The
1987/88 season started with Diego Maradona at the top of the World having led
Napoli to their first Serie A title, one year after the World Cup triumph.
The
ban of acquiring new foreign players had been lifted that led to the arrival on
new foreign stars.
Napoli
Manager Ottavio Bianchi and President Corrado Ferlaino had made a number of
efficient signings to strengthen an already strong squad containing Maradona,
as well as, Italian Internationals
Salvatore Bagni, Fernando De Napoli and the newly capped Ciro Ferrara.
Photo
From: Guerin Sportivo, November 18-24,
1987
(Diego
Maradona, November 8, 1987, Como 0-Napoli 0)
|
Brazilian
striker Careca, one of the top goalscorers from the 1986 World Cup, arrived
from Sao Paulo. Another key arrival was the new International defender Giovanni
Francini from Torino. Napoli also signed Maradona’s younger brother Hugo and
loaned him to Ascoli.
Juventus,
on the heels of Michel Platini’s retirement, made many new signings to replace
retiring and ageing players, as former heroes like Antonio Cabrini and Gaetano
Scirea were no longer the rocks they had been just a few years earlier.
Welsh
striker Ian Rush of Liverpool, who was the most sought after player of Europe’s
top teams, finally arrived after having signed over a year before (but still on
‘loan’ at Liverpool, as the borders were still closed to foreigners).
Juventus
made a double signing from Verona, International defensive players Roberto
Tricella (heir apparent to Scirea) and Luigi De Agostini.
Another
defender Pasquale Bruno joined from Como.
Marino
Magrin arrived from Atalanta to occupy Platini’s position and midfielder Angelo
Alessio arrived from Avellino.
Giovanni
Trappatoni in his second season in charge of Internazionale Milano still could
count upon veterans such as Alessandro Altobelli, Pietro Fanna and Argentina’s
Daniel Passarella. The new foreign signing was the young Belgian sensation Enzo
Scifo from Anderlecht. Aldo Serena had also returned from a two-season loan at
Juventus.
Nils
Liedholm was back at the helm at AS Roma with new signing West German striker
Rudi Voeller leading the attack having arrived from Werder Bremen.
Roma
also registered the veteran Italian defender Fulvio Collovati , who joined
after a forgettable season at Udinese.
Photo
From: Mondial, new series, Issue 92,
November 1987
(Rudi
Voeller at AS Roma, October 11, 1987, Juventus 1-AS Roma 0)
|
Brazilian
veteran Junior joined newly promoted Pescara from Torino.
Swedish
Manager Sven-Goran Eriksson left Roma to manage Fiorentina along with new
signing: his compatriot Glenn Hysen joining from IFK Gothenburg.
Other
foreign arrivals included the Yugoslavs Davor Jozic (Cesena), Davor Cop
(Empoli) and Blaz Sliskovic (Pescara), Austria’s Toni Polster (Torino), Greek
striker Nikos Anastopoulos (Avellino), England’s Paul Elliott (Pisa),
Brazilians Carlos Dunga (Pisa) and Walter Casagrande (Ascoli) and West German
defender Thomas Berthold (Verona).
The
most exciting and hyped signings seemed to be those at Silvio Berlusconi’s AC
Milan. The Dutch pair of Ruud Gullit and Marco van Basten had arrived with a
blaze of publicity from PSV Eindhoven and Ajax Amsterdam respectively.
Italian
International midfielder Carlo Ancelotti had arrived after many seasons at AS
Roma, along with former Udinese midfielder Angelo Colombo.
Photo
From: Mondial, new series, Issue 90, September 1987
(Marco
van Basten upon his arrival at AC Milan)
|
They
all joined a squad containing Franco Baresi, Mauro Tassoti, Paolo Maldini,
Roberto Donadoni, Alberigo Evani, Daniele Massaro and veteran striker Pietro
Paolo Virdis.
However,
the biggest surprise was the man chosen to lead this squad. A relative unknown
named Arrigo Sacchi who had impressed Berlusconi with the untraditional Italian
tactic of Zonal attacking Football at Parma in the Serie B.
