The first leg match had given us perhaps the best show we’ve seen at this point in the playoffs. Today Cremonese And Catanzaro they meet again within a few hours to follow up the thrilling draw of the first act between the two teams.
At Ceravolo, a Calabrian fort, Cremonese managed to take the lead and even distance themselves with two goals. After less than a quarter of an hour, Frank Tsadjout immediately set the record straight for Cremonese. At the start of the second half, however, the legend Daniel Ciofani repeated the lead with a twist in the area, demonstrating the superiority that everyone expected on the eve of the match.
But if there is one thing that Catanzaro has taught us in these playoffs, it is certainly to never give up Vivarini’s team.
The Calabrian club has fascinated everyone during this season with its game proposal and, also through its own identity, the eagles then managed to equalize the match with goals from Biasci and Brignola until they even came close to the comeback advantage, which only vanished for a great save by Saro.
Today at Zini the return match is played which in terms of pace, intensity and surprises may have nothing to envy of the first 90 minutes seen previously. This time there could be some strategic reasoning that could make the difference, due to the field factor and Cremonese’s advantage in the standings, gained during the regular season. In fact, in the event of a draw, Cremonese would advance directly to the final without the need to play extra time. From the point of view of the pitch factor at Zini there will be sold out, therefore a great push from the gray and red fans with almost 13 thousand presences. The guest sector is also sold out and will be animated by 2,500 Giallorossi fans.
Some curiosities and numbers on Cremonese-Catanzaro.
On the last two occasions in which a team drew the first leg of the Serie B playoffs at home, they then progressed, after there had been the same number of progress on the 17 previous occasions. In the first leg Daniel Ciofani scored at the age of 38 years and 295 days; the only player to have scored at an older age in these phases of the competition was Christian Maggio, on 12 May 2022 against Vicenza at the age of 40 years and 90 days.
Among the teams against which they have never lost at home in Serie B, including playoffs/playouts/play-offs, Catanzaro is one of the two, like Taranto, faced several times by Cremonese (nine both): in these home matches against the Giallorossi team, the Lombards achieved four successes and five draws.
At the individual level, Stroppa recovers Collocolo, while in addition to the long-term unavailable, the two coaches will not have to make up for significant absences.
Kick-off at the Zini stadium in Cremona at 8.30pm. On TV on Sky Sport, NOW TV and Dazn.
