2016 hasn’t been everyone’s favourite year - what with its penchant for mercilessly ending our favourite celebrity’s life or for fostering the world with orange-skinned idealogues. Yet, when it comes to football - specifically Italian football – 2016 will go down as one of the most eventful years till date.
It’s a bit incongruous to note that despite all the upheaval of a year that has seen some legends retire, club favourites leave, all-time records get shattered, the year ends with a familiar sight at the top of the table. Juventus march on to another Scudetto, but underneath them bubbles a volcano of clubs waiting to explode like Vesuvius.
Here are the top 5 moments of 2016 in Italian football.
#5 AC Milan end their trophy drought
Doha, Qatar.
Not many a Milanese would ever believe that the scene of where their resurgence as an Italian superpower began would be the Arabic nation, but that’s world football for you. In front of a sea of devoted Juve and Milan fans, Ignazio Abate lifted the first piece of silverware for the Rossoneri since 2011, which was made all the more sweeter by defeating the albatross of Italian football, Juventus.
It wasn’t easy – Juve never are. However, Vincenzo Montella’s young charges produced a display of defensive organization and attacking verve like the famed Milan sides of old, even outplaying Juventus for large spells of the match. After Leonardo Bonucci’s opener was cancelled out by the ever-reliable Giacomo Bonaventura, 120 minutes wasn’t enough to separate the two sides.
It came down to penalties, and fittingly, it was Milan’s crown prince, the 17-year-old Gianluigi Donnarumma, who won them the cup. The lanky teenager defied his years to intimidate Mario Mandzukic into striking his penalty against the bar, before producing a stunning save to deny Paulo Dybala and thus allow on-loan star Mario Pasalic to power home the decisive penalty and reduce old, wrinkled Rossoneri fans to sobbing tears of joy.
Casa Milan is glittering with silverware again.
#4 The ageless wonder that is Francesco Totti
After a dismal opening half of the campaign, Roma’s 2015/16 season experienced a resurgence after the appointment of Luciano Spalletti. However, it seemed to be too little too late, as Roma began stuttering at the fag end of the campaign, which was made all the more worse by Spalletti’s refusal to play Francesco Totti.
With just a few games left to go in the season, Roma were trailing 1-2 to Torino, with the Giallorossi struggling to break their opponents down. As a last throw of the dice, Spalletti sent on the 39-year-old Totti for Seydou Keita, with the clock reading 86 minutes. Surely he couldn’t, could he?
Il Re di Roma cemented his throne in an incredible three minutes. First, he powered home Miralem Pjanic’s free-kick with a neat finish to drag Roma level, and then reduced the entire Curva Sud to delirious tears by slamming home a penalty moments later to complete an incredible turnaround.
That 3-2 victory remains another of Totti’s iconic moments at the Olimpico, and to do it when he seemed past it, with doubts surrounding his future makes it all the more sweeter. There’s no better summary of this moment than Carlo Zampa’s commentary of the three minute spell, which had him sobbing on air.
#3 Juventus cement their dominance with a domestic double
To go from 12th place in October to runaway winners of Serie A in April is an incredible feat, but Juventus are an incredible team. The Bianconeri were 11 points of the top when Gigi Buffon stood up to make an inspirational speech in the dressing room, and his teammates responded in some style, winning 24 of the next 25 games to cement their title win.
A 2-1 win over Fiorentina was followed by Roma defeating Napoli 1-0 to hand the title to Juventus. It was a stunning fifth Serie A victory in succession for Juventus and Maximiliano Allegri deserves much of the credit, for rejigging a side that lost some crucial players at the start of the season.
They weren’t done anytime soon though – After a dour 108 minutes, Alvaro Morata came on to score a crucial extra-time winner for Juventus against AC Milan in the TIM Cup final, thus cementing their status as the dominant domestic force in Italian football, with a domestic double for the second consecutive season.
The Old Lady has no worthy foes left, and that is all down to Juve’s brilliance.
#2 Manuel Locatelli’s wondergoals
AC Milan have produced some of the most heartwarming moments this year, but nothing could beat the sight of a teary-eyed boy wonder sobbing while being interviewed after scoring his first goal for the club. Playing in defensive midfield, Locatelli showed a maturity beyond his years as soon as he took his first touch when he replaced Ricardo Montolivo. What followed was the stuff movies are made from.
After a corner was cleared out to him on the edge of the box, Locatelli crashed a wonderful swerving effort straight into the top corner and thus sign off a thrilling 3-3 draw for Milan against Sassuolo. His stunned ‘I don’t believe it’ reaction was made all the more heartwarming with his post match interview.
He wasn’t done.
In only his third start for Milan, Locatelli produced another stunner, this time to leave Gianluigi Buffon and Vincenzo Montella shaking their heads in disbelief. The youngster smashed in another unstoppable shot into the top corner and thus earn Milan their first win over Juventus since 2012.
#1 El Pipita breaking Gunnar Nordahl’s record
Serie A is a hard league to score in. A century of defensive nous has been drilled into the most callow of youngsters for generations, leaving very little space for forwards to work with. Paulo Dybala has played with Lionel Messi and is of the opinion that he and Cristiano Ronaldo would struggle to replicate their 50-goal-a-season hauls in Italy.
Gunnar Nordahl set the Capocannoniere record in the 1949/50 season for AC Milan with 35 goals, and since then, just two footballers (Antonio Valentin Angelillo and Luca Toni) have breached the 30 goal mark. That tells you just how incredible it was that Gonzalo Higuain broke a 66-year-old record with 36 goals for Napoli in 2015/16, despite missing three games.
And then you go and look at how El Pipita broke the record, and your jaw drops. Words do not suffice to describe this:
Is there any wonder Juventus smashed the record transfer fee in Serie A to bring him to Turin?
No.
