The 2024/25 Serie A campaign has been an enthralling one for fans of all colours across Italy, and no doubt watchers on situated around the globe, and plenty of news headlines have been created on the back of the stories, controversies and by the well known characters we have in the game. Friday’s league deciders are no different this year as we bizarrely have a total of a quarter of all head coaches missing from the dug outs in their respective final games of the campaign.
Most notably they include both coaches of this years’ battling title hopefuls, as Napoli gaffer Antonio Conte and Inter Milan boss Simone Inzaghi will each be watching their games from the stands as they serve their relative suspensions.
It has to have happened before in the professional game, but it will certainly be a rare occurrence for potential title deciders to be played out without the managers being strictly in charge of their own sides.
As fans will know, as things stand Napoli currently hold a one point advantage over Inter and they host Cagliari in the final round, with the potential runners up and defending Champions visit Como. Come the relative final whistles if both sides remain tied on points a play off game will need to be scheduled to ultimately decide the destination of this seasons Italian league title.
On Monday Serie A confirmed that the two games would now be played on the Friday evening instead of the expected Sunday, a decision taken effectively to grant Inter additional time to recuperate and rest following the game as they prepare for their own Champions League final on May 31.
55 year old Conte finds himself suspended for their tie owing to the red card that he was shown in the final minute of Napoli’s scoreless draw with Parma last Sunday as he let his frustrations get the better of him and angrily confronted the opposition bench – Parma coach Cristian Chivu was also shown a red for his own behaviour.
49 year old Inzaghi saw his own red two minutes from the end of his side’s 1-1 draw with Lazio for dissent, Marco Baroni was also sent to the stands. AC Milan coach Sergio Conceicao was also dismissed at the end of their 3-1 defeat to Roma and will miss what could be his last match in charge.
On Monday, Liga Serie A also confirmed that all five had received one match bans.
Should a play off tie for the title ultimately be needed it could be set for May 26, but the remaining six league ties deciding European places and official relegations will take place as scheduled on Sunday.
