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It was a Serie A season that packed surprises aplenty. Juventus' firm foothold at the top has perished and their dreams of winning a tenth consecutive Serie A title have been dashed. Inter Milan have become the champions of Italy and they have looked by far the strongest side in the country.
Serie A has a reputation for being home to some of the most tactically intelligent and technically accomplished players. With more teams choosing to adopt an expansive style of football, we are starting to see the technical qualities of several individuals.
Serie A has some of the best forwards in Europe
Lazio's Ciro Immobile was the recipient of the European Golden Shoe in 2020. Even this season, we have seen several exceptional individuals contributing prolifically to the attacking side of things. Without further ado, let's take a look at the five best forwards in Serie A this season (2020-21).
#5 Lorenzo Insigne (Napoli)
Napoli captain Lorenzo Insigne led their late resurgence from the front. The Partenopei will feel hard done after a draw on the last day of the season against Hellas Verona cost them a place in the UEFA Champions League.
Insigne was Napoli's best player in the 2020/21 season and operating down the left flank, he caused problems for defenders with his pace, trickery and incredible technical ability. He loves to bomb down the left-wing before cutting in and testing the goalkeeper from the edge of the area.
The 29-year-old scored 19 goals and provided seven assists in 35 appearances this season. He is yet to sign a contract extension and is tipped to leave Napoli in the summer. Napoli will miss their captain immensely if he decides to seek greener pastures as he has been the decisive factor in plenty of their matches this season.
#4 Ciro Immobile (Lazio)
Ciro Immobile could not exactly replicate his form from the 2019-20 season this time around. He had scored 36 goals in 37 Serie A appearances in 2019-20 to win the European Golden Shoe. That number has almost halved this term but it has still been a good season for Lazio's main man.
Immobile missed four spot-kicks this season and he will rue those missed opportunities as a couple of them could have helped swing those games in Lazio's favour. Lazio finished sixth in the table and Immobile finished the Serie A season with 20 goals and six assists.
#3 Luis Muriel (Atalanta)
Luis Muriel has been able to express himself at Atalanta in a way he has not done at any of the other clubs he has been at. Atalanta's exciting brand of football had proven to be a great fit for Muriel since he joined the club in 2019.
In his first season at the club, he made 34 appearances in Serie A but only a mere 10 of them were starts. He still managed to score 18 goals. This time around, he has started 16 games and made 20 appearances off the bench, scoring a whopping 22 goals and providing nine assists in the league.
Muriel is in the form of his life and he has a way of making everything look easy when he is on the ball. The 30-year-old possesses great ball control and defenders start backpedaling the moment he embarks on a marauding run.
Muriel is also one of the best strikers of the ball in Serie A right now and has been pivotal to Atalanta securing Champions League qualification for the third season running.
#2 Romelu Lukaku (Inter Milan)
A lot of questions were asked when Inter Milan decided to shell out as much as €80 million to sign Romelu Lukaku from Manchester United. But Antonio Conte knew exactly what he was doing. He was looking for a striker who had pace, strength and could keep a cool head in front of goal and in Lukaku, he got more than what he bargained for.
Lukaku's influence on Inter Milan is so strong that he is one of the main reasons why they have been able to de-seat Juventus at the top of Serie A. The Belgian has been incredible up top for the Nerazzurri and has struck up a brilliant striking partnership with Lautaro Martinez.
Lukaku scored 24 goals and provided 11 assists in 36 appearances in Serie A this term. He is a handful to deal with every time Inter Milan break on the counter and has thrived in Italy where he is afforded a lot more room to run into than he was in the Premier League.
#1 Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus)
Juventus have had a largely forgettable season. They secured Champions League qualification on the last day of the Serie A campaign. Andrea Pirlo's project has looked promising at times but several of his players have underperformed this term and their fate could have been even worse if not for a certain Cristiano Ronaldo.
Despite turning 36, Cristiano Ronaldo continues to be one of the most prolific goalscorers on the planet. He ended the 2020-21 season with 29 goals and three assists from 34 Serie A appearances.
He has now become the first player to finish as the top scorer in the Premier League, La Liga and Serie A. It remains to be seen whether Ronaldo will be at Juventus next season but if he does leave, his presence will be sorely missed in Turin.
