The 2024/2025 Serie A season has finished with Napoli crowned champions after a long and very entertaining battle with Inter Milan.
It was one of the most competitive seasons of Serie A in recent years, as it witnessed very challenging and close competition between the teams, whether for the top spot or the four UEFA Champions League spots.
Several surprises also occurred during the season.
Roma made a powerful comeback under the management of Claudio Ranieri to finish in fifth place, having initially played to avoid relegation.
Bologna, Fiorentina, and Lazio were also very powerful and challenged for the top four spots until the last few matchdays, while AC Milan surprised everyone with a disappointing season.
This tactical analysis article will select the Serie A Team Of The Season based on data analysis and players’ impact on their own teams.
No more than two players per team will be selected in this squad to guarantee a minimum of equality in the selection process.
The formation to be used for this Serie A Team Of The Year selection is the standard 4-3-3 formation.
GK: Mile Svilar – Roma
The choice of Roma’s Mile Svilar as the Serie A goalkeeper of the season is based on numerous criteria.
First of all, he is the most consistent goalkeeper in Serie A this season, having made 38 appearances, which means he participated in all games.
In these 38 games, Svilar conceded just 0.86 goals per 90 minutes, better than Yann Sommer, Alex Meret, Vanja Milinković-Savić and all the rest.
Moreover, alongside Sommer and Meret, Svilar is one of the only three goalkeepers who have conceded fewer goals than the number of matches played.
However, as mentioned above, Svilar’s consistency and his success in participating in all games, despite conceding 35 goals, despite not having a powerful defence like that of Inter Milan or Napoli, count in Svilar’s favour and highlight his importance to Roma’s unbeaten series this season.
Although the choice was very close between Svilar and Meret, who conceded 25 goals in 33 games, the decision to choose Svilar was made mainly because a more powerful defence helped Meret compared to Roma.
Svilar also participated in all possible games, keeping 16 clean sheets.
RCB: Amir Rrahmani – Napoli
Under Antonio Conte‘s management, we have seen a completely different Amir Rrahmani this season.
He was hugely impactful in leading the team towards the league title thanks to his decisive movements inside the box, anticipation, excellent reflexes, and outstanding ability in the air.
With 68.6% of defensive duels won on average this season and 66% of aerial duels won, it is tough to find a defender with similar numbers.
Additionally, his successful sliding tackle rate equals 60%, while he makes 3.36 interceptions per match.
Amir Rrahmani Crucial Clearance
What made Rrahmani even more crucial this season was his ability to save his team from conceding goals on numerous occasions with decisive interceptions and clearances.
His clearance of the ball on the goal line in the match against Venezia is the best example of this.
LCB: Francesco Acerbi – Inter Milan
With an average of 74.8% defensive duels won and 61.7% aerial duels won this season, we cannot give this veteran defender enough credit for his defensive contributions to his team throughout the season despite not winning the title in the end.
Nevertheless, Francesco Acerbi confirmed with each game that he is one of the toughest defenders to play against, as he succeeded in most marking missions against some of the league’s most dangerous strikers.
Francesco Acerbi Sliding Tackles
Moreover, Aberbi classic yet elegant and efficient sliding tackles were often well-timed and decisive this season.
He executes these actions extremely well and usually succeeds in clearing the danger away with confident and determined decision-making within his own third when he is put in inviting situations, such as the following one.
RB: Denzel Dumfries – Inter Milan
For the right-back role, Denzel Dumfries‘s crucial role for I Nerazzurri was not to be overlooked, even though he usually plays as a wing-back in Simone Inzaghi’s 3-5-2 formation.
Dumfries proved this season that he is becoming a world-class right-back in both phases.
He adapts with remarkable discipline to the defensive aspect while remaining very dangerous attacking-wise.
Denzel Dumfries Pizza Map
Whether thanks to his crosses, shots or excellent ability to win aerial duels with a 66.3% win rate, Dumfries has helped Inter Milan win games on numerous occasions this season.