The
significance of this appointment was still not apparent as Napoli started the
season as they had left the previous one by setting the pace from early on.
Napoli
picked up maximum points from its first five matches. Although one of those
matches vs. Pisa, they had actually lost but were awarded full points after
defender Alessandro Renica was hit by an object thrown by Pisa fans.
Careca
was a successful buy and adapted well to the Serie A, in doing so, restricted
Andrea Carnevalle’s opportunities that season. The press would dub Careca’s
Association with Maradona and fellow striker Bruno Giordano as (MA-GI-CA).
Photo
From: Mondial, new series, issue 98,
May 1988
(Napoli’s
Antonio Careca)
|
While
Careca and Napoli thrived, Juventus and Inter were already off the pace, as
Rush and Scifo both struggled. By the Fourth Round of matches, Juventus had
already lost twice.
By
their Sixth, they lost their third by losing to Inter. The knives were already
out for Rush, in contrast to AC Milan’s Ruud Gullit who took to the Serie A
with delight.
Despite
losing their Second Match of the Season (at home) to Fiorentina, Milan were picking up points behind a runway
Napoli.
Marco
van Basten was injured early in the season and would miss much of the season,
however, veteran striker Pietro Paolo Virdis and Daniel Massaro more than
adequately replaced him by scoring many key goals.
Photo
From: Onze, Issue 142, October 1987
(Enzo
Scifo at Internazionale Milano)
|
By
the Ninth Round Juventus’ problems were further compounded when a home win vs.
Cesena, was reversed by the League due
to another object throwing incident.
As
for myself, my information was still restricted to ‘Soccer America’ magazine.
One day I was able to connect (with poor reception) to a Public Broadcasting
Channel based in New York. This Channel broadcast for part of the day ‘RAI
America’ that later I realized actually broadcast Serie A matches on Sundays
(Early Morning Time in USA). Despite the reception problems (not to mention the
Language barrier), I was delighted to see Maradona and the rest ‘Live’. Weeks
after that on the same channel I stumbled upon the superb show ‘Novantesimo
Minuto’ that showed all the Highlights of the Serie A matches.
By the Eleventh Round (December 13, 1987) of matches, the title appeared to be all Napoli’s. First they ended any Juventus hopes by defeating them (2-1) at home with a Maradona penalty kick near the end. On the same day, AC Milan defeated AS Roma, which was reversed by the League after another incident where Roma goalkeeper Franco Tancredi was hit by firecrackers from the stands. Tancredi was knocked unconscious and actually needed heart massage. Seventeen-year-old Angelo Peruzzi replaced him to make his Serie A debut.
By the Eleventh Round (December 13, 1987) of matches, the title appeared to be all Napoli’s. First they ended any Juventus hopes by defeating them (2-1) at home with a Maradona penalty kick near the end. On the same day, AC Milan defeated AS Roma, which was reversed by the League after another incident where Roma goalkeeper Franco Tancredi was hit by firecrackers from the stands. Tancredi was knocked unconscious and actually needed heart massage. Seventeen-year-old Angelo Peruzzi replaced him to make his Serie A debut.
Ruud
Gullit’s successful integration at AC Milan, as well as the Dutch National
Team’s resurgence was rewarded with him being awarded France Football’s Ballon
d’Or in December.
Photo
From: Mondial, new series, issue
95, February 1988
(Ruud
Gullit, January 3, 1988, AC Milan 4-Napoli 1)
|
It
was by the new year on January 3rd, 1988 (Thirteenth Round) that AC
Milan made everyone sit up and take notice by convincingly defeating leaders
Napoli (4-1) and move into Second place.
By the following week, they defeated a demoralized Juventus at Turin
with a Gullit header.
Photo
From: Mondial, new series, issue
96, March 1988
(Fillipo
Galli and Ian Rush, January 10, 1988, Juventus 0-AC Milan 1)
|
Despite
the loss to Milan, Napoli still seemed more than capable of defending its crown
with Maradona and Careca scoring freely.
By
the Nineteenth Round, Napoli held as much as a five point lead over AC Milan.
