Inter bounced back under Cristian Chivu to claim their first domestic double since 2010, while Como made a splash by qualifying for the Champions League for the first time in their history. Scott McTominay kept Napoli ticking, but Italian football endured a difficult season overall, with the men's national team failing to qualify for a third consecutive World Cup and Serie A clubs struggling in European competitions.
Inter went from Champions League finalists to elimination in the playoff round by Bodø/Glimt, while Juventus conceded seven goals to Galatasaray. Napoli, last year's Scudetto winners, failed to get through the group stage. Atalanta rescued Italy from having no representatives in the last 16 for the first time in almost 40 years by overturning a two-goal deficit against Borussia Dortmund, only to lose 10-2 on aggregate to Bayern Munich.
In the Europa League, Bologna knocked out Roma but lost 7-1 across two legs to Aston Villa. Fiorentina were 4-0 down in their Europa Conference League quarter-final with Crystal Palace before pulling a couple of goals back. Domestically, an otherwise gripping Derby d'Italia in February was overshadowed by Alessandro Bastoni exaggerating contact to get Pierre Kalulu sent off, then celebrating his deception.
There was also a refereeing scandal that led the designator of match officials for Italy's top two divisions to suspend himself in April, and a scheduling clash between the Rome derby and the Italian Open tennis finals that was not resolved until days before the events. The football itself felt austere, with 922 goals scored in Serie A this season – 2.43 per game, the league's lowest average since 1993-94.
Inter's gamble on Christian Chivu, who had only 13 games of senior management experience, was richly rewarded. After losing two of their first three matches under his leadership, Inter piled up 89 goals, the most in the league. Como, playing in the fourth tier as recently as 2019, scored 65 goals and qualified for the Champions League, playing compelling football under Cesc Fàbregas. However, their rapid rise has been fuelled by generous spending by billionaire owners and a squad of almost exclusively foreign players – only one Italian, Edoardo Goldaniga, played for them in Serie A this season.
The percentage of minutes played by non-Italian footballers in Serie A has shifted from about 30% to closer to 70% over the last 20 years. The number of British players in the Italian top-flight continued to grow, with Jamie Vardy arriving at Cremonese in September to a chaotic welcome from fans at Milan's Linate airport.
