Top 10 Greatest Serie a Teams of All Time

Marcello Lippi's Juventus won back-to-back Serie A titles (1995, 1997) and the 1996 Champions League — their second European Cup. The squad featured Del Piero, Vialli, Ravanelli, Conte (who became their manager decades later), Zidane, Deschamps, Ferrara, Thuram, and Peruzzi. They lost the 1997 Champions League Final to Borussia Dortmund after reaching the final three consecutive years (1995–97). Their 1995–96 Serie A campaign (73 points in 34 games) is considered the finest domestic season by an Italian club.

Helenio Herrera's Grande Inter won back-to-back European Cups (1964, 1965) and three Serie A titles (1963, 1965, 1966) using the most disciplined version of catenaccio in football history. They conceded just 20 goals in 30 Serie A games in the 1964–65 title-winning campaign. Sandro Mazzola, Jair, and Javier Zanetti (decades later) formed attacking partnerships that generated enough to win Europe while conceding almost nothing. Grande Inter is the standard reference for all discussions of Italian defensive perfectionism.

Fabio Capello's AC Milan went the entire 1993–94 Serie A season unbeaten — 34 games, the first in Italian top-flight history since the 1991–92 Lazio season under Zeman — finishing with a record low goals-against total. They also destroyed Barcelona 4–0 in the Champions League Final. The squad had evolved from Sacchi's side, retaining Baresi and Maldini but adding Savicevic, Desailly, Boban, and Donadoni. The combination of Sacchi's defensive structural legacy and Capello's pragmatic attacking clarity produced the most complete Italian club side of the post-Sacchi era.

José Mourinho's Inter Milan became the first Italian club to win the domestic and European treble in 2009–10 — Serie A, Coppa Italia, and Champions League. The Champions League semi-final against Barcelona — in which Inter defended a 3–1 first-leg lead with 10 men for 90 minutes at Camp Nou — is considered one of the greatest single-match defensive performances in football history. Milito (2 UCL Final goals), Sneijder, Eto'o, Lucio, and Zanetti formed one of the most tactically disciplined sides in the competition's modern history.

Juventus's run of nine consecutive Serie A titles (2011–20) under Conte and then Allegri is the longest title streak by any club in any of Europe's top five leagues. They also reached two Champions League Finals (2015, 2017) during the streak, losing both. The squad across the period featured Pirlo, Vidal, Pogba, Marchisio, Buffon, Chiellini, Bonucci, Barzagli, Tevez, Dybala, Higuaín, and Ronaldo. No European club has dominated a top-five league for nine consecutive years in the modern era.

AS Roma's 2000–01 Serie A title — their first in 18 years — under Fabio Capello was built around one of the finest attacking trios ever assembled in Italy: Francesco Totti (the greatest Roma player in history), Gabriel Batistuta (24 goals, Serie A top scorer), and Vincenzo Montella. They finished 2 points above Juventus and Inter, scoring 75 goals in 34 games — the highest total in Serie A that season. Totti's 13 assists are still the record for a Serie A midfielder in a single season.

Sven-Göran Eriksson's Lazio won the 1999–2000 Serie A title — their second and most recent — on the final day of the season with a 3–0 win over Reggina while Juventus drew, producing one of Serie A's most dramatic title-deciding conclusions. The squad featured Mihajlovic (free-kick goals), Crespo (26 goals), Nesta, Veron, Stam, and Nedvěd. They had won the Coppa Italia and Cup Winners' Cup the previous season under Eriksson, making the double of Italian and European trophies in two years Lazio's greatest era.

Napoli's two Serie A titles (1987, 1990) and UEFA Cup (1989) under Ottavio Bianchi and then Albertino Bigon were built almost entirely around Diego Maradona — the greatest individual talent in the history of the Italian game. In a league dominated by northern clubs with vastly greater resources, Maradona's genius transformed Napoli from a perennial mid-table side into champions of Europe. The city of Naples still treats the 1987 title as a religious event. Maradona's shrine in Naples attracts more visitors than most official monuments.

Antonio Conte's Inter Milan won the 2020–21 Serie A title with 91 points — ending Juventus's nine-year domination — using a 3-5-2 system that maximised the physical attributes of Romelu Lukaku (24 goals) and Lautaro Martínez (19 goals). They scored 89 goals in 38 games — the highest total in Serie A since the Bosman ruling era. The emotional significance of ending a nine-year title drought, combined with the football's directness and effectiveness, made it one of Serie A's most acclaimed recent title wins.

