Italian Football Thread

[Allan Jacobsen]

In terms of the regular season in Lega Pro, everything has been sorted. Promotion and relegation playoffs are next. The promotion playoffs seem to be simpler than they look. They're just very fucking wordy. 3rd-10th in each group play each other with the higher ranked team at home: 3rd v 10th, 4th v 9th, 5th v 8th, 6th v 7th (Girone A-C).

Whoever wins goes into the second phase (24 > 12) where they will play the 3 teams who finished 2nd AND the winner of the Coppa Italia Lega Pro. It looks like this:

Spoiler

 

Match 1: 2nd in Girone A vs the winner of 5th v 8th in Girone C

Match 2: 2nd in Girone B vs the winner of 6th v 7th in Girone A

Match 3: 2nd in Girone C vs the winner of 6th v 7th in Girone B

Match 4: Coppa Italia Lega Pro winner vs. the winner of 6th v 7th in Girone C (although this season, it is a bit more complicated - I'll make another post with the ties which will explain)

Match 5: winner of 3rd v 10th in Girone A v winner of 4th v 9th in Girone C

Match 6: winner of 3rd v 10th in Girone B v winner of 5th v 8th in Girone A

Match 7: winner of 3rd v 10th in Girone C v winner of 5th v 8th in Girone B

Match 8: winner of 4th v 9th Girone A v winner of 4th v 9th in Girone B

 

Played over two legs. Whoever has the best aggregate score goes through obviously. If the scores are tied (away goals don't count) then whoever finished higher up the table in the regular season goes through. (16 > 8 )

After that, it's a straight shoot-out between the 8 remaining teams. No idea who would play who but it's just a knockout with the one team remaining getting the final promotion spot in Serie B

Thankfully, relegation is much easier: 19th v 16th, 18th v 17th (Girone A-C). Two legs, 4 teams, 2 relegation places, whoever wins the tie stays up. If the scores are level, best placed team stays up.

Edited May 7, 2017 by Allan Jacobsen
Stupid sunglasses face came up

[Allan Jacobsen]

GIRONE A

Winners: Cremonese

Promotion playoff (in position order): Alessandria, Livorno, Arezzo, Giana Erminio, Piacenza, Como, Viterbese, Lucchese, Renate

Relegation playoff (in position order): Carrarese, Prato, Tuttocuoio, Lupa Roma

Relegated: Racing Roma

Spoiler

 

Promotion playoffs

Livorno v Renate

Arezzo v Lucchese

Giana Erminio v Viterbese

Piacenza v Como

Relegation playoffs

Lupa Roma v Carrarese

Tuttocuoio v Prato

 

GIRONE B

Winners: Venezia

Promotion playoff (in position order): Parma, Pordenone, Padova, Reggiana, Gubbio, Sambenedettese, FeralpiSalo, AlbinoLeffe, Bassano Virtus

Relegation playoff (in position order): Teramo, Fano, Forli, Lumezzane

Relegated: Ancona

Spoiler

 

Promotion playoffs

Pordenone v Bassano Virtus

Padova v AlbinoLeffe

Reggiana v FeralpiSalo

Gubbio v Sambenedettese

Relegation playoffs

Lumezzane v Teramo

Forli v Fano

 

GIRONE C

Winners: Foggia

Promotion playoff (in position order): Lecce, Matera (*), Juve Stabia, Virtus Francavilla, Siracusa, Cosenza, Paganese, Casertana, Fondi, Catania (*)

Relegation playoff (in position order): Akragas, Vibonese, Catanzaro, Melfi

Relegated: Taranto

Spoiler

 

Promotion playoff

Juve Stabia v Catania (*)

Virtus Francavilla v Fondi

Siracusa v Casertana

Cosenza v Paganese

Relegation playoff

Melfi v Akragas

Catanzaro v Vibonese

 

That then leaves the second phase as follows:

Spoiler

 

Match 1: Alessandria vs Virtus Francavilla or Fondi

Match 2: Parma vs Piacenza or Como

Match 3: Lecce vs Gubbio or Sambenedettese 

Match 4: Matera (*) vs. Cosenza or Paganese

Match 5: Livorno or Renate v Virtus Francavilla or Fondi

Match 6: Pordenone or Bassano Virtus v Giana Erminio or Viterbese

Match 7: Juve Stabia or Catania (*) v Reggiana or FeralpiSalo

Match 8: Arezzo or Lucchese v Padova or AlbinoLeffe

Catania and Matera have been asterisked. The reason for this is that Venezia actually won the Lega Pro Coppa Italia this season but they are already promoted. As Matera were runners-up, they take the place of Venezia and 11^th placed Catania from Girone C take Matera’s place.

