The 2010–11 season is Sampdoria's 64th in existence, and eighth consecutive season Serie A. Sampdoria finished the 2009–10 Serie A season in fourth place.
Sampdoria competed in the UEFA Champions League for the first time since finishing runner-up in 1991–92.
The season was a disastrous one relative to the success of 2009–10, with the club suffering relegation following the January departures of star players Antonio Cassano and Giampaolo Pazzini.
Pre-season and friendlies
A total of 29 players gathered for the beginning of pre-season training at Moena on 6 July.
1 Match played in three 30-minute segments.
Competitions
Serie A
League table
Results summary
Results by round
Matches
Coppa Italia
Based on their finish in the 2009–10 season, Sampdoria began the 2010–11 Coppa Italia in the round of 16.
UEFA Champions League
By finishing in fourth position in Serie A, Sampdoria will play in the play-off round of the Champions League. The draw for the play-off round took place on 6 August. Sampdoria were unseeded in the non-Champions route of the draw. They were drawn against four time German champions Werder Bremen.
The first leg, played at Weserstadion in Bremen, was won 3–1 by the home side. Werder Bremen scored all three of their goals in the second half, including a 67th minute penalty from Torsten Frings. The penalty was given after Stefano Lucchini brought down Sebastian Prödl in the area. Lucchini was given a second yellow card for the foul, which led to his sending off. In the last moments of the match, Giampaolo Pazzini gave Sampdoria some hope with an away goal.
The return at Stadio Luigi Ferraris in Genoa saw Sampdoria jump out to an early lead on a pair of Giampaolo Pazzini goals. Antonio Cassano scored a late goal to put Sampdoria ahead 3–0 in the match and ahead 4–3 on aggregate score. In added time, Werder Bremen answered back through Markus Rosenberg to force extra time. In the first half of extra time, Claudio Pizarro scored giving Werder Bremen a 5–4 lead on aggregate. Sampdoria were unable to respond, and they were eliminated from Champions League play.
Play-off round
UEFA Europa League
As a result of their elimination from the Champions League, Sampdoria entered the 2010–11 UEFA Europa League in the group stage.
The draw took place on 27 August. Sampdoria were drawn to play in Group I along with PSV from the Netherlands, Ukrainian club Metalist Kharkiv and Hungarian club Debrecen. They finished a distant third in the group, with only one win, against Debrecen.
Group stage
Note 1: Debrecen played their group matches in Budapest at Ferenc Puskás Stadium as Debrecen's Stadion Oláh Gábor Út did not meet UEFA criteria.
Squad statistics As of 22 May (end of the season) No.Pos.NameLeagueCoppa ItaliaEuropeTotalDiscipline1AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals1GK Angelo da Costa4-82-42-28-14102DF Vedran Celjak00000000003DF Reto Ziegler3412060421504MF Daniele Dessena2201070300515DF Pietro Accardi901010110306DF Stefano Lucchini2601030300927MF Daniele Mannini3022080402818MF Stefano Guberti3652180466209FW Nicola Pozzi22610302663010FW Giampaolo Pazzini196115525123011MF Vladimir Koman26010613312012MF Fernando Tissone22120302716113DF Romano Perticone000000000014MF Pedro Obiang400010500016MF Andrea Poli21020502809117MF Angelo Palombo34120604213018DF Zsolt Laczkó900000902019DF Fabrizio Cacciatore5000511013020MF Marco Padalino100010201021MF Paolo Sammarco000010100022GK Vincenzo Fiorillo000000000023DF Marius Stankevičius000020200023FW Bruno Fornaroli100000100024DF Jonathan Rossini000010101025DF Gilberto Martínez900000902026DF Massimo Volta251208035112027MF Jonathan Biabiany16100001611028DF Daniele Gastaldello291106036112132FW Massimo Maccarone17310001831041FW Federico Macheda14021001612052DF Andrea Grieco000010100053DF Fabio Lamorte000010100054DF Daniele Messina000010100055MF Nenad Krstičić000010100077MF Franco Semioli7000301001078DF Luciano Zauri27010102902085GK Gianluca Curci35-40006-1041-502088FW Salvatore Foti000000000089FW Guido Marilungo15000502003191FW Simone Zaza200000200099FW Antonio Cassano74005112520 1Disciplinary record for all competitions.
References