In the end it’s always Bari against Catanzaro. Like three years ago in Group C of Serie C, like last year in Serie B, with stories of great exes who cross paths, like in a big circle that never seems to want to close. That the paths of the Apulian club and the Calabrian club were destined to link up with each other during this summer was a well-known aspect, taking a look at the names linked to both realities in recent weeks, but that a real and the very exchange of sporting directors between the parties, moreover with very close deadlines, is something that cannot fail to leave a hint of amazement: and so, while the red and whites, the day after the termination of the contract with Catanzaro, announce Giuseppe Magalini as the new transfer man, the Giallorossi are about to do the same with Ciro Polito, ready to start again from Serie B after the end of his three-year history with De Laurentiis’ club. A strange twist of fate, yet another chapter that brings the two realities together rather closely.
It was Di Cesare and his teammates who stopped the Calabrians’ run in 2021/2022 and celebrated their return to Serie B by placing ahead of them in the standings thanks also to the direct clash won at Ceravolo; not bad, Giallorossi side, because the redemption would come the following year with the leap in category led by a former Bari coach, Vincenzo Vivarini who on the shores of the Adriatic had reached the playoff final a few seasons earlier and who he could also have returned to these latitudes this summer together with Magalini himself, before closing with Longo. Historical courses and recurrences which must also take into account the performance of the two teams in their first year in the cadetteria: the red and whites one step away from Serie A in 2022/2023, Vandeputte and his teammates in the playoff semi-final in 2023/2024. Here too, there is no shortage of combinations. In short, the new season has yet to begin, but between Bari and Catanzaro it is already a southern derby.
