Lugano finished the season in third, therefore qualifying for the group stage of the next season's Europa League, which is something that was beyond their wildest dreams before the season started.
The Ticiners actually started the season with a great deal of fear surrounding them, as they lost their experienced manager Zdenek Zeman and were also struck by the news that their last season's Player of the Year Antonini Culina would miss the entire campaign. However, Andrea Manzo, Zeman's former assistant boss who took over from the Czech manager, did well initially, while the Ticiners were led by Ezgjan Alioski, a summer signing from Schaffhausen, who was by far their best player this season and a strong candidate for the Super League Player of the Season as well. Lugano have done well in the first three months, but entered a crisis in the second half of the autumn season, therefore ending the first half of the campaign just above the bottom of the table, with the poor run costing Manzo his job.
Two key signings were made during the winter, as Paolo Tramezzani took over as manager and Armando Sadiku was signed from Zurich, with Lugano going to enjoy a remarkable spring season, with only champions Basel collecting more points than they did. Lugano's aims slowly grew - they quickly left the race to escape the drop, then started to hope for a top five finish and eventually managed to finish above Sion and claim an achievement that few dared to dream about before the season started.
Of course, Sadiku will now return to Zurich, while Alioski is also likely to leave, but the uncertainty of the summer ahead will hardly dim Lugano's celebration following what has been a superb season for them.
