Ecco: The Serie B PlayOffs
How it all went down on the final day to shape the Knockouts.
So Cremonese and Lecce advance to Serie A while Cosenza and Vicenza overtook Alessandria for PlayOut spots. For a recap, click Serie B Champion: Lecce.
there’s still one more Serie A place left!
First, we head to Frosinone. The Canarini simply needed to avoid losing their last game of the season in order to clinch 8th spot and but hosting a ravenous Pisa side with an appetite for direct promotion.
Courageously, Luca D’Angelo benched super-signing Ernesto Torregrossa but that didn’t matter as George Puscas and Giuseppe Sibilli got Pisa off to the perfect start with two first-class finishes to lead 2–0.
Frosinone — who needed Perugia to draw or lose in their match — poured forward and eventually got lucky through a spectacular own-goal by Pisa defender Maxime Leverbe.
The Nerazzurri held on to take the points, winning 2–1 at the Stadio Benito Stirpe and finished in 3rd place behind Lecce and Cremonese who had both won their respective clashes with Pordenone and Como.
Sadly, Fabio Grosso’s Frosinone — who’d only spent 3 of 37 Match Days outside the Top 8 — concluded their campaign with two defeats, limped into 9th spot, and missed out on the PlayOffs.
Only Lecce, Monza and Benevento boasted better attacking capabilities than Frosinone (58 goals) this season. However, the Giallazzurri conceded 45 times, more than any Top 8 squad.
*Pisa is the highest-ranked team to contest the PlayOffs and will play the winner of 6th vs 7th on the 21st of May.
Monza’s pain, Perugia’s gain
Something dramatic was always going to happen on the final day of the campaign.
Hunting down a second successive promotion in as many years, Perugia had only spent half a dozen weeks in the Top 8 throughout the season yet could smell blood in the water after Spal defeated Frosinone on MD37.
The Grifoni owned the head-to-head with Frosinone, started MD38 three points behind them, but were conscious that ONLY VICTORY could give them a fighting chance. After all, the Ciociari still had to lose for Perugia to claim 8th.
Monza came to Umbria chasing a historic win that would GUARANTEE them Serie A status for the first time in history and went on the attack from the first whistle.
Perugia hit the crossbar, Monza couldn’t beat Leandro Chichizola and with just a few minutes to go it was nil-all. With Pisa ahead 2–1 in Frosinone and Cremonese beating Como, both clubs were gagging for it and the statistics reflected it. 20+ goal attempts each and possession split down the middle.
Gabriele Ferrarini. Who? It may sound like a movie star but that’s the 22-year-old defender, brought on late by Massimiliano Alvini, that inscribed his name into Perugina folklore by driving in his first goal in Serie B to haul his Perugia above Frosinone and into 8th position.
Perugia had defeated Frosinone 3–0 at home back in February. Therefore, even though both clubs finished with 58 league points, Perugia owned the head-to-head and are ranked higher.
On the 14th of May, Perugia will travel to Brescia to contest the first round of the PlayOffs. To find out how the PlayOffs and PlayOuts are decided, click here.
Brescia, Ascoli and Benevento
The remaining Top 8 places were already decided but it was all about which clubs could obtain the best possible rankings to earn the home knockout match advantage.
Brescia secured 5th spot after defeating Reggina 3–0 at the Rigamonti thanks to a screamer from Tom van de Looi and goals from Matteo Tramoni and Andrea Cistana.
Courtesy of Franck Tsadjout’s first career hat-trick, Ascoli earned a home PlayOff bout by thrashing Ternana 4–1 at the Stadio Cino e Lillo Del Luca.
On loan from Milan, Tsadjout has all but secured a starting place against Benevento on Friday night. La Strega lost the right to host this PlayOff after falling down 2–1 at home against Spal.
Mattia Finotto’s brace got the Biancazzurri over the line. Despite the loss, there was some positive news for Benevento in the lead-up to the game with Ascoli. Gianluca Lapadula returned to play his first game since March and scored his first goal since mid-December.
a howler-Fest-a of a season
Back in August 2021, most pundits and fans penciled in Crotone vs Parma as a match that might see both sides bounce back up into Serie A on the final day.
Alas, the fixture meant very little. However, there were personal goals to be obtained.
Franco Vazquez mowed down a poor Marco Festa clearance to claim his 14th goal of the term and finish in joint second-place with Alfredo Donnarumma and Gabriel Strefezza.
Parma held on to win 1–0 at the Ezio Scida and end the season in 12th. Since Match Day 4, the Ducali never seriously re-entered discussions for promotion.
Crotone, who spent 31 rounds in the drop zone, is relegated for the second successive year and returns to Serie C for the first time since the 1999/2000 season.
A self-uppercut is the closest that Crotone is going to get to the knockouts. Safe to say, the Junior Messias and Simy halcyon days are long gone.
If you want to read about the relegation and PlayOut battle that took place on Match Day 38 between Alessandria, Cosenza and Vicenza, then click here and scroll down to FINAL ROUND.
Finalmente
After ten weeks of covering this dramatic Serie B promotion and relegation battle, the PlayOut and the first week of the PlayOffs are upon us.
The PlayOut first-leg
Vicenza versus Cosenza takes place this Thursday, May 12th, at the Stadio Romeo Menti.
The Knockouts: PlayOff Week 1
They begin this Friday with Ascoli hosting Benevento, the winner takes on Monza.
Brescia entertains Perugia on Saturday. Pisa awaits the victor.
il Pablito
The Leading Goalscorer Award for Serie B 2021/22 was won by Massimo Coda of Lecce.
The Final Serie B 2021/22 Standings
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