Written by Matteo Ciaramella
To answer this question, I originally wanted to use numbers and equations.
That would make sense, right? Numbers get you the unbiased, direct answer that you would want when answering such an open-ended question.
But then I thought: “fuck that, numbers are boring”.
I started this blog for my love of writing. Discussing and getting into the depths of a topic through the use of language is my biggest passion, so frankly, it would be quite stupid to make this article all about “calculating” which Serie A team is the best of all time. I want to create a beautiful piece of writing where I present the facts to you, the reader, so that you can ultimately come up with an answer of your own.
And now I’m going to ask this question one more time: What is the best team in Serie A history?
I’ll start off by introducing the contenders. After careful evaluation and analysis, six teams stood out: the legendary Quinquennio d’Oro Juventus team, the mighty Il Grande Torino from, the iconic La Grande Inter from the 1962-1963 to 1965-1966 seasons, the dominant late 1980s to early 1990s AC Milan, the treble-winning Inter from 2006 to 2010, and last but not least, the 2010s record-shattering and national powerhouse Juventus squad. All outstanding line-ups, famous for their accomplishments and dominance, but only one will come out on top.
Starting off with the oldest team of the bunch: the Quinquennio d’Oro Juventus, 5 time Serie A champions every year from 1930 to 1935. Filled to the brim with talent, this team proved to the world that it was built for success. You have Raimundo Orsi, one of the best Italian players of all time and 1934 World Cup All-Star Team member. Truly the symbol of this glorious team, who played an essential role throughout their 5-year run. Felice Borel was another key player. Widely regarded as one of the best goalscorers of his time, the man led Serie A in scoring on two occasions and won the 1934 World Cup with his fellow Bianconero Raimundo Orsi, along with others like the famed defensive trio of Combi-Rosetta-Caligaris. If you haven’t noticed yet, the players themselves are in fact a massive part of this team’s legacy. If you ask me, the most impressive thing about the Quinquennio d’Oro, is how strongly they dominated the Italian National team lineups. They were truly the backbone of the World Cup winning Azzurri of 1934, so much so that instead of calling them Nazionale, the team was dubbed Nazio-Juve. A total of 9 players out of the entire roster of 22 played for Juventus, with 5 of them being starters in the final against Czechoslovakia. This in my opinion the strongest aspect in their case as the best Serie A team of all time – it truly shows how majestic this Juventus squad was. They managed to compete and outperform the best of the best of international football, and you have to give them credit for that.
Next up chronologically, is Il Grande Torino, which reigned over Italian football during the 1940s. Translated, the name means “The Mighty Torino”; and I’ll be damned if this team did not live up to that label. Straight domination, in its purest form. Not only did this Torino team win 5 straight Scudetti from 1942 to 1949 (with two seasons cancelled due to WWII), and a Coppa Italia in 1943, but they also mercilessly crushed all opposition en route to their success. For example, when they set the record for the biggest Serie A victory margin of all time: 10-0 vs. Alessandria on May 2nd 1948. A game for the ages, with some of the greatest ever Torino players appearing on the scoresheet that day: Valentino Mazzola – their captain back then – was regarded as one of best footballers of his time, and has a strong case for a spot in the top 10 of the most outstanding Italian players ever. Guiding the midfield with him on that day, as well as throughout the entirety of those 5 illustrious seasons, was Enzo Loik. An imposing, physically commanding midfielder, Loik was the perfect complement to the creative and gifted Mazzola. They were the heart and soul of the team, alongside Guglielmo Gabetto, one of the best Italian goalscorers of his generation. Like in Quinquennio d’Oro’s case, the talent on this team was unreal. They completely stuffed the Italian National squad sheet on many occasions, once even fielding 10 players in the starting lineup, specifically in a 1947 game against then football superpower Hungary. To whoever is reading this, please take a moment to truly grasp how crazy that is. And it doesn’t end there: the longest unbeaten home streak record in the history of Serie A also belongs to this exact Torino squad, with no losses in 88 games throughout 1943 to 1949. This means that for 6 straight years, when opposing players arrived at the Stadio Filadelfia, they already knew that they were going home with no more than 1 point. This is how exceptional this Torino side was. Who knows what else they could have won if it hadn’t been for the Superga air disaster in 1949. May they rest in peace.