He scored seven goals and made two assists in 29 appearances this season.
Apart from that, his progressive runs on the right wing and his shots from distance made the difference for Inter Milan.
LB: Evan Ndicka – Roma
We have opted for I Giallorossi‘s Evan Ndicka for the left-back position, not just because he was outstanding and very consistent this season but also because no left-back was convincing enough to be in the team.
In fact, Ndicka is used as a left-back, although he is naturally a centre-back, because he deserves to be in the team of the season, thanks to his presence in every minute of Serie A this season (3,420 minutes).
He is one of only two outfield players to play every single minute of the 2024/2025 Serie A season.
Nuno Tavares was also a contender for this position, but his inconsistent performance made it difficult for him to secure a spot in the team.
The same applies for Théo Hernandez and Federico Dimarco, who were both inconsistent in terms of performances and made some poor performances that led to their being kept off the team for the season.
Furthermore, Ndicka does not deserve to be in this team only because he was present in all games.
In fact, his performances were also excellent and crucial in Roma’s unbeaten series, with an average of 81% sliding tackles won, the highest success rate in this regard.
Evan Ndicka Aerial Duels
Moreover, he made 3.67 interceptions per game and won 64.4% of the defensive duels.
His ability to win aerial duels against the toughest opponents, especially during set-pieces, was also exceptional.
This helped Roma greatly in limiting the danger of opposing crosses.
DM: Manuel Locatelli – Juventus
It is true that Juventus were not competing for the title this season, as their collective performances were not good enough to battle for the top spots.
That said, we cannot overlook Manuel Locatelli’s central role in this team’s playmaking and defensive phases, which played a crucial part in clinching a fourth-place finish in the standings.
In fact, Locatelli was one of the most consistent midfielders in terms of performance, minutes played per season, and passing accuracy.
Manuel Locatelli Pizza Map
He played in 37 of 38 possible games, averaging 68.81 passes per match, and his accuracy rate reached 90.6% when focusing solely on his passes in Serie A games.
More importantly, his passing to the final third was usually exceptional and very useful to the team, with an accuracy rate reaching 83%.
Locatelli’s role in Juventus’ midfield during this season was one of the most positive and valuable aspects, helping the team perform well and maintain balance in complicated games.
Furthermore, he was one of the most consistent players in Serie A, with outstanding passing accuracy rates, as shown below, and great attention to positioning, whether in the attacking or defensive phase.
LCM: Tijjani Reijnders – AC Milan
For the left central midfielder position, we cannot overlook Tijjani Reijnders‘s hugely successful season at AC Milan, despite his team not achieving the necessary results and failing to reach their league objective, as they finished in eighth place.
Reijnders was highly crucial to Milan, especially in terms of goal contribution, finishing, and assist-making, with ten goals and five assists in 37 games played.
We selected him for the team of the week mainly because he was one of the few midfielders in Serie A who could score a large number of goals, be central to his team’s playmaking process with remarkable assist-making contributions, and be very consistent in terms of performance.
Tijjani Reijnders Pizza Map
All these factors make Reijnders one of the best midfielders this season, and the following pizza map confirms the player’s extraordinary goal contribution rate, mainly thanks to his shot.
Additionally, he is one of the best, if not the best, in the league in terms of making dangerous passes.
Tijjani Reijnders Assist-Making
Reijnders’ dangerous passing has been crucial this season, even though everyone praises him for his finishing qualities and tends to overlook his key passing intelligence.
The following assist example highlights the midfielder’s ability to break defensive lines with unexpected key passes with extreme accuracy, making the receiver’s job of finishing easier.
RCM: Scott McTominay – Napoli
Being selected as the Serie A MVP for this season tells a lot about Scott McTominay’s extremely valuable contribution to Napoli in their journey towards their fourth league title.
