1996–97 U.C. Sampdoria season

Unione Calcio Sampdoria had a decent season, in which it troubled the top three in the Serie A, and at half season even threatening to overhaul Juventus's league title, before losing its form during the spring. Vincenzo Montella, brought in from rivals Genoa to replace the departed Enrico Chiesa, sensationally equalled Chiesa's tally of 22 goals. Following the end of the season, coach Sven-Göran Eriksson moved to Lazio, and brought both Roberto Mancini and Siniša Mihajlović with him. With playmaker Clarence Seedorf departing for Real Madrid, Sampdoria was once again in a predicament. It still possessed Juan Sebastián Verón's unique qualities, however. The Argentinian was a genuine sensation in his first European season, and stayed on for another year.

Sampdoria

1996–97 season
President	Enrico Mantovani
Manager	Sven-Göran Eriksson
Stadium	Stadio Luigi Ferraris
Serie A	6th
Coppa Italia	Round of 32
Top goalscorer	League: Vincenzo Montella (22) All: Vincenzo Montella (24)
Home colours Away colours Third colours

Players

Goalkeepers

• Fabrizio Ferron
• Matteo Sereni
• Alessandro Giovinazzo
• Kurnia Sandy

Defenders

• David Balleri
• Alberigo Evani
• Moreno Mannini
• Stefano Sacchetti
• Emanuele Pesaresi
• Siniša Mihajlović
• Emiliano Milone
• Oumar Dieng
• Alessandro Lamonica

Midfielders

• Marco Franceschetti
• Pierre Laigle
• Giovanni Invernizzi
• Christian Karembeu
• Fausto Salsano
• Vincenzo Iacopino
• Nicola Zanini
• Simone Vergassola
• Juan Sebastián Verón

Forwards

• Vincenzo Montella
• Roberto Mancini
• Mattia Biso
• Filippo Maniero
• Marco Carparelli

Competitions

Serie A

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
4	Lazio	34	15	10	9	54	37	+17	55	Qualification to UEFA Cup
5	Udinese	34	15	9	10	53	41	+12	54
6	Sampdoria	34	14	11	9	60	46	+14	53
7	Bologna	34	13	10	11	50	44	+6	49
8	Vicenza	34	12	11	11	43	38	+5	47	Qualification to Cup Winners' Cup

Source: Serie A, RSSSF.com, Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head points; 3) Head-to-head goal difference; 4) Goal difference; 5) Goals scored; 6) Draw. (Note: Head-to-head record is used only after all the matches between the teams in question have been played).[1]

Position by round

Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34
Sampdoria	12	9	6	10	10	8	10	4	6	6	6	9	8	4	3	2	2	2	2	2	2	4	4	3	4	5	4	4	4	6	7	5	5	6

Source: Serie A
  = 1997–98 UEFA Champions League Second Qualifying round;   = 1997–98 UEFA Cup First round

Matches

8 September 1996 1	Perugia	1–0	Sampdoria	Perugia
	Negri  23'	Report	Mihajlović  89'	Stadium: Stadio Renato Curi Attendance: 25,000 Referee: Stefano Braschi

15 September 1996 2	Sampdoria	2–1	Milan	Genoa
	Rossi  45' (o.g.) R. Mancini  76'	Report	Weah  14'	Stadium: Stadio Luigi Ferraris Attendance: 30,000 Referee: Fiorenzo Treossi

21 September 1996 3	Roma	1–4	Sampdoria	Rome
	Balbo  54'	Report	Aldair  64' (o.g.) Montella  73', 90' R. Mancini  88'	Stadium: Stadio Olimpico Attendance: 59,000 Referee: Domenico Messina

29 September 1996 4	Sampdoria	0–1	Napoli	Genoa
		Report	Beto  73'	Stadium: Stadio Luigi Ferraris Attendance: 24,000 Referee: Roberto Bettin

13 October 1996 5	Bologna	2–1	Sampdoria	Bologna
	Fontolan  46' Shalimov  60'	Report	Carparelli  79' Karembeu  84'	Stadium: Stadio Renato Dall'Ara Referee: Piero Ceccarini

