Italian Serie A

The fourth biggest futbol league in the world is the Italian Serie A TIM. Similar to every other major league in Europe it is sponsored by a major business corporation, this time its Telecom Italia. Serie A is the top level of the Italian futbol system, hosting the 20 best clubs in the country through the common relegation/promotion format.

Each season begins in August and ends in May, coinciding with the domestic Coppa Italia (post on this to come). Each team in the league plays each other twice, home and away. The top three finishers of the league are granted a place in the Champions League (post on this to come). Serie A is home to three of the fiercest clubs known around the world; Internazionale (Inter Milan), Juventus, and AC Milan. 

Clubs and Stadiums

Team	Home city	Stadium	Capacity	2012–13 season
Atalanta	Bergamo	Atleti Azzurri d'Italia	26,542	15th in Serie A
Bologna	Bologna	Renato Dall'Ara	38,279	13th in Serie A
Cagliari	Cagliari	Sant'Elia1	TBD	11th in Serie A
Catania	Catania	Angelo Massimino	23,420	8th in Serie A
Chievo	Verona	Marc'Antonio Bentegodi	38,402	12th in Serie A
Fiorentina	Florence	Artemio Franchi	47,282	4th in Serie A
Genoa	Genoa	Luigi Ferraris	36,685	17th in Serie A
Internazionale	Milan	San Siro	80,074	9th in Serie A
Juventus	Turin	Juventus Stadium	41,254	Serie A champions
Lazio	Rome	Olimpico	72,698	7th in Serie A
Livorno	Livorno	Armando Picchi	19,238	Serie B playoffs winner
Milan	Milan	San Siro	80,018	3rd in Serie A
Napoli	Naples	San Paolo	60,240	2nd in Serie A
Parma	Parma	Ennio Tardini	27,906	10th in Serie A
Roma	Rome	Olimpico	72,698	6th in Serie A
Sampdoria	Genoa	Luigi Ferraris	36,685	14th in Serie A
Sassuolo	Sassuolo (playing in Reggio Emilia)	Mapei Stadium[1]	20,084	Serie B Champions
Torino	Turin	Olimpico di Torino	27,994	16th in Serie A
Udinese	Udine	Friuli2	30,642	5th in Serie A
Verona	Verona	Marc'Antonio Bentegodi	38,402	2nd in Serie B

 Italian Futbol Derbies

• Derby della Madonnina: One of the greatest rivalries in Italy is between the two best teams from Milan; Internazionale and AC Milan. Similar to the New York Jets/New York Giants, both these teams share the same stadium at San Siro. Their fanbase is equally divided throughout the stadium and the city of Milan. Since 1898 both these teams have been tightly contested through regular season and championship matches. Their head-to-head record is very close, currently in AC Milans favor 110 wins-78 draws-107 losses over Inter Milan. 
• Derby d'Italia: This one is faced between two of the best teams in Italy; Juventus and Inter Milan. Since 1908 it has been a highly contested match between two of Italy's biggest cities, often with political tension. As of now, Juventus leads the series with 95-53-68 over Inter Milan. 

History of Serie A

In 1930 the Italian futbol system established the Serie A as a premiere league replacing it's prior regional tournament format (that was established in 1898). Genoa won the first ever Italian championship in 1898, however Inter Milan went on to win the first league championship in 1930. Since it's inception there have been three dominant teams in the league; Juventus has won the championship 29 times, while AC Milan and Inter Milan have won it 18 times. Other notable champions and rising powers in Italian futbol are Genoa, Torino, Bologna, Roma, Lazio, Fiorentina, Napoli, Cagliari. 

Club	Winners	Runners-up	Championship seasons
Juventus	29	21	1905, 1925–26, 1930–31, 1931–32, 1932–33, 1933–34, 1934–35, 1949–50, 1951–52, 1957–58, 1959–60, 1960–61, 1966–67, 1971–72, 1972–73, 1974–75, 1976-77, 1977–78, 1980–81, 1981–82, 1983–84, 1985–86, 1994–95, 1996–97, 1997–98, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2011–12, 2012–13
Milan	18	17	1901, 1906, 1907, 1950–51, 1954–55, 1956–57, 1958–59, 1961–62, 1967–68, 1978–79, 1987–88, 1991–92, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1995–96, 1998–99, 2003–04, 2010–11
Internazionale	18	13	1909–10, 1919–20, 1929–30, 1937–38, 1939–40, 1952–53, 1953–54, 1962–63, 1964–65, 1965–66, 1970–71, 1979–80, 1988–89, 2005–06,2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10
Genoa	9	4	1898, 1899, 1900, 1902, 1903, 1904, 1914–15, 1922–23, 1923–24
Torino	7	7	1927–28, 1942–43, 1945–46, 1946–47, 1947–48, 1948–49, 1975–76
Bologna	7	4	1924–25, 1928–29, 1935–36, 1936–37, 1938–39, 1940–41, 1963–64
Pro Vercelli	7	1	1908, 1909, 1910–11, 1911–12, 1912–13, 1920–21, 1921–22 (CCI)
Roma	3	11	1941–42, 1982–83, 2000–01
Lazio	2	7	1973–74, 1999–2000
Fiorentina	2	5	1955–56, 1968–69
Napoli	2	5	1986–87, 1989–90
Cagliari	1	1	1969–70
Casale	1	-	1913–14
Novese	1	-	1921–22 (FIGC)
Sampdoria	1	-	1990–91
Verona	1	-	1984–85

Best Players to Watch

1. Mario Balotelli AC Milan (2013-present) Italy (2010-present) Age 23

2. Carlos Tevez Juventus (2013-present) Argentina (2004-2011) Age 30

3. Mario Gomez Fiorentina (2013-present) Germany (2007-present) Age 28

4. Daniele De Rossi Roma (2001-present) Italy (2004-present) Age 30

5. Giorgio Chiellini Juventus (2005-present) Italy (2004-present) Age 29

6. Arturo Vidal Juventus (2011-present) Chile (2007-present) Age 26

7. Gonzalo Higuain Napoli (2013-present) Argentina (2009-present) Age 26

8. Rodrigo Palacio Inter Milan (2012-present) Argentina (2005-present) Age 32

9. Stephan El Shaarawy AC Milan (2011-present) Italy (2012-present) Age 21

10. Paul Pogba Juventus (2012-present) France (2013-present) Age 20

Top Ten GoalScorers

Rank	Name	Years	Matches	Goals	(%)
1	Silvio Piola	1929–1954	537	274	51%
2	Francesco Totti	1993–present	535	232	42%
3	Gunnar Nordahl	1949–1958	291	225	77%
4	Giuseppe Meazza	1929–1947	367	216	59%
4	José Altafini	1958–1976	459	216	47%
5	Roberto Baggio	1985–2004	452	205	45%
6	Kurt Hamrin	1956–1971	400	190	48%
7	Giuseppe Signori	1991–2004	344	188	55%
8	Gabriel Batistuta	1991–2003	318	184	58%