The problem with these two teams is that they hit their primes a long time ago – so long ago that continental and international competitions didn’t exist back then, meaning that we can only measure their success on the domestic scale. Granted, winning 5 Scudetti in a row is extremely impressive, but we will never know how these teams would have matched up with other great European sides at the time, which is a shame, because it prevents us current Serie A fans from seeing the entire picture, and fully appreciating these teams’ greatness. Speaking of international success however, let’s take a look at La Grande Inter…
…A little more than a decade after the Superga air disaster, La Grande Inter made their way to domestic and international glory. An outstanding side from 1962 to 1966, this team pretty much won it all. 3 Scudetti, 2 European Cups, and 2 Intercontinental Cups. The impressive thing about their international trophies is the fact that their two European Cups were won in their first two appearances in the competition, and the same goes with their Intercontinental Cup success. These guys came onto the international stage ready to play, and delivered to the highest possible degree. What this Inter team achieved in such a short amount of time almost felt revolutionary, revolutionary like their coach: the legendary Helenio Herrera. Herrera completely changed football in Italy, greatly enhancing the importance that the game put on player diet and mentality. In the 1960s, these ideas were not as widespread, which allowed his squad to dominate on all fronts. But it wasn’t just the coach who brought Inter to these heights. Sandro Mazzola (yes, son of the great Valentino) is often included on the Mount Rushmore of Italian football players, just like Giacinto Facchetti, who is regarded as one of the best defenders ever. 1961 Ballon d’Or winner Luìs Suarez was another vital piece to this team. Dubbed Architecto by the media, he was quite literally the architect of this team, dictating the flow and pace of each game. With these standouts, and a coach who took strides in the advancement of footballer development, it’s no surprise that La Grande Inter had such an illustrious and successful period. With all due respect to the two aforementioned Turinese teams, I think that this is the first true contender for the title of “best Serie A side ever”.
And now, time for AC Milan from 1987 to 1994. After dark times in the early 1980s, the Rossoneri went on an absolute tear, winning every single trophy there was to be won, except for a Coppa Italia. 4 Scudetti, 4 Italian Supercups, 3 European Cups/Champions Leagues, 3 European Supercups, and 2 Intercontinental Cups over 7 seasons warrants this Milan team a mention not only in this discussion, but also contention for being recognized as the best team in world football history. There’s so much to be said here, and so many things going for this side. It goes without saying that out of all the teams in this article, 1987-1994 AC Milan had the most international success, which is always a great indicator of excellence. But the second thing in which this bunch has no competition, is the players. The legends that contributed to these 7 successful seasons can be considered on par with some all-time teams from other clubs – that’s how good they were. 4 total Ballon d’Or wins in that timespan by Marco Van Basten and Ruud Gullit, alongside a runner-up spot for Franco Baresi in 1990, and third place finishes by Frank Rijkaard in 1988 and 1989, and Paolo Maldini in 1994. What is mind-blowing about the quality of this team, is that one could make an argument for each of these 5 players to be the best ever at their respective position. In fact, in any given game during those 7 seasons, Milan could afford to field an all-time great at every position of the starting XI, from Maldini and Ancelotti, to Costacurta and Savicevic, this team was covered on all fronts. To strengthen AC Milan’s case, it is also worth mentioning that this side holds the longest unbeaten run in club football (58 games throughout 1991 and 1993), which also fed into an “Invincible” Serie A title in the 1991-1992 season.
