📝 Serie A, the grades! Como above Inter! Roma 🔝, Milan and Juve horror 🥶 | OneFootball

Serie A has come to an end, and it’s time to hand out grades to every team in a league that this year offered little entertainment but — thankfully — kept us on the edge of our seats until the very end in many parts of the table.

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Let’s take a look at the big report card for the 2025/2026 season, in alphabetical order.

🔵⚫️ Atalanta: 6

You know when you convince yourself that a crazy decision actually makes perfect sense? Everything seems perfect because it’s so simple, so obvious: "Gasperini’s disciple is Juric, so let’s get him," Atalanta must have thought.

Literally everyone thought / read / commented: "Sure, but Juric has just finished one of the worst seasons in football history for a single coach." Oh well, details: and in fact, the dismissal came after 11 matchdays.

Palladino’s arrival saved the season, which then faded out: between the Coppa Italia exit and an ending far from any major goals, the season was still a pass.

🔴🔵 Bologna: 6

Vincenzo Italiano’s Bologna got off to a shaky start, the new signings (especially in defense) struggled to settle in, but then the team started to find its rhythm. Only to collapse inexplicably from December to February: not just tactical problems — though there were those too — but constant mental blackouts after conceding the first goal.

In spring the team recovered, even while leaving out key names like Orsolini and Odgaard. Their cup run went pretty much as expected: progressing until losing to an objectively stronger team, namely Aston Villa. In the end, nothing particularly good or bad.

🔵🔴 Cagliari: 7

Survival achieved overall quite comfortably, apart from one stretch when it looked like Lecce and Cremonese might really trouble Pisacane’s side.

A strong finish, with 4 wins in the last 7 and last night’s huge result at San Siro, took the rossoblù up to 14th place, +9 above the drop zone. Add to that the credit for believing in Marco Palestra, who arrived in Cagliari as a complete unknown and in just a few months became one of the hottest names on the market. Too bad he belongs to Atalanta...

🔵⚪️ Como: 10

It was supposed to be a year of consolidation, and instead it became a coronation: Como and Cesc Fabregas (who are almost the same thing) stuck to their principles but were also able to change when reality made it clear that something had to change.

Cesc dropped certain dogmas after the heavy defeat to Roma. From that moment on, he earned Europe by starting to scare the top clubs. A bit like what happened last January: by disproving part of the summer transfer strategy. Como and Fabregas are capable of changing and know when to do it because, first and foremost, they know who they are. The icing on the cake — almost unexpected — was qualification for the Champions League, a goal too big to even be imagined. 

🩶❤️ Cremonese: 5

Nicola, the man of survival miracles mid-season, seemed to have lost his magic: enough impossible feats. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case: because Cremonese’s start to the season was the definition of a flash in the pan, then came a few stumbles, and after that the collapse: four months without even a single win.

Giampaolo’s arrival brought a glimmer of light (the win over Parma) and then catastrophic darkness again until the final rounds. Relegation was inevitable and, given how the year had begun, it can only hurt.

💜 Fiorentina: 4

Okay, relegation didn’t happen, which would have been sensational considering the talk in July. But Fiorentina’s season was a failure on every front.

From the choice of Pioli, to the transfer market, to a number of players who saw their value cut in half, including Kean. The only good news for the Franchi crowd is that the 2025/26 season is over. It’s hard to see them starting again with Vanoli, who still did hit the target despite some limitations.

🔴🔵 Genoa: 6.5

Half a point less than Cagliari, because the finish was not exciting at all. But Genoa did what they had to do, above all thanks to the work of Daniele De Rossi. The former Roma man was the main architect of the rossoblù’s survival, achieved with conviction and without major scares.

Sure, as mentioned, they could have honored the final rounds a bit more, where Vitinha and company picked up 2 points from 15 available, scoring just 1 goal in five matches. Now the priority is keeping DDR, who according to rumors is on many clubs’ shortlists but who — as he himself confirmed yesterday — would gladly stay at the Ferraris.

⚫️🔵 Inter: 9.5

In Italy, it was dominance. There were a few caveats — above all, a record in big matches that was far from impressive — but in the end Chivu’s debut season on the nerazzurri bench ends with the Double of Scudetto and Coppa Italia, something that hadn’t happened since 2010.

Inter were the most consistent team, certainly the best to watch along with Como, and a real steamroller against mid-table and smaller sides. What seems obvious today wasn’t obvious at all less than a year ago. After the horror ending to last season and Inzaghi’s departure, very few would have bet a chip on captain Lautaro and the others. Watch out, because next year too Inter will be the team to beat.

⚪️⚫️ Juventus: 4

A good start under Tudor, capped by the 4-3 over Inter on a September afternoon. It looked like the start of something, but instead that’s where Juventus stopped. The Croatian coach’s project sank, forcing the management into a mid-season change.

With Spalletti’s arrival things improved, so much so that until the 1-1 home draw against Verona it was hard to imagine the bianconeri finishing outside the top four. The debacle against Fiorentina, however, took away Locatelli and company’s chance of reaching the Champions League, which disappeared completely the following weekend. Total failure across the board, no two ways about it.

⚪️🔵 Lazio: 5

A completely anonymous season, played out against the backdrop of prolonged protests from the biancoceleste faithful against Claudio Lotito. Lazio’s year was as difficult as it was ugly, and it could only have been saved by reaching the Coppa Italia final.

