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The 2020-21 Serie A pulled the curtains on a pulsating campaign with a dramatic final round of games.
Inter Milan celebrated their first Scudetto in 11 years, while Juventus snuck into the top four at the expense of Napoli, who drew against Hellas Verona. AC Milan returned to the Champions League after eight years following a late victory over already-qualified Atalanta.
At the other end of the Serie A table, Crotone, Benevento and Parma were relegated, while Cristiano Ronaldo, rested for the final game, won his first Serie A Golden Boot award.
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There were a lot of other fine individual performances during the season. On that note, let's take a look at the five best midfielders in the 2020-21 Serie A.
#5 Lorenzo Pellegrini (AS Roma)
In a season of more downs than ups for AS Roma, one big positive was the performances of Lorenzo Pellegrini. He continued from where he left off in the last season, netting a career-best seven Serie A goals and six assists.
He was deployed in various roles in a three-man Roma midfield but excelled particularly as an attacking midfielder. Pellegrini set up the likes of Edin Dzeko and Henrikh Mkhitaryan and also stepped up to score a few goals himself.
#4 Sergej Milinkovic-Savic (Lazio)
Sergej Milinkovic-Savic is one of the most underrated midfielders in the Serie A. He has been producing the goods for Lazio for a few years now, and the 2020-21 campaign was no different as well.
With eight goals and nine assists in the 2020-21 Serie A, the Serbian wizard stood out for the Biancocelesti once again. He provided a creative spark to pull his team out of tight corners while also sharing the goalscoring burden with the club's top scorer Ciro Immobile.
#3 Piotr Zielinski (Napoli)
Three different players scored over ten goals for Napoli in the Serie A this season. But the only one with over ten assists during the season was Piotr Zielinski, who also scored eight goals in a career-best Serie A campaign.
While the attacking frontline ahead of him kept rotating, Zielinski remained a constant in Gennaro Gattuso's team. The Pole's eye-catching performances also drew praise from Manchester United star Bruno Fernandes.
#2 Nicolo Barella (Inter Milan)
Inter Milan's triumphant Serie A campaign was built on the prolific attacking partnership of Romelu Lukaku and Lautaro Martinez.
But several other players made an indelible mark on their campaign too, including Nicolo Barella, who is widely hailed as Italy's next big star and an underrated jewel in Antonio Conte's crown. Barella tallied three goals and nine assists in 36 league games.
Operating on the right side of the Inter Milan midfield as a mezzala, the 24-year-old played a key role in stretching opposition defences wide open with piercing runs down the flanks. He also got forward, often in support of the front two, while displaying a keen eye for goal.
#1 Franck Kessie (AC Milan)
Defensive midfielders don't usually score in double-digits, but Frank Kessie is an exception.
The talismanic Ivorian played a key role in helping AC Milan secure Champions League football after eight years. He netted a staggering 13 goals, including a brace against Atalanta on the final day, which ensured a runner-up finish for the Rossoneri, besides making six assists.
Franck Kessie's tally of 11 Serie A penalties was the most by any player in Europe's top-five leagues this season.
Kessie displaced star man Zlatan Ibrahimovic as Milan's first-choice penalty-taker and stepped up in the Swede's absence as their leader. He was also an indomitable force in midfield, thanks to his ball-winning prowess and precocious dribbling that came in handy against the meanest Serie A defences.
The best part is Kessie is only 24 and will only get better from here.
