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The 2020-21 Serie A campaign has finally come to an end and saw Internazionale lift their first Scudetto in a decade.
The Italian top-flight was completely and utterly dominated by Turin giants Juventus as they won nine successive league titles. Quite poetically, their dominance was brought to an end by the same man who kickstarted it in the first place, Antonio Conte.
The former Bianconero switched allegiances by moving to Inter for two years and getting them to a league title and a UEFA Europa League final.
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Another impressive storyline in Serie A was the re-emergence of AC Milan, who had a remarkable campaign. Despite their campaign derailing in the second half of the season, they still managed to return to the UEFA Champions League for the first time in over half a decade.
2020-21 wasn't a particularly memorable campaign for Italian defences as a whole, given that 18 of the 20 sides conceded over 40 goals. In fact, four of these teams conceded over the 70-goal mark, with Crotone letting in 92 (!) goals.
However, some goalkeepers have still had great campaigns in Italy and have been of great importance to their side. On that note, here is a look at the five best goalkeepers in Serie A this season.
#5 Emil Audero | Sampdoria
Emil Audero kicks off this list after the his busy campaign in goal for Sampdoria. The 24-year-old who rose through the ranks at Juventus' academy moved to the Blucerchiati back in early 2019 on an initial loan with a subsequent €20m fee. He grew in stature at the Luigis Ferrari and became one of the most impressive young keepers in Italy.
Audero conceded 54 goals in his 37 games, 11 fewer than what he did last season. This, admittedly, is a lot, averaging just under 1.5 goals conceded per game. However, he doesn't have a particularly strong defence ahead of him and he's still managed a superb 71.5 save percentage. This is quite a remarkable figure, taking the quality of the individuals in their defence into account.
Audero dealt with 117 of the 165 shots he faced. The Indonesian-born keeper also saved two penalties out of the nine he faced, the joint-highest in the league. At just 24 years of age, he's one to keep an eye on.
#4 Mattia Perin | Genoa
Mattia Perin moved to Juventus back in 2018 has endured a challenging time in Turin. With game time hard to come by, he returned to his boyhood club Genoa on a loan deal, and he's been in excellent form. Il Grifone just about managed to survive in the top division last season as they ended the campaign in 17th place. This season, Genoa finished in 11th place, conceding 15 fewer goals than in 2019-20.
Perin has been one of the major reasons for this commendable improvement in Serie A. The 28-year-old boasts the highest save percentage (75.3) of any keeper to start at least 25 games in the league.
The on-loan Juventus man saved 112 of the 150 shots he has faced on target this season. He's been in excellent form, and it remains to be seen if Perin remains at Marassi after the expiry of his loan spell.
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#3 Andrea Consigli | Sassuolo
Sassuolo were generally one of the more interesting sides in Italy this season. With a host of impressive players such as Manuel Locatelli, Domenico Berardi, and others, they've been a joy to watch. However, one of the most crucial players of their campaign was veteran keeper Andrea Consigli. The 34-year-old has had a superb season in goal, helping Sassuolo to an impressive eighth-place finish.
The Neroverdi keeper made more saves than anyone else in the Serie A season with a staggering 127, and only Alex Cordaz faced more shots than his 180. The former Atalanta man also saved one of the five penalties he faced.
Consigli helped Sassuolo concede seven fewer goals than last year with a tally of 56 last year. Overall, Sassuolo won 11 points more than they did in 2019-20 and Consigli has played a huge role in their rise.
#2 Samir Handanovic | Internazionale
Inter's Scudetto-winning captain Samir Handanovic has been one of the best keepers in Serie A this season. The Slovenian has long been one of the most under-appreciated keepers in Europe and he deservedly won his first Scudetto since moving to the club nine years ago. Handanovic played a huge role in their title win under Antonio Conte.
The 36-year-old kept the joint-highest number of clean sheets in Serie A this season (14). He saved 76 of the 105 shots he faced on target this season, letting in 33 goals at an average of 0.92 per 90, the best figure among keepers to start at least 25 games.
Additionally, Serie A's record penalty stopper saved two of the six spot-kicks this faced this season. However, Handanovic had a league-high three errors leading directly to a goal, and Lukasz Skorupski of Bologna is the only other player to have as many.
#1 Gianluigi Donnarumma | AC Milan
AC Milan's Gigi Donnarumma has had another excellent campaign in goal for the Rossoneri. He is one of the key reasons for their superb second-place finish and, in general, he had a memorable campaign for the Milanese club. Donnarumma hit his career-best return of 14 clean sheets in Serie A this season, two more than his previous best of 12 in 2016-17.
His tally of 14 shutouts is the joint-highest with his cross-town rival Handanovic. However, Donnarumma faced 20 more shots on target than his 105 and saved 14 of them. In total, the 22-year-old ended with a save percentage of 71.2, dealing with 90 of the 125 attempts he's faced on target.
Donnarumma also saved one of the four penalties he's faced in his 37 Serie A games. Overall, the Italian has had a brilliant season, but it remains to be seen whether he will remain at San Siro beyond the the summer window.
Also read: European Team of the Season (2020-21)
