-0 through a Fogli free kick and a Nielsen counter-attack, and took a seventh title.

One calendar quirk changes how the table reads: since 2021/22 the second half no longer mirrors the first. The draw only insists that no fixture repeats until another eight rounds have gone by, and it bans derbies from matchday one and matchday 38.