Last night the Italian Footballers’ Association handed out awards to the key figures of Italian football in the last season, as voted by the players themselves.
The event is organised by the AIC and rewards players, coaches and referees who performed the best during the previous season, with the players voting for their choices. Special awards, such as the Lifetime Achievement Award, have also been given in the past.
Best player – Rafael Leao
The 23-year-old Leao was a talismanic figure in Milan’s Scudetto success last season, being a key attacking threat under Stefano Pioli, and he proved his qualities across the campaign.
The Portuguese forward scored 11 goals and provided 10 assists in 34 league appearances and was also awarded the Serie A MVP title for last season.
Best goalkeeper – Mike Maignan
Maignan seemingly had a tough task ahead of him when he was brought in by the Rossoneri last summer to replace Gianluigi Donnarumma, but the Frenchman showed no signs of pressure as he immediately won over the Milan faithful.
The 27-year-old shot stopper was unbeatable between the sticks and his confidence gave Pioli’s team the perfect foundation to build off. Across his 32 league appearances, Maignan kept 17 clean sheets and conceded just 21 goals.
Best team – Milan
Milan were the obvious choice considering their Scudetto success last season. Pioli managed to restore the team to glory after a decade away from the limelight and the club’s hard work in recent years was finally rewarded with silverware.
Smart transfer business from Paolo Maldini and Frederic Massara saw Milan build a team of talented and motivated youngsters, a group that Pioli managed to guide to the club’s 19th league title.
Best coach – Stefano Pioli
The Italian coach finally lifted silverware after 20 years in the dugout and he did so in style, being the hero of Milan’s first Scudetto in a decade. Pioli held the trophy high as the team celebrated their league title in the streets of the Lombardy capital and it was a just reward for his impressive work at the club.
Pioli took over at Milan in October 2019 and worked hard to build an exciting project with Maldini and Massara. He’s been able to get the best out of young talents and has now wrote himself into the club’s history books.
Best referee – Daniele Orsato
Orsato is a veteran referee and one of the most respected officials currently active in Italian football. In 2020 he was awarded the best referee of the year by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics and is often assigned to the biggest games.
Best women’s player – Lisa Boattin
Lisa Boattin has been with Juventus since 2017 and she truly showed her best last season for the Bianconeri, being a core part of the team that won the league title, the Coppa Italia and the Supercoppa Italiana.
The 25-year-old made 19 league appearances for the Bianconeri, scoring six goals in that time and impressing defensively.
Best young player in Serie B – Federico Gatti
The Italian defender had spent his entire career outside the topflight but shot to prominence last season for his impressive work at Frosinone. Gatti did well enough to earn a €10m total move to Juventus, an incredible rise for a player who’d been lining up in Serie C in 2020.
Best goals – Theo Hernandez and Martina Rosucci
Hernandez was awarded the best men’s goal of the season for his incredible solo effort against Atalanta, when he ran the majority of the pitch and slotted him a slick shot without breaking his stride.
Juventus’ Rosucci won the award for the best women’s goal of the season thanks to her classy and unstoppable long shot against Roma.
Serie A top men’s 11: Maignan; Di Lorenzo, Tomori, Bremer, Theo Hernandez; Milinkovic-Savic, Brozovic, Barella; Leao, Immobile, Vlahovic.
Serie A top women’s 11: Peyraud-Magnin; Boattin; Linati, Lenzini, Filangeri; Simonetti, Caruso, Andressa, Greggi; Bergamaschi, Cantore.
Only 3 Italians in the starting 11. Says it all. Very sad.
Leao wasn’t Milan‘s best player last season, let alone the best overall. Shows again how biased “experts” are with forwards.