On Thursday Ternana and Bari will face off in the first of two legs as both sides scrap to save their Serie B status.
Two games a week apart will send one side to Serie C and keep the other in the second division. Bari are the hosts this Thursday and Ternana will be at home for the second leg.
Both teams actually won on the last day of the regular season, and Ternana finished two points above Bari with a better goal difference too. They will be very slight favourites, especially with having the advantage of playing the second leg at home.
Having said that Bari did have the better of Ternana in the head-to-head fixtures this season. Bari won 3-1 at home in January, and drew 0-0 in the reverse fixture back in early September.
Bari’s final day victory against Brescia was a miraculous one because it is their only victory in 13 games. They looked completely doomed and headed for automatic relegation but they have given themselves a lifeline.
Ternana on the other hand, have seen four victories in nine games salvage their season. Meaning that at least their form is on an upward curve and the momentum is certainly in their favour.
Bari’s Giuseppe Sibilli has 11 goals in Serie B this season, whilst Ternana’s top scorer is 20 year-old talent Antonio Raimondo who has notched nine so far this campaign.
Joseph O’Sullivan I GIFN