It would be unfair to leave him out of this TOTS, as no other midfielder has been more useful than McTominay this season, especially from a playmaking and goal-scoring perspective.
Having scored most of his team’s crucial goals that led to winning precious points against tough opponents throughout the season was very unexpected.
He scored 12 goals and provided six assists in 34 games played, a record that very few Serie A midfielders attained before.
It should be noted that McTominay scored more goals in goalless games than any other player this season (eight goals), helping his team win matches with a 1-0 final result on numerous crucial occasions.
Scott McTominay Pizza Map
This pizza map showcases the Scottish midfielder’s high goal contribution, shots per match, touches inside the opposing box, dribbles and aerial duels won per match rates.
These traits can only confirm McTominay’s powerful performances and his intelligence and success in interpreting Antonio Conte’s instructions.
This also explains the notable differences between his expected goal contribution and his actual goal contribution per match.
RW: Riccardo Orsolini – Bologna
Riccardo Orsolini was one of the most influential players at Bologna over the last few years, helping them secure a spot that qualified them for UEFA Champions League football last season and lift the Coppa Italia title with them this season.
Moreover, Orsolini played a significant role in Bologna’s successful season this year, as he was consistent in Serie A.
Additionally, the team’s win in the Coppa Italia final secured their participation in the UEFA Europa League next season, marking their second consecutive European appearance.
Orsolini’s goalscoring contribution this season was exceptional.
Only two players, Moise Kean and Mateo Retegui, scored more goals than him in Serie A.
Riccardo Orsolini Pizza Map
With 15 goals and five assists, Orsolini confirmed that he is now one of the most prolific right-wingers in Italy, thanks to his remarkable dynamic penetrations, progressive runs, crosses, high success rate of winning duels, and outstanding shooting abilities.
According to his statistics, this was definitely Orsolini’s best season in Serie A so far, especially in terms of goals and assists.
All the rest of Serie A wingers did not come close to Orsolini’s goal contribution numbers.
LW/SS: Moise Kean – Fiorentina
This was Moise Kean’s breakthrough season.
He found his best form at Fiorentina, netting 19 goals and providing three assists in 32 games.
Kean finished second in the goalscorers’ ranking of this season, with only Retegui ahead of him in the standings.
Kean showed remarkable signs of development, whether in terms of his ability to resist and escape from marking with and without the ball, his shooting accuracy, or his positioning inside the box.
He became a much more “lethal” striker with a goalscoring-oriented mentality instead of his previous nonchalant mentality.
This helped him become a much more crucial finisher, and thanks to Kean’s goals, Fiorentina won many points.
Moise Kean Pizza Map
We should note that Kean was selected as the best left-winger (second striker) mainly because we cannot ignore Retegui’s merits for the striker position.
Therefore, Kean deserves to be in this season’s team, and the solution is to use him as a second striker.
What makes this choice even more fair is that most Serie A left-wingers were not as outstanding or crucial for their teams as Kean.
CF: Mateo Retegui – Atalanta
Finally, Mateo Retegui was the season’s surprise when it comes to strikers, given that he scored the highest number of goals this season, with 25 goals and an average of 0.94 goals scored per game.
He, therefore, won the season’s capocannoniere title and helped Atalanta finish third in the final standings.
Retegui also had the most multi-goal games this season, scoring two goals in a single game three times, a hat-trick once, and scoring four times in a single game.
Mateo Retegui Pizza Map
The following pizza map clearly highlights Retegui’s exceptional goal contribution rates, as he consistently exceeded expectations in this regard.
In addition, his passing accuracy and dangerous passes per game rates were excellent.
We should not overlook the fact that he provided eight assists this season, which is a notable achievement for a striker.
Conclusion
This season’s Serie A team of the week includes most of the consistent players, while it is also based on each player’s individual contribution to his team’s results.
Although many more names deserve to be included in this team, this team favoured mainly those who had the best numbers, whether defensively or in terms of goal-scoring and assist-making.