 

It then turns into a knockout stage but that hasn’t been announced yet. I assume it would be Match 1 v Match 8, Match 2 v Match 7 and so forth.

Edited May 7, 2017 by Allan Jacobsen

[accies1874]

Roma are absolutely pumping Milan. Lucky it's only 2-0.

[jmothecat]

Roma are absolutely pumping Milan. Lucky it's only 2-0.

Best game I've watched this weekend. Sort of dipped in and out of games, first half of this is the first one that I've hardly taken my eyes off of.

[NorthernJambo]

1-2. Game back on should be a good end.

Edit: game aff. Lovely finish from El Shaarawy.

[LincolnHearts]

Been a decent game tonight. That Naingolan boy though.....what an engine, can pass the ball effortlessly too.

[accies1874]

Enjoyed this. Can't believe how far Milan have fallen though.

[lanky_ffc]

Very comfortable evening for Roma. Both Milan clubs will be hoping the investment will bring back former glories, but they're awhile away from that. Whilst they both have some good attacking options, there's also some absolute haddies in their backlines. The penalty pretty much summed up Paletta; slow, clumsy and just not good enough for where Milan want to be.

[lanky_ffc]

2 hours ago, accies1874 said:

First Italian game I've watched this season - make it a good one.

 

1 hour ago, jmothecat said:

Best game I've watched this weekend. Sort of dipped in and out of games, first half of this is the first one that I've hardly taken my eyes off of.

 

I got BT at the start of the season and have fallen back in love with Italian football. Really enjoyable season and the highest scoring since the late 90s (according to the guys on the European Football Show) with an average of about 2.80 per game.

Who said Serie A was boring and defensive? 

[Ludo*1]

Was at the game, but what a fucking night. Will give a detailed rundown of my thoughts of the game probably Tuesday when I'm home and of Italy in general but that's been a highpoint and made a frustrating trip worthwhile.

[Ludo*1]

So yeah, Milan is an absolute shitehole. I'd advise before going that try and know a bit of the language, or you could end up like me without Internet and unable to find my hotel for about 5 hours on my first day.

 

Now the story I'm going to tell here is going to make me sound like a naive, stupid moron and that's partly because I am and partly because I was completely out of my element.

 

I flew with Ryanair, this was all done on a budget - all I had was the €200 and that was without having purchased tickets for the AC Milan vs Roma game.

 

Anyways - get to the airport (Edinburgh) - hand over my ticket and told it is incorrect. Go to the ticket desk and query, they sort it out but I'm £50 lighter already as apparently we made a mistake with our email address (Despite receiving several emails from them after placing order) and as such I couldn't get sorted unless I paid that fee. That'll definitely be getting looked into as I feel I was shafted but that's another story.

 

So, first day, I didn't have a chance to prepare as after the flight to Bergamo (Which is a 50 minute bus journey from Milan)I purchased a ticket to take me to Milan to find my hotel. No Internet and a complete lack of Italian language meant it took us 5 hours to find the hotel. Thankfully, a helpful pedestrian put us out of our misery by showing us in detail without us speaking each others language of how to use the tram.

 

We then got to the Enterprise Hotel, which is a 4 star hotel and absolutely beautiful in the Corso Sempione area. The area wasn't the best, quite rundown, but at no point did I feel unsafe, just an area that had fell on hard times.

 

Anyways, the hotel receptionist advised us that we would be unlikely to get tickets for the game as it was a 'big game' but he could sort something out for a fee and would be in touch later. We knew he was an absolute chancer, but it still put more than a little bit of fear that we'd miss out on where we wanted to be.

 

Through broken English and quite helpful translation/Google maps through the hotel wifi we mastered the tram and underground systems, but only after wandering about failing to find the San Siro for an hour and a half later that night. Defeated, we called it a day and decided we'd settle in the area and improve upon our pathetic attempts of getting things done.

 

Day of the game came and with still no tickets we set out in search of the San Siro. After a quick chat with a local we were advised that our best chance to get a ticket was from the Milan superstore, about 4-5 mile from the stadium and 2-3 mile from the hotel. We decided to walk to try and explore Milan whilst we were at it, after getting lost for an hour and a 17 stop tram journey later, we were told that the shop didn't stock tickets and we'd have better luck at the museum. Another complete waste of half a day in search for the golden tickets.

 

Alas we finally made it to the museum which has a store as well and procured our priceless tickets for €40. Success, at last.

