Rankings aside, Pescara-Ancona is one of those challenges that goes beyond the sporting aspect: the Adriatic derby is a classic that exudes history, passion, competitive fury and heated rivalry. The Dorians’ current position in the rankings makes an event already full of tension even more delicate. Since returning to the professional ranks, which occurred three years ago following the synergy with Matelica, Ancona has not yet beaten Pescara in the previous three matches: the debut in the championship of the new Canil management took place at the Adriatico on 28 August 2021, when the biancazzurri won the match thanks to Nzita’s late goal, after the Dorians managed to equalize with Faggioli. The return match, played at the Del Conero stadium, ended in a draw, with Pompetti responding to the red and white’s momentary advantage achieved by Rolfini. Almost two years passed before the two teams met again, since in the 2022-23 season the blue and white were “hijacked” in the southern group. This year, the first leg match played at the Passo Varano facility ended 1-1, goals from Saco and Cangiano. In short, in the last three years a ranking has returned which in previous decades was a must in the lower divisions of Italian football: if in the 2010s the two teams never met, we cannot forget how there were challenges previously who put on a great show. Starting from the 2007-08 Serie C1 championship, the one which, so to speak, sanctioned Ancona’s promotion to Serie B: Mr. Monaco’s Dorians managed to win 3-1 in Abruzzo, but in the return match they suffered a 2-1 defeat from the biancazzurri . To return to a double success for the red and whites, however, we need to go back to the 2000-2001 Serie B, when the team led by Fabio Brini won both the first leg and the second leg. How can we forget the challenges in Serie A? In the 1992-93 championship, with both teams relegated, the 5-3 that Ancona beat Pescara on the third to last day of the championship is still memorable today, with Agostini’s hat-trick and goals from Vecchiola and Ermini, to which should be added , among the guests, the goal of a certain Massimiliano Allegri.
In short, what better opportunity to make sense of this season? It’s true that the derby perhaps arrives in the least suitable phase of the championship, but if there is a moment in which we need to roar, demonstrating that the victory over Sestri was not the result of chance, this is the right one: all those fans who this season deserve it they have put in the kilometers despite the disappointing results. And an entire city deserves it, which will not be able to bear another descent into the amateurs.
Gianmarco Minossi
