The Fight for Survival in Serie A: A Close Contest

The fight for survival in Serie A continues to be more alive than ever despite the results of the last matchday which have already given a verdict with Salernitana officially relegated to Serie B. From the 13th to the 19th place, we have 7 teams within 10 points. As last year, in case of a tie, a playoff will be played. The difference is that, unlike last season, this year it will be played over two matches, home and away. Salernitana falls at Frosinone and returns to Serie B after two years: the flop of the four coaches, from Paulo Sousa to Colantuono. Lecce has made a great leap in the standings to the thirteenth place and is a few points away from salvation since it sacked Roberto D'Aversa for Luca Gotti. In the last matchday, they obtained a spectacular 1-1 against Monza, being tricked in the last seconds by a penalty converted by Matteo Pessina. The next round will feature a salvation challenge: Cagliari-Lecce. On paper, there is a balance between the two teams, each with 4 points, even if Cagliari, coached by Claudio Ranieri at home, has collected most of its points at the Domus Arena while Lecce away from the Via del Mare struggles a bit. Claudio Ranieri could perform another miracle after having overturned a ranking that until a few months ago saw Cagliari in the last place. On Monday night, there will be the last match of this round away against a Genoa that is almost safe and has nothing more to ask from this championship. The outcome of the match could give Cagliari the chance to achieve a salvation that seemed hopeless within a week. Hellas Verona has managed to fix a ranking that after the January transfer market seemed almost impossible. Despite the 1-0 defeat against Lazio, the team of Marco Baroni made a good performance and is always +2 from the relegation zone. The next round will feature a salvation-europe clash: Hellas Verona-Fiorentina. On paper, the viola seems to be the favorite, also thanks to the wide 5-1 victory against a Sassuolo increasingly in the depths of the standings. However, Hellas Verona is a team that has given a hard time to the big teams in this championship, achieving a prestigious victory at home against Roma. The team coached by Eusebio Di Francesco had a great downturn in this second part of the season, finding itself fighting for survival in Serie A. In the last matchday, they condemned Salernitana to Serie B with a wide 3-0, at the same time managing to move away from the hot zones of the ranking. The next matchday will feature a clash for the hot zones of the ranking: Empoli-Frosinone. On paper, there is a balance between these two teams even though they arrive with two different moods since Frosinone won convincingly 3-0 against Salernitana while Empoli suffered a bad defeat against Atalanta. Empoli, since Davide Nicola replaced Aurelio Andreazzoli, had obtained a streak of 6 consecutive useful results which then stopped in March against Cagliari. From that moment, the Tuscan team had fluctuating results and finds itself trapped in the fight to avoid relegation. The next round will feature a very delicate match that will be played at the Castellani against Frosinone. Despite the initial balance, Empoli will be able to exploit the home advantage. Udinese, in the last week, changed coach by sacking Davide Cioffi for Fabio Cannavaro. Two games for him and two deceptions since with Roma in the recovery, he was tricked at the 94th minute by a goal from Bryan Cristante while in the last matchday a mistake in exit by goalkeeper Okoye allowed Bologna (in numerical inferiority) to equalize the game a few minutes from the end. The next round will feature a tough match: Udinese-Napoli. On paper, Napoli starts as the favorite which will have to continue its best game of the last month and a half against Roma. Udinese, after the good performance against Bologna, will rely on a player who seems to have found himself: Lazar Samardzic. Sassuolo's fate seems to be tied to Serie B. In the last game, they suffered a clear 5-1 defeat against Fiorentina which condemns them even more to the penultimate place. The next round will feature a "top-bottom" clash: Sassuolo-Inter. On paper, the Italian champions are the favorites against a Sassuolo that seems to have nothing more to ask and especially without Domenico Berardi on the field is a whole different team. In case of a tie, the head-to-head record will be taken into account, that is the points made in direct confrontations (except for the championship and the fourth-last place, which would be assigned with a playoff). In fact, the points made in direct confrontations between the teams that arrived tied will be considered. In case of further equality, the goal difference in direct confrontations General goal difference in the entire championship (prevails who has scored more in case of further equality) Draw.