2004–05 US Città di Palermo season

U.S. Città di Palermo played the season 2004-05 in the Serie A league. It was the first time Palermo entered the top division since 1973.

Review and events

See also: Serie A 2004-05

Palermo returned to Serie A in 2004 as Serie B champions. Francesco Guidolin was confirmed at the helm of the rosanero and a number of valuable signings were made in the summer market: among them, Andrea Barzagli, Cristian Zaccardo, Simone Barone (all three then part of the Italian squad that won the 2006 FIFA World Cup) and Argentines Mariano González and Ernesto Farías. The team was widely expected to be a candidate for a mid-table place because of the high quality of its roster. All these events provoked a notable excitement among the local fanbase, leading to a sale of over 30,000 season tickets which caused each Stadio Renzo Barbera seat to be assigned to a season ticket holder.

Palermo enjoyed a great start and quickly entered into the race for a UEFA Cup spot, ending the first half of the season in fifth place, only three points behind fourth-placed Inter. For a while the team appeared also capable to fight for a place in the next Champions' League, but failed in do so and Udinese eventually gained the last of the four available spots. Palermo ended in sixth place with 53 points, nine behind Udinese and eight behind fifth-placed Sampdoria. After the final match, Guidolin tended his resignations, and Luigi Delneri was quickly appointed at his place.

In the Coppa Italia tournament, the rosanero reached the round of 16 after having defeated Salernitana 3-2 on aggregate. The return match notably marked the only two goals by Argentine striker Ernesto Farías, who failed to impress in the Italian top league and was sold to River Plate in the January transfer window. In order to replace him, Davide Possanzini was signed by from AlbinoLeffe. Palermo then went on to be defeated 4-1 on aggregate by AC Milan.

2004-05 squad

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		Serie A		Coppa Italia
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1	GK	ITA	Nicola Santoni	5	-9	1	-3	4	-6
84	GK	ITA	Paolo Comi	0	0	0	0	0	0
99	GK	ITA	Matteo Guardalben	37	-41	37	-41	0	0
2	DF	ITA	Cristian Zaccardo	37	2	35	2	2	0
6	DF	ITA	Christian Terlizzi	19	1	15	1	4	0
11	DF	ITA	Fabio Grosso	38	1	36	1	2	0
13	DF	ITA	Pietro Accardi	3	0	1	0	2	0
21	DF	ITA	Giuseppe Biava	32	0	29	0	3	0
25	DF	SLE	Kewullay Conteh	15	0	14	0	1	0
43	DF	ITA	Andrea Barzagli	40	0	37	0	3	0
81	DF	ITA	Michele Ferri	9	0	7	0	2	0
4	MF	ITA	Stefano Morrone	27	0	23	0	4	0
5	MF	ITA	Eugenio Corini	37	0	35	0	2	0
8	MF	ITA	Simone Barone	38	2	35	2	3	0
10	MF	ITA	Lamberto Zauli	28	4	27	4	1	0
18	MF	ARG	Mario Santana	33	3	30	3	3	0
19	MF	ARG	Mariano González	25	2	21	2	4	0
20	MF	ITA	Cristian Raimondi	17	0	14	0	3	0
22	MF	ITA	Massimo Mutarelli	26	1	24	1	2	0
90	MF	ITA	Franco Brienza	37	11	33	10	4	1
9	FW	ITA	Luca Toni	36	21	35	20	1	1
14	FW	ITA	Davide Possanzini	2	0	2	0	0	0
26	FW	ITA	Pietro Balistreri	3	0	2	0	1	0
Players sold or loaned out during the January transfer market:
30	DF	BRA	Adriano Pereira da Silva	3	0	1	0	2	0
46	MF	ITA	Andrea Gasbarroni	9	0	9	0	0	0
7	FW	ARG	Ernesto Farías	16	2	13	0	3	2

January transfer market bids

In

14

FW

ITA

Davide Possanzini (from AlbinoLeffe)

Out

30	DF	BRA	Adriano Pereira da Silva (loaned to Atalanta)
46	MF	ITA	Andrea Gasbarroni (to Sampdoria)
7	FW	ARG	Ernesto Farías (to River Plate)

Results

Serie A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
4	Udinese	38	17	11	10	56	40	+16	62	Qualification to Champions League third qualifying round
5	Sampdoria	38	17	10	11	42	29	+13	61	Qualification to UEFA Cup first round
6	Palermo	38	12	17	9	48	44	+4	53
7	Messina	38	12	12	14	44	52	−8	48
8	Roma	38	11	12	15	55	58	−3	45	Qualification to UEFA Cup first round

Source: 2004–05 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).
Notes:

Date and time	Opponent team	Home/Away	Result
Sep 12, 2004 – 15.00	Siena	H	1-0
Sep 18, 2004 – 20.30	Inter	A	1-1
Sep 22, 2004 – 20.30	Fiorentina	H	0-0
Sep 25, 2004 – 20.30	Juventus	A	1-1
Oct 3, 2004 – 15.00	Bologna	H	1-0
Oct 17, 2004 – 15.00	Lecce	A	0-2
Oct 24, 2004 – 15.00	AS Roma	A	1-1
Oct 27, 2004 – 20.30	Livorno	H	1-2
Oct 31, 2004 – 20.30	Udinese	A	0-1
Nov 7, 2004 – 15.00	Parma	H	1-1
Nov 11, 2004 – 20.30	Messina	A	0-0
Nov 14, 2004 – 15.00	Sampdoria	H	2-0
Nov 28, 2004 – 15.00	Brescia	A	2-0
Dec 5, 2004 – 15.00	Atalanta	H	1-0
Dec 12, 2004 – 15.00	Chievo	A	1-2
Dec 19, 2004 – 20.30	Cagliari	H	3-0
Jan 6, 2005 – 15.00	Reggina	A	0-1
Jan 9, 2005 – 20.30	AC Milan	H	0-0
Jan 16, 2005 – 15.00	Lazio	A	3-1
Jan 23, 2005 – 15.00	Siena	A	0-0
Jan 30, 2005 – 20.30	Inter	H	0-2
Feb 2, 2005 – 20.30	Fiorentina	A	2-1
Feb 5, 2005 – 20.30	Juventus	H	1-0
Feb 13, 2005 – 15.00	Bologna	A	1-1
Feb 20, 2005 – 15.00	Lecce	H	3-2
Feb 27, 2005 – 15.00	AS Roma	H	2-0
Mar 6, 2005 – 20.30	Livorno	A	2-2
Mar 13, 2005 – 15.00	Udinese	H	1-5
Mar 20, 2005 – 15.00	Parma	A	3-3
Apr 10, 2005 – 15.00	Messina	H	2-1
Apr 16, 2005 – 20.30	Sampdoria	A	0-1
Apr 20, 2005 – 20.30	Brescia	H	3-3
Apr 24, 2005 – 15.00	Atalanta	A	0-1
May 1, 2005 – 20.30	Chievo	H	2-2
May 8, 2005 – 15.00	Cagliari	A	0-0
May 15, 2005 – 15.00	Reggina	H	1-1
May 20, 2005 – 20.30	AC Milan	A	3-3
May 29, 2005 – 15.00	Lazio	H	3-3

Coppa Italia

Date and time	Opponent team	Home/Away	Result
Sep 15, 2004 – 20.30	Salernitana	A	1-2
Sep 28, 2004 – 18.00	Salernitana	H	2-0
Nov 20, 2004 – 21.00	AC Milan	H	1-2
Jan 12, 2005 – 21.00	AC Milan	A	0-2