1981: the start of the Torneo di Capodanno
In 1981, the Torneo di Capodanno was launched, the only edition in its history, organised by Lega Calcio to compensate the longest break in the single-round Serie A championship, due to the participation of the Italian national team in the "Mundialito" in Uruguay. The 16 teams of the 1980/81 Serie A were divided into four groups of four teams, followed by the semi-finals between the winners of each group and then the final. The title went to Carlo Mazzone's Ascoli who, in the final at the "Del Duca", won 2-1 over Giovanni Trapattoni's Juventus, a match that was played in June, at the end of Serie A.
Source: legaseriea.it