20 October 1996 6	Sampdoria	2–0	Atalanta	Genoa
	Iacopino  11' Verón  28'	Report		Stadium: Stadio Luigi Ferraris Referee: Gianni Beschin

27 October 1996 7	Reggiana	1–1	Sampdoria	Reggio Emilia
	Tovalieri  32' (pen.)	Report	R. Mancini  13' Balleri  44'	Stadium: Stadio Giglio Referee: Daniele Tombolini

3 November 1996 8	Sampdoria	3–0	Piacenza	Genoa
	R. Mancini  16', 79' Carparelli  53'	Report		Stadium: Stadio Luigi Ferraris Referee: Pasquale Rodomonti

17 November 1996 9	Sampdoria	1–1	Parma	Genoa
	Carparelli  32'	Report	Chiesa  82'	Stadium: Stadio Luigi Ferraris Referee: Piero Ceccarini

24 November 1996 10	Lazio	1–1	Sampdoria	Rome
	Negro  82'	Report	R. Mancini  6' Pesaresi  79'	Stadium: Stadio Olimpico Referee: Robert Anthony Boggi

1 December 1996 11	Hellas Verona	1–1	Sampdoria	Verona
	Corini  68'	Report	Montella  51'	Stadium: Stadio Marc'Antonio Bentegodi Referee: Cosimo Bolognino

8 December 1996 12	Sampdoria	0–1	Juventus	Genoa
	Balleri  85'	Report	Ferrara  33'	Stadium: Stadio Luigi Ferraris Referee: Stefano Braschi

15 December 1996 13	Internazionale	3–4	Sampdoria	Milan
	Branca  11', 46' Berti  42'	Report	Montella  7', 57' Franceschetti  85' R. Mancini  90'	Stadium: Stadio Giuseppe Meazza Referee: Alfredo Trentalange

22 December 1996 14	Sampdoria	2–1	Vicenza	Genoa
	Montella  15', 25'	Report	Otero  82' (pen.)	Stadium: Stadio Luigi Ferraris Referee: Domenico Messina

5 January 1997 15	Udinese	4–5	Sampdoria	Udine
	Amoroso  23', 62' Cappioli  44' Bia  90' (pen.)	Report	R. Mancini  5', 19', 33' Montella  11', 74'	Stadium: Stadio Friuli Referee: Gennaro Borriello

12 January 1997 16	Sampdoria	4–1	Cagliari	Genoa
	Karembeu  27',  68' Carparelli  48' Montella  66', 90'	Report	Tovalieri  42' Berretta  60' Romero  68'	Stadium: Stadio Luigi Ferraris Attendance: 23,328 Referee: Robert Anthony Boggi

19 January 1997 17	Fiorentina	1–1	Sampdoria	Florence
	Batistuta  31' (pen.)	Report	Franceschetti  89'	Stadium: Stadio Artemio Franchi Attendance: 38,365 Referee: Pierluigi Collina

26 January 1997 18	Sampdoria	5–2	Perugia	Genoa
	R. Mancini  6', 58' Verón  44', 74' Montella  85' (pen.)	Report	Matrecano  14' Negri  27' Dicara  34'	Stadium: Stadio Luigi Ferraris Attendance: 25,000 Referee: Pierluigi Pairetto

2 February 1997 19	Milan	2–3	Sampdoria	Milan
	Weah  37', 57'	Report	R. Mancini  1' Ferron  24' Mihajlović  74' Carparelli  79'	Stadium: Stadio San Siro Attendance: 54,767 Referee: Livio Bazzoli

16 February 1997 20	Sampdoria	1–2	Roma	Genoa
	Montella  74'	Report	Moriero  45' Balbo  58'	Stadium: Stadio Luigi Ferraris Attendance: 27,803 Referee: Robert Anthony Boggi

23 February 1997 21	Napoli	1–1	Sampdoria	Naples
	Boghossian  57'	Report	Mihajlović  88'	Stadium: Stadio San Paolo Attendance: 40,834 Referee: Fiorenzo Treossi

