Paghera plays after his mother’s death, Bisoli gives him the captain’s armband (as Guardiola did with Baggio)

The gesture reminded all Brescia fans of what happened in the same stadium 22 years ago: it was April 21, 2002 and the swallows, in Serie A, faced Fiorentina on the third to last day. In search of safety points, which were then obtained only in the last round, Carlo Mazzone decided to enter the fray Roberto Baggio, who had undergone surgery on the anterior cruciate ligament of his knee just 77 days earlier. A record recovery, wanted with all his might to convince Giovanni Trapattoni to take him to the World Cup (it wasn’t enough…). Pep Guardiola, captain of Brescia in that match, ran to the Divine Codino and put the captain’s armband on his arm to the disbelief of Mazzone himself, who in a competitive trance had not understood the Catalan’s gesture (not permitted by the regulations, but by friendship). Brescia, who led 1-0, then won 3-0 thanks to a brace from Baggio, carried in triumph by the entire stadium. Today was not a day of celebration for Fabrizio Paghera, it cannot be for his family. But the shivers of emotion were there, now like 22 years ago.