Coming back to FC Internazionale, let’s talk about Inter in the second half of the 2000s, with their second golden age spanning from 2006 up until 2011. Yet another member of the “5 Scudettos in a row” club, Inter came up on top in Serie A each year from 2006 to 2010, which promptly places them on the level of the Quinquennio d’Oro and Grande Torino. However, what elevates this Inter side is the 2009-2010 season: one of the best ever in football, period. You simply cannot talk about legendary campaigns in the history of the game, and not mention the Triplete season. One could definitely argue for this to be the best achievement in Italian football – no one has done it before, and from the looks of things, no one is doing it anytime soon, or ever, for that matter. And this is all without mentioning the 2 Coppa Italia, 3 Italian Supercups and Club World Cup that the team won in addition to their 5 Scudetti and Triplete. So much achieved in 5 seasons, so much joy, so many iconic moments – this Inter team fully deserves a spot in contention for this prestigious title, especially when you look at the legends who were the backbone of this successful period. You can talk about one of the best strikers to ever lace up in Zlatan Ibrahimovic, or the all-time tough midfield duo of Esteban Cambiasso and Dejan Stankovic, but the main man of this team was their captain: Javier Zanetti, one of, if not the best right-back of all time. Running up and down the right wing, he was the perfect leader for a team full of stars, and his mentality was one of the biggest factors in Inter’s success during the 2009-2010 season. With the 2009 summer transfer window bringing in big names like Wesley Sneijder, Lùcio, and Samuel Eto’o, many anticipated a detrimental lack of chemistry for the Nerazzurri. Fortunately, not only was the chemistry there, but so was the success. Obviously, everyone deserves credit for their contributions and abilities as footballers, but Inter fans should never forget to thank Zanetti’s leadership qualities, because they ultimately allowed this roster full of noteworthy individuals to work as a unit and become the best team in the world.
And last, but certainly not least, 2010s Juventus. If there is one word that comes to mind when talking about this team, it’s “dominance” – pure, raw dominance. So far, we have looked at a few teams that won 5 Serie A titles in a row in their respective golden eras. This was a national record, something that experts thought would be extremely difficult to break; until Juventus won 9 straight Serie A titles from 2011 to 2020. And what’s even crazier, is how Juventus won these titles. They were so dominant, that more often than not, the title race ended with 4 or 5 games left to play in the season, and Juventus would come out on top more than 10 points clear of the 2nd team in the league. Granted, there were a few exceptions when we really though that Juventus’ reign would end – like when Napoli nearly snatched off their crown in the 2017-2018 season – but for the most part, Juventus cruised past domestic opposition as if they were professional footballers playing against 10 year old kids in the backyard during a barbecue. In fact, that is the perfect analogy for Italian football in the 2010s: Juventus’ backyard barbecue, or as we say in Italian, grigliata. So, by 2020, Juventus had won 9 Scudetti, 5 Italian Supercups, and 4 Coppe Italia. Again, pure dominance. And yes, this team may not have accomplished anything in Europe, but I personally like to reward trips to the Champions League final, which Juventus took part in twice, in 2015 and 2017. It’s not a trophy, but it is definitely worth mentioning, as it shows that this Juventus squad was capable of challenging for European glory. What’s more, had Juventus won those UCL finals, they would now have two treble seasons to show off to the football world. If you ask me, had these two finals gone their way, the 2010s Juventus would almost unanimously be considered the best Serie A team ever. But we can’t live off “ifs” and “buts”, so we have to look at Juventus’ actual accomplishments, which are obviously, still very impressive. Another thing that definitely helps this teams case, is the records that they set during their run. As mentioned earlier, these guys were the definition of dominant, and their records explicitly show that. Most points ever in a Serie A season at 102 in 2013-2014, best defensive campaign in the history of the league, with only 20 goals conceded in 2011-2012, most clean sheets in a season, with 21 in 2011-2012 and 2015-2016, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. It would be redundant for me to keep going, because it’s clear that this Juventus squad is the most dominant side that our league has ever seen. With Gianluigi Buffon – who many consider to be the greatest goalkeeper of all time – and one of the best ever backlines in the history of football composed by Bonucci, Chiellini, and Barzagli, this Juventus team caused nightmares to pretty much every other team in the league, especially if you also mention the likes of Andrea Pirlo, Paul Pogba, Carlos Tevez, and Cristiano Ronaldo. Extremely deep, very balanced on all fronts, the 2010s Juventus is a top contender for the title of “best Serie A team ever”.
And now, I’m leaving it up to you, the reader, to answer this question:
“What is the best team in Serie A history?”
Don’t think too hard, though.