The defeat at the hands of Inter, however, plunged Lazio back into darkness. Sarri was poor as well, failing in this return to the Olimpico to give the team any clear identity. And when on the other side of the Tiber they’re celebrating qualification for the Champions League, the picture becomes even more dramatic. It will be a long summer.

🟡🔴 Lecce: 6.5

Survival for the fourth year in a row, a club record. In the end Eusebio Di Francesco manages to avoid relegation, after failed attempts with Frosinone and Venezia. The long head-to-head with Cremonese was won by the Salento side, also thanks to Cheddira’s goals, after arriving in January and proving more decisive than Stulic and Camarda.

An excellent result, with limited resources. The feeling, though, is that with Venezia, Frosinone and (probably) Monza, staying up next year will require more.

🔴⚫️ Milan: 3

A copy and paste of Juve’s season, except here there’s the added issue of not having European matches during the week. Milan’s 2025/26 deserves a 3 in the report card, and maybe we’ve even been generous. And to think that up until February there were still people who believed in a possible Scudetto comeback... The truth is that today Inter and Milan are on two vastly different levels, and the gap is only growing. On one side, a strong club, a winning group, and a coach backed by the whole environment.

On the other, the total absence of the management, matched by the absence of figures like Ibrahimović. According to the latest reports, Cardinale wants to start again precisely from the Swede. Well then, given the track record (and considering that Ibra will be covering the World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico for Fox Sports until mid-July) the rossoneri fans are right to be worried.

🔵⚪️ Napoli: 6

The year after the Scudetto won with Spalletti in charge had brought a deeply disappointing 10th-place finish. This time, all in all, it went well. Second place behind Inter means “Champions League” and gives continuity to what had been built in the past.

Injuries, rumors about Conte’s departure (later confirmed), the Lukaku case, but also the Supercoppa won in December: Napoli’s season had many moments, even if there was never a real Scudetto race. Given what happened to rivals Juve and Milan, though, for this time that’s good enough.

🟡🔵 Parma: 8

An opening part of the season where Parma were talked about as a defensive side, not very inclined toward attractive football and with little chance of staying up. But then Cuesta’s work paid off, enough to pull the Emilians out of the relegation battle.

In the end, the gialloblù finish 13th in a campaign that was far more than respectable, +11 clear of 18th-placed Cremonese. Unlike Genoa, too, they had a strong finish, with three wins and two draws in the last 8 (defeats only against Inter, Roma and Como). Plenty won’t like it, but the Spanish coach is one to keep an eye on.

🔵⚫️ Pisa: 4.5

Not much was expected, to be honest. Still, the summer transfer window had raised hopes for something better, at least considering that several million had been invested. The reality tells us that the Tuscans were probably one of the least equipped teams to take part in Serie A in recent times, and they deservedly finished bottom. 

Verona, at least, once relegation came closer, threw off the pressure and decided to play to cause problems, picking up points at the Stadium and San Siro. Pisa didn’t even manage that.

🟡🔴 Roma: 8.5

The final stretch of the season was a 10 with honors, with a huge comeback for the Champions League and a derby win. Chapeau to the giallorossi, who on March 1 seemed to have thrown away their remaining qualification hopes with the harakiri against Juventus. Then came a month of disappointment in the cups and the Gasperini-Ranieri clash, which led to the executive’s departure. 

Well, from that moment everything changed: instead of falling apart as had happened on other occasions, the Roma environment came together around coach and players, carried along by the performances and the feeling of an achievement that could now be felt across the capital. The final run of five wins, with which Roma took advantage of Milan and Juve’s slip-ups, completed the picture and brought the Champions League back after 7 years away.

⚫️🟢 Sassuolo: 8

For a newly promoted team, confirming yourself is never easy. The reality, though, is that the neroverdi were newly promoted only on paper. After storming the Serie B title, Sassuolo returned to the top flight aiming to secure survival as soon as possible, and then push for something higher.

Mission more than accomplished: 11th place, just one point off the top half of the table, achieved with attractive football and by showcasing a number of players who will bring the club a fortune (financially above all). Koné first and foremost, but also Fadera, Idzes, Muharemović, Murić, along with the two stars, Laurienté and Berardi. And then Grosso, who seems ready for the next step.

🟤 Torino: 5

The same old Torino. First half gasping for air, so much so that people even thought they might go down. Then Baroni’s dismissal and the call to D’Aversa, who put things back in order and saved the granata.

In the middle, nothing. By now the discussions around Toro have been the same for years, and the fanbase seems almost resigned to mediocrity. A shame, because it wouldn’t take much to improve.

⚫️⚪️ Udinese: 6.5

Tenth place, top half of the table, and never in a relegation battle. The bianconeri’s season was positive because it builds on last year and allows the Friuli side to plan for the future on a solid foundation.

What’s more, having revitalized Nicolò Zaniolo is no small plus, also with the national team in mind. The former Inter and Roma player seems to have got his head straight in Udine, a place that welcomed and protected him from day one. The new season could well be built around the No. 10, a pure talent who could make all the difference for the bianconeri.

🔵🟡 Verona: 5

Hellas are relegated after 7 long years in Serie A, and they go down with no way to blame bad luck. This year’s Verona were a poorly built team, though one that was trying to have its say in the first part of the season. 

The winter transfer window then deprived the Scaligeri of their best player, Giovane, who moved to Napoli. More than technical, it was a moral downgrade. Worth saving is the improving finish, with good performances against Juventus and Inter that brought two points.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇮🇹 here.

📸 MARCO BERTORELLO - AFP or licensors