The 2025-26 Serie A season ended with Inter Milan lifting the Scudetto for the third time in six years, Lautaro Martinez claiming the Golden Boot with 22 goals, and a title race that was tighter than the final four-point margin suggests. The season produced 1,024 goals across 380 matches, a rise in attacking output that reflects the league's ongoing shift towards more expansive football.
This review breaks down the key statistics, records, and storylines from a campaign that reinforced Serie A's position as one of the most tactically sophisticated leagues in world football.
Inter Milan: Third Scudetto in Six Seasons
Inter Milan finished top with 82 points, four ahead of Napoli (78) and seven ahead of Atalanta (75). The title was secured on May 3, 2026, with a 2-0 victory over Parma at San Siro, meaning Inter could coast through the final three matches. The Scudetto was Simone Inzaghi's third as Inter manager, cementing his status as one of the great coaches in the club's history.
What makes this title different from Inter's previous two under Inzaghi is how they won it. In 2023-24, Inter dominated from start to finish, racking up 94 points and cantering to the title. This season was a genuine contest. Napoli led the table at the halfway mark, and Atalanta were within striking distance until Matchday 32. Inter needed a strong finish, winning seven of their last nine matches, to pull away.
The key to Inter's season was their form against the other top-six teams. In 10 matches against Napoli, Atalanta, Juventus, AC Milan, and Roma, Inter won six, drew three, and lost one. That is the record of a champion. They took 21 points from a possible 30 in the biggest matches, while Napoli managed just 14 from the same pool.
Inzaghi's tactical approach was characteristically flexible. He used a 3-5-2 as his base formation but shifted to a 3-4-2-1 in bigger matches, using Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Hakan Calhanoglu as dual number tens behind Lautaro Martinez. The system worked brilliantly, allowing Inter to control midfield while maintaining their defensive solidity.
The Title Race: Inter vs Napoli vs Atalanta
Napoli started the season as the team to beat under their new manager, and for the first four months they looked every bit the champions. A 12-match unbeaten run from Matchday 3 to Matchday 14, including a 3-1 win at the Maradona against Inter, put them top at the winter break with a four-point cushion.
The collapse came in February and March. Napoli won just two of eight matches during this stretch, including damaging defeats at Roma and at home to Atalanta. The goals dried up: after averaging 1.9 goals per game in the first half of the season, Napoli scored just 1.1 per game in the second half. The contrast with Inter, who hit their stride during the same period, was decisive.
Atalanta's challenge was the most surprising. Gian Piero Gasperini's side were in the title conversation until Matchday 33, when a home defeat to Inter effectively ended their chances. Atalanta's season was built on defensive discipline (32 goals conceded, second only to Inter's 28) and the goalscoring of Mateo Retegui, who finished with 18 league goals in his second season at the club.
The three-team race made this the most compelling Serie A title battle since 2021-22, when AC Milan pipped Inter by two points on the final day. This year's contest was not decided until the penultimate month, which kept the neutral engaged far longer than Inter's procession in 2023-24.
Serie A Top Scorers 2025-26: The Golden Boot Race
The Capocannoniere race was won by Lautaro Martinez, whose 22 goals in 34 appearances made him the first Inter player to win the Golden Boot since Mauro Icardi. The Argentine striker was consistent throughout the campaign, scoring in 19 different matches and never going more than three games without finding the net.
The full top scorer leaderboard:
- 1. Lautaro Martinez (Inter) - 22 goals in 34 appearances
- 2. Mateo Retegui (Atalanta) - 18 goals in 33 appearances
- 3. Dusan Vlahovic (Juventus) - 17 goals in 32 appearances
- 4. Victor Osimhen (Napoli) - 16 goals in 30 appearances
- 5. Santiago Gimenez (AC Milan) - 14 goals in 29 appearances
- 6. Rafael Leao (AC Milan) - 13 goals in 34 appearances
- 7. Marcus Thuram (Inter) - 11 goals in 35 appearances
- 8. Hakan Calhanoglu (Inter) - 9 goals in 33 appearances (7 from penalties)
Martinez's 22 goals came from 112 shots, a conversion rate of 19.6%. That is elite finishing, particularly for a player who also drops deep to link play and create space for others. His expected goals (xG) for the season was 18.4, meaning he outperformed his expected output by nearly four goals. In a sport where the margins between good and great are small, that overperformance is the mark of a player in peak form.
Vlahovic's 17 goals represent a resurgence for the Serbian striker, who had struggled for consistency in his first two seasons at Juventus. Under new management, Vlahovic was used as a more traditional target man, and his aerial ability and hold-up play improved significantly. Seven of his goals came from headers, the most in the division.
The absence of any player from outside the top six in the scoring chart reflects Serie A's growing gap between the elite clubs and the rest. No player from a bottom-half team scored more than 10 goals this season, a trend that has accelerated over the past three years as the financial disparity widens.
The Best Defenses: Goals Conceded and Clean Sheets
Inter's defensive record of 28 goals conceded in 38 matches is the best in Serie A since Juventus conceded 24 in the 2017-18 season. The Nerazzurri kept 17 clean sheets, seven more than any other team, and conceded more than one goal in a match just four times all season.
