The race to Serie A via the playoffs is about to heat up. Parma and Como have already confirmed their place in the top flight for next season but there are still six teams hoping that they can get in via the backup route.
The playoffs are absolutely stacked too. Big names like Palermo, Sampdoria and Brescia would all be historically associated with Serie A, and the likes of Venezia were there just a couple of years ago and only just missed out on automatic promotion themselves.
Venezia finished in third place with 70 points, during the final matchday of the season they spent a period in second place before a Como comeback saw them take the automatic promotion place.
On the other hand Brescia finished in eighth place a whole 19 points behind the Venice team and on a poor run of form, losing to relegation threatened Ternana on the last day. Having said all that the nature of the Serie B playoffs means that these teams and those in between are all in it to win it.
Third and fourth place are given some credit for their higher finish though. Those sides, Venezia and Cremonense, will have a nice little break while the other four sides battle it out in preliminary games that are essentially quarterfinals. These ties are just one off games with the teams that finished fifth and sixth earning respective home advantage.
This Friday Palermo host Sampdoria and on Saturday, Catanzaro take on Brescia. Of all these sides Sampdoria are the most in-form, with all of the other three sides managing just one win each in their last five league matches.
Then the winners of those quarterfinal games will take on third and fourth in two-legged semis. Before the winners of those semis compete in a two-legged playoff final. The final seems a million miles away with those games taking place on May 30th and June 2nd.
In England, you need to play three games of football to win the Championship playoffs. Yet in Serie B it could be as much as five, played over the course of three weeks. It’s not a route to glory for the faint hearted, thats for sure.
Venezia in third and Cremonense in fourth finished with plenty of daylight ahead of the challenging pack of fifth to eighth, but that doesn’t matter anymore. This is high stakes knock-out football and only one winner will taste the glory of Serie A football come next season. Get ready for the drama.
Joseph O’Sullivan I GIFN
