The first round of the playoffs has concluded and fully respected the final standings of the regular season. Sampdoria, seventh in the standings, and Brescia, who finished eighth, were eliminated. Palermo and Catanzaro qualified for the playoff semi-finals, where Venezia and Cremonese were already waiting for them. Who will move up to Serie A together with Parma and Como?
The big favorite from what we have seen this season remains Venezia. Vanoli managed to unite the group and get the best out of each of his players. His journey, which began last season, has led the lagoon players to now be the main candidate for Serie A, for their play and for the results of the regular season. Venezia’s other strong point is undoubtedly striker Pohjanpalo: he will probably go to Serie A anyway, but he dreams of bringing joy to the team that relaunched him. He could be the decisive man, but it remains to be seen how the team will react, after the collapse and the emotions of the last day of the championship, where they were defeated at Spezia.
Also pay attention to the Cremonese. From the beginning of the season you have been indicated as one of the big favorites for an immediate return to the top flight. There were great expectations about the team, after the transfer market which saw the arrival of high-level names for the category, such as Vazquez and Coda. After a difficult start, the team grew with the arrival of Stroppa on the bench, but almost never gave the impression of having the solidity necessary for a top championship. In the playoffs, however, anything can happen and with this squad Cremonese has everything it takes to achieve promotion.
Following the big surprise of the championship, Vivarini’s Catanzaro. The Giallorossi, after the great run last year in Serie C, have also confirmed themselves in the cadet championship, maintaining the backbone of the group at the Vivarini court. For a good part of the season they were the team that expressed the best football in the championship, but yesterday against Brescia they struggled a lot and extra time may have reduced their energy in view of the semi-final against Cremonese.
We close with Palermo. The rosanero, thanks to the investments of the City Group, have built a high-level team, which can count on players like Ranocchia and Brunori to name a couple. As favorites for promotion, the season was disappointing, the results were mixed and led to Corini’s dismissal. With Mignani on the bench, Palermo was unable to reverse the trend, but the convincing performance against Sampdoria rekindled the enthusiasm and now the Rosanero want to turn the season around.
ELIMINATORY ROUND
Friday 17 May
Palermo-Sampdoria 2-0
Saturday 18 May
Catanzaro-Brescia 2-2 (4-2 aet)
SEMI-FINALS
Monday 20 May
8.30pm Palermo-Venice
Tuesday 21 May
8.30pm Catanzaro-Cremonese
Friday 24 May
8.30pm Venice-Palermo
Saturday 25 May
8.30pm Cremonese-Catanzaro
THE FINAL
Thursday 30 May
8.30pm First leg
Saturday 2 June
8.30pm Return match
