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The Italian league has always boasted some of the most iconic football players in the world. The likes of Maradona, Maldini, Platini, Zidane, Nesta, Zanetti, Cannavaro, Buffon, Pirlo and Del Piero were the crown jewels of Italian teams. These players helped usher in a new era of success that was never seen in Italy before. From the most prolific scorers to the most assertive defenders or the most skilful midfielders, the Italian league has always been a hub of great players.
Thus it's not a surprise that the race for the top scorer award or the - award is one of the most hotly contested battles of the season. There have been many incredible stories around the years for the top scorer race.
Though the Serie A lost some of its sheens in recent times, it still had many amazing goalscorers among its ranks. In this article, we'll get into the history books and have a look at the Capocannoniere winners over the last decade.
#1 Serie A top scorer 2018-19
With the arrival of Cristiano Ronaldo at the beginning of 2018-19 Serie A season, it was expected that he will easily roll over his opponents in the quest for the top scorer award. He was earmarked for the Capocannoniere award even before kicking a ball. Yet, despite his impressive performances in the league as well as the Champions League, Ronaldo was beaten for the top scorer award by certain Fabio Quagliarella. He found an unlikely competitor in the form of this 36-year-old Italian veteran.
Fabior Quagliarella was undoubtedly the biggest highlight of the Serie A season. He plundered a career-high of 26 goals to claim the Capocannoniere award. Five goals ahead of Ronaldo, Quagliarella also beat the likes of AC Milan hotshot Krzysztof Piątek and Atalanta hero Duvan Zapata.
We were expecting him to be crowned the top scorer but to go on and actually claim the award is truly remarkable.
#2 Serie A top scorer 2017-18
During the 2017-18 season, Juventus were once again the dominant force in Italy. The team wrapped up its 7th consecutive league title. But the top scorers for the season were part of the league winning side. The Capocannoniere award for the 2017-18 season was jointly won by Inter's Mauro Icardi and Lazio's Ciro Immobile. They both scored 29 goals each to claim the prestigious award.
Icardi had been prolific for Inter for the past few seasons. The 29 goals scored by him were the highest he ever scored in a single campaign. Immobile too, after a few years in the wilderness, showed the world his goal scoring capabilities. His form was similar to the one during his breakout season with Torino. Immobile also broke the record for the highest goals the highest number of goals scored by a Lazio player.
Moreover, it was during the 2017-18 season that the world was shocked by the untimely demise of then Fiorentina captain Davide Astori.
#3 Serie A top scorer 2016-17
The 2016-17 Serie A season saw Juventus being crowned the champions of Italy for the sixth consecutive season, strong evidence of the fact that the Serie A had lost its competitiveness.
This season also saw the introduction of VAR in the Serie A which made Italy one of the early adopters of this new technology.
The Capocannoniere was won by Edin Dzeko who scored 29 league goals during the season. After a disappointing first season with Roma, he really came on his own and scored a total of 39 goals in all competitions while also breaking the record for the highest number of goals scored by a Roma player in a single season. In the process of becoming the Capocannoniere winner for the season, Dzeko also became the first Bosnian player to win this award.
While Roma fans were ecstatic for their player’s prolific display in front of goal, they were also struggling to cope up with the retirement of Roma and Italy legend Francesco Totti during the same season.
#4 Serie A top scorer 2015-16
This was the season that epitomized ‘Sarriball’. Under the guidance of Maurizio Sarri, Napoli played some of the most exciting football on the planet with Gonzalo Higuain particularly benefitting from it. Higuain scored 36 goals during the season, thus claiming the Capocannoniere award in a record-breaking fashion. His haul of 36 league goals was the highest for any player in a single Serie A season (breaking Gunnar Nordahl’s long-standing record of 35 goals during the 1949-50 season).
His performance was emphatic as evident from the fact that the runner up for the Serie A top scorer was Paulo Dybala with 19 goals.
#5 Serie A top scorer 2014-15
The 2014-15 Serie A season threw light on the financial disparity of top-table and lower-table clubs. The season saw Parma being relegated to Serie D because of bankruptcy.
On the footballing front, the top scorer award was won jointly by Inter’s Mauro Icardi and Verona’s Luca Toni with 22 goals each. Icardi achieved this feat in his first full season as an Inter player. It was this season that Icardi truly announced himself. The Serie A top scorer made a name for himself and endeared himself to the Inter faithful. His performances led him to be crowned the captain of Inter, despite his young age.
Along with Icardi, the other joint holder of the Capocannoniere award for the 2014-15 season was the prolific Italian veteran, Luca Toni. With 22 goals in a single season, Luca Toni also became the oldest winner of the Capocannoniere award while playing for a team that finished 13th in the table.
#6 Serie A top scorer 2013-14
During the 2013-14 season, Juventus established themselves as the top dogs in Italy with their third consecutive Serie A title triumph. The season’s top scorer award was won by Ciro Immobile for his haul of 22 goals for Torino.
After a few loan spells away from his parent club Juventus, Immobile joined Torino in 2013-14. This proved to be a catalyst as it soon turned out to be his breakout season. In doing so, he also became the first Torino player to win the prestigious Capocannoniere since Francesco Graziani in 1976-77 season.
#7 Serie A top scorer 2012-13
The Capocannoniere award for the 2012-13 season was won by the now PSG striker Edinson Cavani who scored 29 goals during the season for Napoli. The 2012-13 season was Cavani’s final season in Italy. His emphatic displays throughout the season earned him a blockbuster move to PSG the next summer. Cavani’s haul of 29 was 6 more than the runner up Antonio Di Natale who scored 23 goals for Udinese.
#8 Serie A top scorer 2011-12
31 trophies, more than 520 career goals, 9 different clubs, 11-time Swedish Player of the Year, and one of the most enormous personalities in the world of football. The Capocannoniere award for the 2011-12 season was won by none other than Zlatan Ibrahimović. After an initial loan spell, Ibrahimović joined AC Milan on a permanent basis for the 2011-12 season. During the course of the season, Ibrahimović scored 28 league goals and propelled the team to the second position in the table, just 4 points behind the champions Juventus.
#9 Serie A top scorer 2010-11
The 2010-11 was the last time any team other than Juventus won the league title. The Serie A top scorer award was picked by Udinese legend Antonio Di Natale who scored 28 goals. His contribution of 28 goals in 36 matches meant that he had the best strike rate of any player in Italy. His performances also helped Udinese qualify for the Champions League Play-off Round after grabbing the 4th spot in the Serie A table. Di Natale was also awarded the Serie A Italian Footballer of the Year.
#10 Serie A top scorer 2009-10
Not just in 2010-11, Antonio Di Natale was the top scorer in the previous season too. The 2009-10 season of Serie A was the most prolific year in Di Natale’s career. Scoring a career high of 29 goals in a single season, he directly contributed to 54% of Udinese’s goals. The season also saw him surpass the club record for most league goals in a season, previously held by Oliver Bierhoff. During this time, Di Natale was among the top strikers in the world whose goalscoring prowess was only bettered by Messi and Ronaldo.
#11 Serie A top scorer 2008-09
The 2008-09 Serie A season was the last one to feature a Capocannoniere winner from the league winning side. And who it was you ask? None other than the great Swede, Zlatan Ibrahimović. Zlatan’s 25 goals helped Inter Milan to their fourth successive league title. It was Zlatan’s final season with Inter before departing to Barcelona. His exploits for Inter helped him claim a second successive Footballer of the Year award as well as the Foreign Footballer of the Year award.