On
Matchday 21 (March 6th), Napoli suffered a rare home defeat at the
hands of AS Roma (1-2), but AC Milan could not take advantage as they were held
scoreless at home by Verona and they only narrowed the gap by just one point.
The
gap remained the same for the following weeks, however the 26th
Round of matches (April 17th) was instrumental in changing the
course of the title. Juventus defeated Napoli (3-1) with even Rush scoring. For
its part AC Milan defeated AS Roma away (0-2) and Napoli’s lead was cut to two
points.
By
the following week the lead was cut to a mere point, after AC Milan defeated
cross-town rivals Inter (2-0) and Napoli were held by Verona (1-1).
The
28th Round (May 1) was the title decider of sorts as Napoli hosted
AC Milan. By now AC Milan’s confidence was greater as they had gained strength
as the season had progressed with the Sacchi gamble seemingly having paid off.
They were not only winning but also playing a pressing attacking game that
delighted the fans used to the Catenaccio culture for decades.
By
now Marco van Basten had also returned from his long injury layoff, though he
still was not well enough to start, but would make substitute appearances.
The
match ended Napoli’s title hopes, while simultaneously starting the great AC
Milan story. The match was (1-1) at halftime, with Virdis scoring first and
Maradona replying with a free kick. In the second half, the more confident AC
Milan took the game to Napoli and scored twice through Virdis again and van
Basten with Gullit instrumental in the goals. Napoli pulled one goal back by
Careca but clearly Milan had been the better team and deservedly led for the
first time in the season by one point with two matches remaining.
AC
Milan was held to a scoreless draw for its next match vs. Juventus, but Napoli
continued its implosion by losing to Fiorentina and now AC Milan had a two
point lead with one match remaining.
The
Napoli players issued a statement blaming their end of season loss of form due
to lack of communication with Manager Ottavio Bianchi.
AC
Milan clinched the title on May 15th by tying at Como (1-1) as
Napoli once again lost at home to Sampdoria.
This
was the first Scudetto of the Berlusconi era and AC Milan’s first since 1979.
The significance of this achievement has been underscored through the decades.
This was the first building block on route to Champions Cup glory for the
following two decades to come. The tactical revolution this win would bring
forth has also been referenced through the years as Sacchi’s success would
slowly usher an era of change in Serie A tactics away from the rigid Catenaccio
and abundance of scoreless matches.
Photo
From: Guerin Sportivo, May 18-24, 1988
(Arrigo
Sacchi after having won the title, May 15, 1988, Como 1-AC Milan 1)
|
For
its part Juventus somewhat salvaged a disastrous season by defeating Torino on
penalty kick shoot-out after a scoreless tie for a UEFA Cup playoff spot.
This
turned out to be the last season that the Serie A was held with 16 teams, from
the following season the Serie A was increased to 18 teams. Also teams were
authorized to have three foreigners.
There
were many departures, as players such as Rush, Polster, Anastopoulos and Scifo
either left Italy to go back home or regroup in a different League.
Napoli’s
collapse at the end of the season paved the way for a clear out of the mutineers
Salvatore Bagni, Bruno Giordano, Moreno Ferrario and Claudio Garella, while
veteran Giuseppe Bruscolotti retired.
Rino
Marchesi was sacked at Juventus, soon to be replaced with former legend Dino
Zoff.
Alessandro
Altobelli left Internazionale after eleven years and joined Juventus.
Many
long serving foreign stars left the League such as Denmark’s Klaus Berggreen
and Preben Elkjaer, Austria’s Walter Schachner, Argentina’s Daniel Passarella.
The
retirees included the likes of Gaetano Scirea, Poland’s Zbigniew Boniek and
West German Hans-Peter Briegel.
That
summer ended with Gullit and van Basten leading the Dutch with their future
teammate Frank Rijkaard in winning the UEFA European Championships.
The future looked Red and Black, as well as
Dutch, as a new era seemed to have begun in tactics and mentality. However,
Trappatoni still had not said his last word (1988/89 season, to be
continued…..)
Photo
From: Guerin Sportivo, May 18-24, 1988
(AC
Milan squad, 1987/88)
|
No comments:
Post a Comment