 

We decided to check out the stadium which was about a mile away, so had a stroll along. Now it's at this point of my story (If you've managed to read thus far) that I need to go into extreme detail as I will portray myself as an utter moron here, which is true, because I absolutely was, but there were a couple of mitigating factors, that said, I should've known better and not been a complete and utter buffoon. So as we are strolling along to the stadium about 6 hours from kick-off, there's barely a person in sight around this majestic old stadium. There's about 10 police officers and several stalls selling merchandise and food but other than that there's only about 20-30 people in this massive area. I tend to normally avoid 'charity case's' but this guy ran over and asked us to sign a petition over something which I can't quite recall, out of politeness, we agreed and they then asked for a donation. Looking at the list, they had received donations in the region of €30-40 a pop, we gave them 50 cents each [emoji38] and quickly moved on but they seemed happy enough.

 

A few moments later, a black gentleman approached us, we rejected his advances, he put out a fist asking for a fist bump which I duly delivered. He asked me where we were from, I replied Scotland. He said he couldn't believe we had travelled all that way and that he sold these string bracelets in AC Milan colours (Having done my research since I realise a few may know exactly where this is going - unfortunately at the time, I hadn't a clue other than that something was suspect) but that since we'd travelled to the game from Scotland he'd give us one for free to signify our bond with an African brother. My mate instantly asked, 'how much?' and he was consistently reassured it was free as another man came from nowhere and took care of him. I then reluctantly agreed as he had already took my wrist by that time and was tying this bit of string round my wrist. I'd like to labour the point that he was saying it was for free. As soon as the band was on, he said 'so how much would you like to donate to Africa?' feeling obligated, I forked over €5 expecting change only to be told 'more, come on'. I laughed, he didn't. I then exclaimed I've not got that. He said, 'more' in a more threatening tone. I turned round to my mate to see it had escalated to the point of him refusing to hand over anything as they said it was for free, the scammer then got aggressive saying he'd call his friends and have us taken care of.

 

I'd like to take a new paragraph to state this was all done within about 12 yards of the police.

 

My mate said the police were there and he was not giving him a penny - this made him aggressive and he was screaming 'f**k you and f**k policia, watch your back you'll know what happens'. The police didn't bat an eyelid, I was getting ready to defend myself as it was escalating to that point before the one that I had dealt with ushered his friend away.

 

It was only after that I found out that I'd made the stupid as f**k mistake that I hadn't looked at the note I handed over, simply assuming that I had handed over €5 as it was blue, like a fiver that I realised it was instead €20. What a fucking catalogue of errors. To top it all off, I went and sat on a bench just after the confrontation to try and digest the fact I'd been made a complete supper, and realised I'd leaned against a full daddy whopper of bird shite which was now spread across my back.

 

The only saving grace at this point was that I had my tickets. I had hurt my pride as I didn't realise I could be such a daft idiot, but as soon as I entered the stadium all that was forgotten about. I can't describe how phenomenal it is and a few shoddy pictures of it (See below) won't do it justice either. It is by far the best stadium I've been too and whilst I don't hold a stellar record of top grounds that I've attended, I can comfortably say that it's better than the likes of Old Trafford and Man City's stadium.

 

The San Siro is described as an 'ugly, dated stadium' at times. I seen none of that, other than a general grimey look, that a lot of Milan possesses, it was still a magnificent structure. Breathtaking to look at if only due to the sheer size. We were sitting in the rafters but still had an incredible view (Again, see below) and the noise the Milan fans made was sensational.

 

There seems to be a lot more respect in Italian football which surprised me. Totti was the best example of this, as Milan's Ultras unveiled a sign which roughly translated as 'The South stands in tribute to our rival Francesco Totti'. When Roma sang 'un captain' in reference to Totti (who never made it on the pitch) the Milan crowd applauded. Despite getting humped and it could have been several more (The AC Milan defence were catastrophic, as was the keeper's general play although he pulled off a few exceptional saves) they did not boo instead they whistled their disapproval. It'd never take on in Scotland but sure beats a boo. [emoji38]

 

Despite the diving, and mad atmosphere you'd expect at a Serie A game there seemed to be a hell of a lot more respect between the fans than you'd get at Scotland. They sold beer the American Baseball method of having men come round asking if anyone wanted one and despite having an away sections, Roma fans and Milan fans sat beside each other, cheering and singing without an ounce of disrespect.

 

A memorable moment was spotting an ultra, topless, facing away from the pitch, clearly steaming drunk, leading the fans sing song all the while standing perched over the barrier facing a good 20 ft drop whilst jumping up and down in merriment.

 

It was a cracking night and one that'll live with me forever, despite the absolute shambles before it caused by myself, it more than made up for it. With a little more planning, a little more luck, and a little more time I'd have enjoyed Milan as a whole a lot more. As it was, I received a great life experience even if things were a bit shit in terms of the general area that we were located, but that's all part of the experience and I'd definitely go again and make a better fist of it with that experience behind me.

 

Finally - I don't blame anyone if they decide not to read that as it's a full blown rambling as I just typed as I remembered it whilst still fresh in the memory. So if you don't care about my time there, I apologise and hope a few pictures will serve slightly better!

