The first phase of the Serie A Women’s season has ended and the top five teams have booked their spots in the Championship Round, setting up an exciting battle for the title.
The 2022-23 season is the first to be fully professional for Serie A Women, and features a unique format compared to the men’s topflight. The 10 teams all play each other once home and away, for an 18-game season, before the top five and bottom five are split into two separate groups – the Championship Round and the Relegation Round.
The Championship Round sees the top five teams – who keep their points from the first phase – play each other again, home and away, to battle it out for the Scudetto, with the top two teams both qualifying for the Women’s Champions League.
The Relegation Round keeps the same format but instead sees the lowest finisher relegated to Serie B, with the penultimate team forced to face off against the second-place team in Serie B for a spot in the topflight.
Roma comfortably finished the first phase at the top of the table, picking up 48 points from 16 wins and just two losses. The Giallorossi, under the guidance of Alessandro Spugna, faced little opposition in their charge to the top, only falling twice to Juventus. A well balanced attack of Valentina Giacinti and Andressa Alves, both of whom netted nine goals this season, was key in their Scudetto quest.
Juventus finished second in the first phase, eight points behind the league leaders. The Old Lady have won the last five Scudetti but looked a little off the mark this season, dropping points in frustrating draws with Como and Sassuolo. Two losses against Milan also allowed Roma to snatch the top spot.
In third were Inter, who finished the first phase five points behind the Bianconeri. Boasting the league’s top scorer this season Tabitha Chawinga, who netted 16 goals, the Nerazzurri looked strong but fell short in the direct clashes with Roma and Juventus, leaving them a little further behind in the title race.
Hot on the heels of Inter were Milan, who finished the first phase just a point behind their intercity rivals. The Rossoneri were a lot more inconsistent than their black and blue cousins, winning slightly more with 11 victories to 10 but losing far more often, six defeats to three. Their most lethal player was Martina Piemonte, who scored nine goals across the season.
Finishing out the Championship Round is Fiorentina, the first professionally affiliated club in Serie A Women. The Viola had a similar campaign to Milan, finishing with the same record and points, and will be eying up a strong run in the next phase in an attempt to snatch the second Champions League spot.
On the other side of the coin, five unfortunate teams will now fight to avoid the drop to Serie B. The teams in the Relegation Round are Sassuolo, Pomigliano, Parma, Como and Sampdoria, with only seven points separating the Neroverdi and the Blucerchiati, setting up a tense round of clashes.
The second phase of the Serie A Women’s season kicks off on the weekend of March 18-19.