With all the commotion at the top of the table, I haven’t heard much about the teams at the other end. As it stands Brescia, Cesena and Bari will be playing in Serie B next season. In my eyes Catania, Lecce and Parma could also be considered as they are only four points clear. Sampdoria are definitely safe on thirty-one points, so that’s as far as I will go.
When Brescia hosted Bari early this month it attracted a total of 3,000 people, the worst crowd I have ever seen in a top flight match, that wasn’t behind closed doors. Even though no one cares I guess it kind of matters. Let the battle begin!
Parma could count themselves a little bit unlucky to be this situation, as they have by far the best squad of the lot. Crespo has scored nine goals at the age of thirty-six, I was amazed to see he was still playing. I got his autograph about ten years ago. Amuari has been a bit of a flop, but with Giovinco having bagged five made up for it. In-fact it will be hard for Marino to keep la formica atomica. If Juventus don’t want him a big club will definitely snap him up. Cristian Zaccardo and the boys need to stop leaking goals if they want to push on. I Gialloblu will survive, but won’t finish any higher.
Lecce came first last season in Serie B, so staying in the top flight was always the priority. Di Michele is the only half decent attacker, with five goals. Olivera has four assists and three goals to his name, he must be doing something right. Giacomazzi was key in Serie B, but its been more Jeda and Munari this year. They were always going to be fighting for their place, but there not better then anyone above them. Overall De Canio’s men have a chance of staying up, but just like Parma they won’t go much higher.
Catania have not won a single game away from il Stadio Angelo Massimino this year, as a result radical change was made. Pulvirenti hired the legend that is Diego Simeone. Having lost Mascara to Napoli, Llama has taken over the attacking midfield role. With four assists so far this season. Maxi Lopez has taken fifty-five shots, resulting in five goals. You decide if that is success. Again like the teams around them, they leak too many goals. After finishing thirteenth last season, this season will be a huge disappointment for the Sicilians. Going back to the excitement part, when they played fellow stragglers Brescia it attracted a crowd of nine thousand. I can tell your exited as well.
Brescia are three points from Catania, and if they manage to win at Lecce this weekend it would be a big step towards safety. They just scrapped through Serie B winning a playoff final against Torino. Alessandro Diamanti arrived from West Ham and has been a revelation with five goals and three assists. Even still I think it will be second division football next season. I think it safe to say that not many calcio fans would shed a tear for Biancoazzurri anyway.
Cesena arrived in Serie A this season after a nineteen year absence. The Seahorses have been relying heavily Erjon Bogdani and Luis Jimenez for goals. While Luca Ceccarelli has provided four assists from midfield. Igor Budan arrived from Palermo but is yet to score in thirteen matches. The unfortunate thing is that they probably didn’t invest enough to stay up.
Bari have a goal difference of -26 and are eleven points from safety. When they came up in last season finishing tenth was really impressive, but it couldn’t last without investment. I Galletti tried to bring in a new manger in Mutti for some momentum, but they haven’t won in eight. Barreto and Okaka will not save them them at this stage. They have only won three matches all season. I would bet my house they are in Serie B next season.
If you have read this far then you can officially claim that you are a calcio fanatic. This relegation battle has been extremely dull at the best of times. My prediction is that Brescia, Cesena and Bari will all go down, just as it stands.
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