Marcello Lippi's Juventus won back-to-back Serie A titles (1995, 1997) and the 1996 Champions League — their second European Cup. The squad featured Del Piero, Vialli, Ravanelli, Conte (who became their manager decades later), Zidane, Deschamps, Ferrara, Thuram, and Peruzzi. They lost the 1997 Champions League Final to Borussia Dortmund after reaching the final three consecutive years (1995–97). Their 1995–96 Serie A campaign (73 points in 34 games) is considered the finest domestic season by an Italian club.

Helenio Herrera's Grande Inter won back-to-back European Cups (1964, 1965) and three Serie A titles (1963, 1965, 1966) using the most disciplined version of catenaccio in football history. They conceded just 20 goals in 30 Serie A games in the 1964–65 title-winning campaign. Sandro Mazzola, Jair, and Javier Zanetti (decades later) formed attacking partnerships that generated enough to win Europe while conceding almost nothing. Grande Inter is the standard reference for all discussions of Italian defensive perfectionism.

Fabio Capello's AC Milan went the entire 1993–94 Serie A season unbeaten — 34 games, the first in Italian top-flight history since the 1991–92 Lazio season under Zeman — finishing with a record low goals-against total. They also destroyed Barcelona 4–0 in the Champions League Final. The squad had evolved from Sacchi's side, retaining Baresi and Maldini but adding Savicevic, Desailly, Boban, and Donadoni. The combination of Sacchi's defensive structural legacy and Capello's pragmatic attacking clarity produced the most complete Italian club side of the post-Sacchi era.

José Mourinho's Inter Milan became the first Italian club to win the domestic and European treble in 2009–10 — Serie A, Coppa Italia, and Champions League. The Champions League semi-final against Barcelona — in which Inter defended a 3–1 first-leg lead with 10 men for 90 minutes at Camp Nou — is considered one of the greatest single-match defensive performances in football history. Milito (2 UCL Final goals), Sneijder, Eto'o, Lucio, and Zanetti formed one of the most tactically disciplined sides in the competition's modern history.

Juventus's run of nine consecutive Serie A titles (2011–20) under Conte and then Allegri is the longest title streak by any club in any of Europe's top five leagues. They also reached two Champions League Finals (2015, 2017) during the streak, losing both. The squad across the period featured Pirlo, Vidal, Pogba, Marchisio, Buffon, Chiellini, Bonucci, Barzagli, Tevez, Dybala, Higuaín, and Ronaldo. No European club has dominated a top-five league for nine consecutive years in the modern era.

AS Roma's 2000–01 Serie A title — their first in 18 years — under Fabio Capello was built around one of the finest attacking trios ever assembled in Italy: Francesco Totti (the greatest Roma player in history), Gabriel Batistuta (24 goals, Serie A top scorer), and Vincenzo Montella. They finished 2 points above Juventus and Inter, scoring 75 goals in 34 games — the highest total in Serie A that season. Totti's 13 assists are still the record for a Serie A midfielder in a single season.

Sven-Göran Eriksson's Lazio won the 1999–2000 Serie A title — their second and most recent — on the final day of the season with a 3–0 win over Reggina while Juventus drew, producing one of Serie A's most dramatic title-deciding conclusions. The squad featured Mihajlovic (free-kick goals), Crespo (26 goals), Nesta, Veron, Stam, and Nedvěd. They had won the Coppa Italia and Cup Winners' Cup the previous season under Eriksson, making the double of Italian and European trophies in two years Lazio's greatest era.

Napoli's two Serie A titles (1987, 1990) and UEFA Cup (1989) under Ottavio Bianchi and then Albertino Bigon were built almost entirely around Diego Maradona — the greatest individual talent in the history of the Italian game. In a league dominated by northern clubs with vastly greater resources, Maradona's genius transformed Napoli from a perennial mid-table side into champions of Europe. The city of Naples still treats the 1987 title as a religious event. Maradona's shrine in Naples attracts more visitors than most official monuments.

Antonio Conte's Inter Milan won the 2020–21 Serie A title with 91 points — ending Juventus's nine-year domination — using a 3-5-2 system that maximised the physical attributes of Romelu Lukaku (24 goals) and Lautaro Martínez (19 goals). They scored 89 goals in 38 games — the highest total in Serie A since the Bosman ruling era. The emotional significance of ending a nine-year title drought, combined with the football's directness and effectiveness, made it one of Serie A's most acclaimed recent title wins.