 

 

 

 

 

[Ludo*1]

[Salvo Montalbano]

A good account. I don't agree with some of it (I like Milan - and I was there before I spoke semi-fluent Italian and was still able to get about reasonably well) and I'm incredulous that someone would go to a foreign city without a rudimentary grasp of the public transport system (or couldn't find the San Siro!) but I applaud you for trying and for the photos. Even more so when you've already admitted you felt foolish and I also know how hard it is getting tickets and when the whole point of the trip is to go to a game I know how anxious you can get (my tickets for an Ajax game didn't arrive before the game and I had to get a replacement on viagogo).

What I do agree with (and sympathise with) is Ryanair being wankers, and probably trying to rip you off (I hate it when people try to blag too much luggage and kick up a stink, but I do have a lot of sympathy when it's things like boarding passes and shady email practices by the company) and with the bracelet things. I've found the police to be decent in Italy (had my phone stolen in Genoa) but that was the carabinieri rather than local polizia. Having said that, those guys are very aggressive and I just ignore them even if they persist. It's hard though, especially if you're already having a bad day. The authorities need to do something about them but sadly it's part of Italian life in the same way as scooters and the local gelateria. 

Finally (I know this is even more tl; dr than the OP), I have to concur about the San Siro. I was there for a run of the mill Serie A game and even then it was incredible. The tofosi were there with the huge flags, megaphones and firecrackers, the guys with the beer, sambuca and grappa were wandering round and at the end of the game the stewards were happy enough for us to wander down to the lower tier and take pictures and stuff (the size of the stands from ground level is crazy) - you can't see Scottish stewards allowing that sort of thing.

[Allan Jacobsen]

SPAL lost 2-1 to Ternana, who are now unable to be relegated automatically. Verona drew 1-1 with Carpi but more importantly, Frosinone lost 2-1 to Benevento meaning that SPAL will be playing in Serie A next season. Not bad for a team who were relegated to Serie D 5 seasons ago. They also achieved a second consecutive promotion having been promoted from Lega Pro last season.

Pisa were relegated on Monday after a 4-1 defeat to Cittadella. Cittadella have all but relegated Vicenza today by beating them 2-0. Trapani only need a point against Cesena to confirm that.

[lanky_ffc]

48 minutes ago, G_Man1985 said:

Atalanta in Europe. Well done to them also. An impressive season

Been really impressed everytime I've watched them. Defensively they're quite similar to Juve in that they'll allow teams to have shots, but rarely concede clear chances. Thought they were unlucky tonight as they contained Milan pretty well only to concede a goal which should have been flagged offside. Doesn't make a huge difference to their league standing though. 4th seems unlikely now, but you'd imagine they'll be pleased with 5th. 

[Allan Jacobsen]

They're a team who quietly go about their business. I never twigged that they were even remotely close to the European spots, let alone qualifying for them. Fantastic effort. They haven't been in Europe since 1991 although according to Wikipedia, they turned down a spot in the Intertoto Cup in 2001 and Brescia took their place instead. I'm truly delighted for them. Well done.

*edit* they actually need one more point to be certain but with Empoli and Chievo left, they should seal that spot

Edited May 14, 2017 by Allan Jacobsen

[Mr. Brightside]

Joe Hart ????????‍♂️

[Allan Jacobsen]

Crotone beat Udinese 1-0 to go to within a point of Empoli, who lost 3-2 against Cagliari.

Surely not...?

Crotone have the better H2H too so if they finish equal on points, Crotone would finish above Empoli. Genoa are also still in danger of relegation.

Edited May 14, 2017 by Allan Jacobsen

[Kris.]

Would love to see Crotone stay up, they've been terrific for a while now. Genoa would be a big loss to the league as the derby with Samp is easily one of the best in Italy, although them going down would probably be the most hilarious. Crotone have Juve & Lazio in their last two games, Empoli have Atalanta & Palermo, whilst Genoa have Torino & Roma. Crotone to go down and Genoa & Empoli to swap places IMO.

Bari lost at home to Ascoli in Serie B today, so they can't even make the play-offs now. 4 defeats and three draws in their last 7 games, scoring only one goal humped it for them. Ascoli now safe after the win, too. Hopefully results in the final weekend ensure we get some play-offs. The top three just going up would be a bit boring.

Lega Pro play-offs kicked off yesterday. Sambenedettese beat Gubbio 3-2 and Lucchese won 2-1 at Arezzo. A few games already finished today, but some still in progress and a bunch to come later on as well, so will post a full result list later on.

[paul-r-cfc]

The thought of them winning the Scudetto at the Olimpico gives me le boke.

A Roma win and a couple of broken bones for Pjanic would do nicely for me