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August 4, 2024
While clubs from other capital cities have dominated their domestic leagues, AS Roma and Lazio have struggled to keep pace with Juventus, AC Milan, and Inter in Serie A. Why has Italy’s capital seen so few league titles?
In a league long dominated by Juventus, AC Milan, and Inter, it’s been tough for clubs south of Italy’s Po Valley to mount a serious challenge for the Serie A title. Fans in Rome, in particular, have seen success come and go, with AS Roma and Lazio claiming just five Scudetti between them.
Both clubs have flirted with sustained success throughout their histories. Yet, neither has managed to entirely disrupt the dominance of Turin and Milan’s football giants.
With three titles on the Giallorossi side of the capital and two for Lazio, Rome’s teams remain far down the list of Serie A champions.
Despite the limited success of AS Roma and Lazio, Rome is notable for being a major capital city without footballing dominance, especially when compared to Juventus and Torino in Turin and AC Milan and Inter, who have collectively secured 82 titles.
This situation may reflect Italy’s pronounced north-south divide, where the majority of success has come from the country’s wealthier regions. In most other European countries, financial power tends to be centered in the capital.
For example, while Barcelona is one of Spain’s most successful clubs, its 27 La Liga titles pale compared to the 47 won by Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid combined. Similarly, in France, Paris Saint-Germain’s 12 titles are unmatched.
The contrast is even more striking in Portugal, where Benfica and Sporting CP have amassed 58 titles, along with Belenenses’ single victory. At the same time, the city of Porto boasts 31 league championships. The Athens region has dominated Greece, with the title awarded to the capital in 80 of the league’s seasons.
In England, Arsenal and Chelsea have consistently challenged for the Premier League. At the same time, Tottenham Hotspur has secured two league titles, bringing London’s total to 21 championships. Although this number is significantly lower than the 58 titles won by clubs in Liverpool and Manchester, the gap is less pronounced.
In contrast, Berlin has contributed only five titles to the Bundesliga’s history, while Bavaria boasts 46 and North Rhine-Westphalia shares 26. Few cities exert as firm a grip on their domestic league as Glasgow, where Celtic and Rangers have combined for an impressive 110 Scottish titles, leaving Edinburgh’s Hearts and Hibernian with just four each.
The history of Italian football and the distribution of Serie A titles could have been quite different had Roma not been one of Europe’s unluckiest teams.
The Giallorossi have finished second an astonishing 14 times while securing just three league titles. Their misfortune was amplified during eras of fierce competition, such as when Roberto Mancini’s and José Mourinho’s Inter Milan dominated in the late 2000s, followed by Juventus’ decade-long supremacy.
In fact, Roma have finished runners-up nine times in the 21st century alone, and they have been searching for a title win since their last triumph in 2001.
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Katarzyna Nowak is a seasoned writer with over five years of experience in editorial content, news reporting, and cricket sportsbook app reviews. As an author for Latest Football News, she combines her deep understanding of the sports betting industry with a passion for cricket, delivering insightful and accurate content that keeps readers informed and engaged.
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