A start with a bang. Pyrotechnics. If there are no twists or changes to the rules which are not currently foreseen, the Enza derby will officially open Reggiana’s next competitive season.
The official announcement is still missing but it could arrive in the next few days and, if so, the Granata and Ducali will face each other in the first round of the Italian Cup.
In recent years the format of the Cup provides that the pairings are established following a ranking drawn up on the basis of the results of the previous season. The top seventeen teams are entered following the Serie A ranking order. Then there will be Parma, who having won Serie B will be number 18, followed by the other two newly promoted teams. Positions from 21 to 23 are assigned to the three relegated from the top flight (so Salernitana and two others that will be known shortly) then the Serie B teams, in order of ranking from the previous season.
The arrangements therefore foresee that team number 18, i.e. Parma, will face number 31 or the eleventh of the just concluded Serie B championship. In short, Reggiana who, after the draw obtained in the derby on the last day, she won that very position.
Following the current regulations, the match should be played away and therefore at the Tardini stadium and, as per practice, at the beginning of August: as the first official event of the new competitive season. And what a date.
To support what has been said, just look at what has happened in the last two summers. In 2023 Frosinone, who finished first in Serie B, faced Pisa who had finished eleventh. Two years ago, however, Lecce, who won the cadet championship, faced Cittadella, eleventh in Serie B.
In all likelihood the season will therefore begin with the derby of derbies. The most heartfelt one, the one that draws thousands of people to the stadium to support their colours.
And which in this case will bring forward (or postpone…) the beach holidays of many enthusiasts. Last May 10th, at the end of the 80th Enza derby, many understandably thought that it would be a long time before we would experience one again.
And instead fate will bring these two historic squares back together much sooner than expected.
It is truly true that the challenge between Reggiana and Parma never ends.