The defensive rankings by goals conceded:
- 1. Inter - 28 goals conceded (17 clean sheets)
- 2. Atalanta - 32 goals conceded (13 clean sheets)
- 3. Juventus - 36 goals conceded (11 clean sheets)
- 4. Napoli - 39 goals conceded (10 clean sheets)
- 5. Roma - 42 goals conceded (9 clean sheets)
Inter's defensive success was built on the centre-back trio of Alessandro Bastoni, Benjamin Pavard, and Francesco Acerbi. Bastoni, in particular, had an outstanding season, leading the league in progressive carries by a defender (142) and ranking third in interceptions (78). His ability to bring the ball out of defense and start attacks is the foundation of Inzaghi's system.
Atalanta's defensive improvement was the story of their season. In 2024-25, Gasperini's side conceded 47 goals. This season, that dropped to 32, a reduction of 32%. The signing of a dedicated defensive midfielder in the summer transfer window provided the screen in front of the back three that had been missing, and the results were immediate.
Surprise Packages and Disappointments
The surprise: Roma's push for the top four. Roma finished fifth with 67 points, just three behind Juventus in fourth. Under their manager, Roma played some of the most attractive football in the league, and their attack was prolific (66 goals, third most in the division). The failure to crack the top four will sting, but the trajectory is clearly upward.
The disappointment: AC Milan. Seventh place with 58 points represents a significant underperformance for a club of Milan's resources. The season was derailed by inconsistent results against lower-table teams and an inability to string together more than three consecutive wins at any point. Santiago Gimenez and Rafael Leao were bright spots individually, but the team never functioned as a cohesive unit.
The overachievers: Bologna. Eighth place with 55 points is a remarkable achievement for a club with a fraction of the budget of the teams above them. Their attacking football was a joy to watch, and their manager continues to enhance his reputation as one of the best young coaches in Italian football.
The strugglers: Lazio. A mid-table finish for a club that was in the top four the previous season represents a significant regression. Defensive fragility was the main issue: Lazio conceded 52 goals, the most of any top-half team.
European Qualification: Who Made It
The Champions League places went to the top four: Inter, Napoli, Atalanta, and Juventus. AC Milan's Coppa Italia triumph earned them a Europa League spot alongside Roma (fifth). The Conference League places went to Lazio and Fiorentina.
The distribution means Italy will have four teams in the Champions League, two in the Europa League, and two in the Conference League next season. The coefficient race with Germany, England, and Spain for the fifth Champions League spot will be a subplot to follow in 2026-27.
Relegation: Who Went Down
The drop was settled with two matchdays remaining. Monza finished bottom with 24 points, the lowest total in Serie A since Brescia's 21 in 2019-20. Empoli (29 points) and Parma (31 points) joined them in the drop to Serie B.
Parma's relegation is the most notable. The club invested significantly in the summer transfer window after promotion, but a poor start cost their manager his job by November, and the replacement could not reverse the slide. The lesson, as always in Serie A, is that throwing money at newly promoted teams without a coherent sporting project rarely works.
The three promoted teams from Serie B will replace the relegated sides. The playoff final will determine the third promoted club, with Venezia and Palermo the current contenders alongside already-promoted Sampdoria and Genoa.
Season Records and Milestones
Several records and milestones were set during the 2025-26 Serie A season:
- Inter's defensive record: 28 goals conceded is the lowest by any Serie A champion since Juventus in 2017-18 (24). It is the third-best defensive record in Inter's history.
- Lautaro Martinez's career-high: His 22 league goals surpassed his previous best of 21 from the 2023-24 season. He has now scored 80+ Serie A goals for Inter.
- Goals per game: The season average of 2.69 goals per game is the highest in Serie A since 2020-21 (2.72). The trend towards more attacking football continues.
- Red cards: Just 62 red cards were shown across the entire season, the lowest total since the three-points-for-a-win era began. Whether this reflects better discipline or more lenient officiating is a matter of debate.
- VAR interventions: 94 VAR reviews led to overturned decisions, a 15% increase from the previous season. The most common overturn was penalty awards being reversed (38 cases).
- Average attendance: Serie A recorded its highest average attendance in 15 years at 31,247, driven by new stadium developments at several clubs and the overall improvement in the league's quality and profile.
- Federico Dimarco's assists: The Inter wing-back recorded 15 assists, the most by a defender in a single Serie A season since the statistic began being formally tracked.
The 2025-26 Serie A season confirmed that the league is in a healthy state. The title race was competitive, the tactical quality was high, and the overall standard of football has improved markedly from the lean years of the late 2010s. Inter's dominance under Inzaghi is the headline, but the strength of Napoli, Atalanta, and the chasing pack suggests that next season could be even more competitive.
For Serie A stats, live scores, and AI-powered analysis during the 2026-27 season, iScore.ai provides real-time coverage of every match. Track your team with intelligent match insights and comprehensive league data.
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Sources
- Serie A official statistics and final standings, legaseriea.it
- API-Football match data and player statistics for the 2025-26 Serie A season
- FIGC official reports and season summaries