2 March 1997 22	Sampdoria	1–2	Bologna	Genoa
	Montella  23'	Report	Kolyvanov  50', 90+2'	Stadium: Stadio Luigi Ferraris Attendance: 26,186 Referee: Emilio Pellegrino

9 March 1997 23	Atalanta	4–0	Sampdoria	Bergamo
	Inzaghi  20', 29' (pen.), 90+3' Morfeo  67' (pen.)	Report	Mihajlović  28'	Stadium: Stadio Atleti Azzurri d'Italia Attendance: 21,500 Referee: Salvatore Racalbuto

16 March 1997 24	Sampdoria	3–0	Reggiana	Genoa
	Montella  5', 68' (pen.) Carparelli  8'	Report		Stadium: Stadio Luigi Ferraris Attendance: 21,900 Referee: Gianni Beschin

23 March 1997 25	Piacenza	2–2	Sampdoria	Piacenza
	Tramezzani  14' Piovani  30'	Report	Montella  39' Pesaresi  48'	Stadium: Stadio Galleana Attendance: 10,597 Referee: Pasquale Rodomonti

6 April 1997 26	Parma	3–0	Sampdoria	Parma
	Crespo  34', 84' Sensini  68'	Report		Stadium: Stadio Ennio Tardini Referee: Piero Ceccarini

13 April 1997 27	Sampdoria	1–0	Lazio	Genoa
	Montella  67' (pen.) R. Mancini 90'	Report		Stadium: Stadio Luigi Ferraris Attendance: 24,383 Referee: Fiorenzo Treossi

20 April 1997 28	Sampdoria	0–0	Hellas Verona	Genoa
		Report		Stadium: Stadio Luigi Ferraris Referee: Livio Bazzoli

4 May 1997 29	Juventus	0–0	Sampdoria	Turin
		Report		Stadium: Stadio delle Alpi Referee: Domenico Messina

11 May 1997 30	Sampdoria	1–2	Internazionale	Genoa
	Verón  14'	Report	Ganz  45', 76'	Stadium: Stadio Luigi Ferraris Referee: Pierluigi Pairetto

15 May 1997 31	Vicenza	1–1	Sampdoria	Vicenza
	Ambrosetti  2'	Report	R. Mancini  1'	Stadium: Stadio Romeo Menti Referee: Gennaro Borriello

18 May 1997 32	Sampdoria	4–0	Udinese	Genoa
	Verón  40' Laigle  63' Montella  65', 90' (pen.)	Report	Pierini  43'	Stadium: Stadio Luigi Ferraris Referee: Stefano Braschi

25 May 1997 33	Cagliari	3–4	Sampdoria	Cagliari
	O'Neill  13' Cozza  66' Pancaro  79' (pen.) Villa  90'	Report	R. Mancini  11' Minotti  45' (o.g.) Montella  73' Villa  89' (o.g.) Iacopino  90'	Stadium: Stadio Sant'Elia Referee: Pierluigi Pairetto

1 June 1997 34	Sampdoria	1–1	Fiorentina	Genoa
	Montella  37'	Report	Robbiati  23'	Stadium: Stadio Luigi Ferraris Referee: Lorenzo Branzoni

Coppa Italia

Second round

28 August 1996	Genoa	2–2	Sampdoria	Genoa
	Torrente  19' Nappi  46', 56' Nicola  63'		Montella  21', 45' Mannini  40'	Stadium: Stadio Luigi Ferraris Attendance: 25,000 Referee: Alfredo Trentalange

Replay

1 September 1996	Sampdoria	0–2	Genoa	Genoa
			Morello  50' Rutzittu  90'	Stadium: Stadio Luigi Ferraris Attendance: 32,957 Referee: Pierluigi Pairetto

Statistics

Goalscorers

• Vincenzo Montella 22
• Roberto Mancini 15
• Marco Carparelli 6
• Juan Sebastián Verón 5
• Siniša Mihajlović 3

References

1. Almanacco Illustrato del Calcio - La Storia 1898-2004, Panini Edizioni, Modena, September 2005 "Norme organizzative interne della F.I.G.C. - Art. 51.6" (PDF) (in Italian). Italian Football Federation. 12 September 2018. Retrieved 11 November 2018.