5 May 2002 - The Italian Job

On 5 May 2002, Juventus completed a remarkable run to the Serie A title, thanks in part to a season-end collapse by Inter.

It was the last day of the season and Inter had been at the top of the table since 24 March. On 30 March, they had a six-point lead over Juventus, who were then in third, with Roma in between. But Juve went on an unbeaten run to climb into second, while an Inter loss to Atalanta and draw with Chievo saw their lead shrink to a single point. Roma had dropped to third, but were separated from the top by only two points.

All three teams were away for their final matches of the season, Inter at Lazio, Juventus at Udinese, and Roma at Torino. In his pre-match conference, Roma manager Fabio Capello took a fatalistic approach to the day, saying that he expected all three teams to win, leaving the table unchanged.

As it turned out, he was two-thirds correct. Both Juventus and Roma went on to win--0-2 and 0-1, respectively--but Inter fell hard to Lazio. Despite taking a 1-2 lead in the first half, they went into the break level at 2-2, then surrendered a pair of second-half goals to fall 4-2.

The results pushed Juventus into first, Roma into second, and Inter into third.

3 December 1906 - The Rise And Fall Of An Italian Superclub

On 3 December 1906, a group that included some former Juventus players and future Italy manager Vittorio Pozzo founded AC Torino, alternatively one of Italy's most successful and most tragic clubs.

The founders met at the Voigt brewery in Turin and included a number of former Juventus players, including Alfredo Dick, who were upset by their former club's discussions about moving out of Turin. The group also included Swiss businessman Hans Schoenbrod, who served as the club's first chairman, and 20-year old former Grasshopper Zürich player Vittorio Pozzo, who went on to manage the club before later taking charge of Italy for three separate spells, including their victorious 1934 and 1938 World Cup campaigns.

Torino won their first league title in 1928, but became Italy's dominant team in the 1940s with a team known as Il Grande Torino. They won five scudettos in the decade, including four straight from 1946 to 1949. Their run of incredible success ended in tragedy, however, as a plane crash in May 1949 killed 18 players and several club officials, journalists, and the crew.

The crash sent Torino into a decline and they have spent the majority of the intervening years moving between Serie A and Serie B, though they did win another league title in 1976. In 2005, the Italian football association expelled Torino from the league for financial reasons, but they returned later that year as Torino FC.

5 May 2002 - The Italian Job

On 5 May 2002, Juventus completed a remarkable run to the Serie A title, thanks in part to a season-end collapse by Inter.

It was the last day of the season and Inter had been at the top of the table since 24 March. On 30 March, they had a six-point lead over Juventus, who were then in third, with Roma in between. But Juve went on an unbeaten run to climb into second, while an Inter loss to Atalanta and draw with Chievo saw their lead shrink to a single point. Roma had dropped to third, but were separated from the top by only two points.

All three teams were away for their final matches of the season, Inter at Lazio, Juventus at Udinese, and Roma at Torino. In his pre-match conference, Roma manager Fabio Capello took a fatalistic approach to the day, saying that he expected all three teams to win, leaving the table unchanged.

As it turned out, he was two-thirds correct. Both Juventus and Roma went on to win--0-2 and 0-1, respectively--but Inter fell hard to Lazio. Despite taking a 1-2 lead in the first half, they went into the break level at 2-2, then surrendered a pair of second-half goals to fall 4-2.

The results pushed Juventus into first, Roma into second, and Inter into third.

3 December 1906 - The Rise And Fall Of An Italian Superclub

On 3 December 1906, a group that included some former Juventus players and future Italy manager Vittorio Pozzo founded AC Torino, alternatively one of Italy's most successful and most tragic clubs.

The founders met at the Voigt brewery in Turin and included a number of former Juventus players, including Alfredo Dick, who were upset by their former club's discussions about moving out of Turin. The group also included Swiss businessman Hans Schoenbrod, who served as the club's first chairman, and 20-year old former Grasshopper Zürich player Vittorio Pozzo, who went on to manage the club before later taking charge of Italy for three separate spells, including their victorious 1934 and 1938 World Cup campaigns.

Torino won their first league title in 1928, but became Italy's dominant team in the 1940s with a team known as Il Grande Torino. They won five scudettos in the decade, including four straight from 1946 to 1949. Their run of incredible success ended in tragedy, however, as a plane crash in May 1949 killed 18 players and several club officials, journalists, and the crew.

The crash sent Torino into a decline and they have spent the majority of the intervening years moving between Serie A and Serie B, though they did win another league title in 1976. In 2005, the Italian football association expelled Torino from the league for financial reasons, but they returned later that year as Torino FC.