Inter retain title in season marked by tragedy

Juventus returned to Serie A after a one-year absence following their Calciopoli-related relegation but despite boasting the brilliant striking partnership of Alessandro Del Piero and David Trezeguet, they were unable to prevent Inter from successfully defending their Scudetto.

Roma did take the title race right to the wire, though, with Mirko Vucinic and Mancini proving most worthy foils for captain Francesco Totti. However, the Giallorossi finished as runners-up for the second consecutive season.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic was undoubtedly Inter’s star man but he was wonderfully well supported in attack by Julio Cruz. In addition, Esteban Cambiasso was a rock in midfield, while Maicon and Maxwell provided excellent width from the full-back berths. However, it was captain Javier Zanetti who led by example, the only player to appear in each and every Serie A game for the title-winners.

Unfortunately, the 2007-08 campaign was overshadowed the tragic death of Gabriele Sandri, a 26-year-old Lazio fan who was accidentally shot by a policeman following clashes between supporters of the Biancocelesti and Juventus on November 11, 2007.

CHANGES

Champions Inter strengthened their squad and weakened Roma’s by acquiring Christian Chivu for €16m. David Suazo also arrived from Cagliari as Alvaro Recoba departed for Torino.

Elsewhere, Roma replaced Chivu with Bayern Leverkusen’s Juan, as well as bringing in another Brazilian in Cicinho, and Barcelona winger Ludovic Giuly.

Milan cut their losses on Ricardo Oliveira and snapped up Internacional’s Alexandre Pato but, due to bureaucratic issues, they were unable to field the Brazilian striking sensation until January. He proved worth the wait, though.

After losing the prolific Luca Toni to Bayern Munich, Fiorentina bought Pablo Osvaldo and Christian Vieri, while newly promoted Napoli made one of the most important signings in the club’s history in prising Marek Hamsik away from Brescia.

As for newly-promoted Juventus, Claudio Ranieri…

Source link : https://www.footballcritic.com/season-reviews/inter-retain-title-in-season-marked-by-tragedy-serie-a-in-2007-08/104

Author : [email protected] (Martin Macdonald)

Publish date : 2024-07-29 13:00:00

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