Cagliari’s 3-2 win over Roma on Sunday evening meant the Rossoblu have now won three games on the bounce. For a team in a ferocious survival battle, that’s not normal.
Leonardo Semplici’s side have now beaten Parma, Udinese, and Roma. Despite the difficulty of the opponent, the win against Parma was by far the biggest. Not only did it almost certainly cement Parma’s position in the bottom three, but the late comeback that saw them take the three points will have done wonders for morale. It’s no surprise that it was the first of this recent streak.
Cagliari moved out of the bottom three with the win over Roma, pushing Benevento down into drop zone. It should be said that Cagliari are only ahead on goal difference, as their head-to-head record with Benevento is yet to be decided.
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Pippo Inzaghi’s side won 2-1 in Sardinia, but the now unspeakably huge return fixture on May 9th could prove decisive in which of these two sides joins Parma and Crotone in Serie B next term. The run-in will also see Cagliari play Milan and Napoli.
Benevento looked as though they’d probably done enough to avoid the drop this season, but they’re now without a win in five games. That 1-0 victory away at Juventus seemed to sow the seeds of complacency, and suddenly there is a lot of work to be done.
Their run in includes away trips to Milan and Atalanta, who are likely to be in the thick of a vicious battle for a top for spot and will not be letting up. Assuming they take no points from those two games, their other two fixtures are must-wins. The aforementioned home game against Cagliari, and a trip to Torino on the final day.
Toro may be up to 16th after languishing in the bottom three for so long, but they’re not out of this fight yet. They sit on 31 points, just like Cagliari and Benevento. The difference is that they’ve played two games less and have a superior goal difference.
They have two tough games against Napoli and Milan to come, but their other fixtures are very presentable. They face Parma, an out-of-form Hellas Verona who have nothing to play for, Benevento on the final day, and a trip to Spezia.
Spezia are another team who seemed to be completely safe, but Cagliari’s form has dragged them back into the picture. They’re just two points above the three aforementioned sides, and still need to play Roma and Napoli.
The final side who are still nervously looking over their shoulders are Fiorentina. They’ve got one extra point than Spezia, and it would take something special for La Viola to go down now. As we all know though, weirder things have happened.
