Same points in the standings, same number of victories, same path. Modena and Reggiana lived for 35 days on a roller coaster, going through moments of total darkness and others of sensational exploits such as some unforeseeable successes: the canaries in the derby with Parma, the granata in Venice and Palermo, just to name a couple. It will be the derby of balance, if you want to read the statistics. In addition to the same victories, the two teams have both drawn 16 matches and lost on 10 occasions. The numbers of goals scored are also practically identical (38 Modena and 36 Reggiana), as are those conceded (44 Modena and 43 Reggiana). The only discriminating factor that places Nesta’s team in a somewhat favorable position is being a newly promoted team, unlike Modena who had a good year to save themselves with Tesser and then consolidate with Bianco, failing and therefore forced to call Bisoli on the bench so as not to compromise everything.
In any case, the values are equivalent at the moment and it’s not just the numbers that say it. In the first leg, a sensational play from Bozhanaj was necessary to break the balance of the 1-1, a theme that could become fundamental again tomorrow in a match that promises to be closed and armored also by the desire not to lose points with three days to go. Another game of chess, in short. And Bisoli finds a team that should line up exactly like Sudtirol (3-4-2-1), knowing how to stem Nesta’s external play in which Pieragnolo’s run and the offensive insertions of Portanova and Melegoni stand out. This is why Corrado’s experiment as a midfielder, who knows, will intrigue the Modena coach again, widening him when the Canaries have possession to keep Reggiana at bay. But Riccio’s return from suspension and Oukhadda’s positive playing time on Saturday could ultimately push Bisoli to field a full-back and bring Magnino back in midfield with Santoro and Battistella and Palumbo in the attacking midfield. As usual, Bisoli will always have only a couple of doubts under the covers on the night before the race, no more. He has found the backbone and from here to the end it will be made up of Gagno, Zaro, Pergreffi, Santoro, Battistella and Palumbo. And he will also keep a slot dedicated to a potential wildcard in the second half, be it Bozhanaj or Tremolada. And tomorrow, in the derby of absolute balance, identical numbers and objectives now achieved, catching a good ‘crazy’ wouldn’t be so bad.
A highly anticipated match, also and above all in terms of numbers: as of last night, 10,234 tickets had been sold for tomorrow’s match, of which 2,852 were in the away sector for the yellow-blue fans.
In the photo: the first leg match
Alessandro Troncone
