Total celebration in the sold-out Tardini: after the promotion to Serie A, celebrated in front of 19 thousand spectators, first place is guaranteed.
The draw against Cremonese and the equalizer against Como gave the Crociati the championship victory cup, a title they had never won in the past.
The Lombards took the lead in the 25th minute thanks to a superb play by the former Vazquez who celebrated by making the gesture of silence at the Curva Nord and was overwhelmed by whistles. Evidently he couldn’t stomach the cut at the end of last season.
In injury time in the first half, number 20 came close to doubling the lead, but was then replaced at the end of the first half. The equalizer in the 11th minute of the second half came from Mihail with an astute touch following Man’s serve. Johnsen could put Cremonese back ahead but fired a shot into the curve into an empty net. The teams finished with ten men due to the expulsions of Balogh and Pickel.
Parma rises to 75 and even if Como were to beat the Crociati in the last match of the championship, the direct clashes would reward the yellow and blue
At the end of the match, a celebration on the pitch followed by a walking procession through the city led by the team and organized support.
Highly anticipated season finale on Friday 10th in Reggio Emilia. “We want to win the derby”, the chorus from the Curva Nord.
“Last year – remember Fabio Pecchia – the match against Cagliari had left its mark, today it is wonderful to celebrate with our fans. The goal was to lift the cup. Now we are in Serie A, where the city of Parma deserves to be. The derby? On Monday we will have a recovery day and then we will prepare, we have to play with our mentality and we will find the energy to face it. Coming first was the right reward for everyone. The continuity from last year helped us do well this year, it all started from there. Are the players ready for Serie A? We’ll see, there’s a lot of curiosity.”
Parma in Serie A, crowd wall for the team in the square: the images from above
“We realized we were a strong team – he adds Adrian Bernabè – and we have learned from last year’s mistakes. We have created a good group that gets along well both on and off the pitch, that has been able to suffer and I think this has been seen throughout the season. We are a very young team, but we also have very experienced players. I think we can do well in Serie A: we have quality, physical strength, a lot of desire and a lot of enthusiasm. Now, however, we enjoy the moment and celebrate with our people.”
Enrico Delprato: “Not much has changed compared to last year, it was fundamental to continue with Mr. Pecchia and the new additions have given us a great hand from an experience point of view. It’s a victory for everyone: for the team, for the staff, but also for everyone behind the scenes who allow us to always work in the best possible conditions. For Serie A we have several young players with prospects, with technical and physical qualities. It will be a difficult championship but we will face it with the right determination to get some satisfaction. The emotion of finishing first is strong because we have been there practically since the first day and we wanted to finish on a high note with our fans. The best moments? The goals at the end were signs for us, but the performance of our competitors also pushed us to do better.”
