Tomorrow Sampdoria-Salernitana in Serie B, Saturday Lazio-Juventus in Serie A. Focus on the two matches sounding alarms throughout the Palazzo

There are two things the Italian football circus seemingly cannot afford: Juventus missing out on the Champions and Sampdoria dropping to Serie C. But now, it’s rien ne va plus: the bets are placed!

(Translated into English by Grok)

With three matchdays left in Serie A and two in Serie B, there are two outcomes the Palazzo cannot allow: the first is Juventus failing to secure 4th place, which guarantees the (roughly €50 million just for showing up) Champions League qualification money, and the second is Sampdoria being relegated to Serie C. Regarding Juventus, what’s been happening—not just recently but since the start of the season—is plain for all to see: the matches they should have lost or drawn but instead drew or won thanks to referee and VAR assistance (the latest being last week’s game in Bologna) are countless, and I’m tired of listing them. No club is complaining—not Lazio, not Roma, not Bologna, not Fiorentina—so I’m purely curious to see what will happen on Saturday in the direct clash between Lazio and Juventus, a match whose outcome could potentially be decisive.

While the grand maneuvers to ensure the club with the “extraordinary brand” (as FIGC president Gravina put it) secures Champions League access—and thus the UEFA money tap—are nearly at their goal, the same cannot be said for the “Juventus of Serie B,” the glorious and title-winning Sampdoria. With two matchdays left, they are third-from-bottom in the standings, which means virtually relegated to Serie C. In Serie B, the bottom three teams are directly relegated, while the fourth- and fifth-from-bottom (currently Salernitana and Brescia) face a brutal playoff to stay up.

With two matchdays to go, Sampdoria’s situation is desperate. Third-from-bottom with 37 points (behind them are Cittadella with 36 and the already-relegated Cosenza with 30), they are chasing Salernitana and Brescia at 39, Frosinone and Mantova at 40, and Reggiana at 41. Tomorrow, the penultimate matchday could be decisive for Sampdoria, now coached by Evani with Lombardo as assistant and overseen by former Italy and Sampdoria coach Roberto Mancini after the sacking of three managers (Pirlo, Sottil, and Semplici). Sampdoria (37 points) will host Salernitana (39) at Marassi, and a win would see them overtake Salernitana, leaving them in the third-from-bottom spot. Then, as fourth-from-bottom, they would play their final card on Wednesday, May 13, away at fifth-placed Juve Stabia, who are guaranteed a playoff spot for Serie A promotion. Needless to say, the alarms are ringing loud and clear.

Here are the fixtures for the teams (in bold) fighting to avoid relegation:

TOMORROW
Sampdoria-Salernitana, Juve Stabia-Reggiana, Cittadella-Bari, Mantova-Carrarese, Modena-Brescia, Palermo-Frosinone.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 13
Juve Stabia-Sampdoria, Cittadella-Salernitana, Brescia-Reggiana, Mantova-Catanzaro, Sassuolo-Frosinone.

CURRENT STANDINGS
Reggiana 41, Mantova and Frosinone 40, Brescia and Salernitana 39, Sampdoria 37, Cittadella 36, Cosenza (already relegated) 30.

As I’ve written before (my first article on this dates back to October 4, 2023: “Did you know? Sampdoria must be promoted and stay in Serie A next year”), there’s a genuine scandal surrounding Sampdoria’s presence in Serie B over the last two seasons. Relegated to Serie B in the summer of 2023 and crushed by debt, the Blucerchiati were admitted to the league with the FIGC’s blessing, thanks to a debt restructuring plan agreed in court that envisioned immediate promotion to Serie A at the end of last season (2023-24) and survival in Serie A this season (2024-25). Well, not only did Sampdoria fail to achieve promotion to Serie A last year, but they now risk relegation to Serie C, blowing up the entire financial recovery plan agreed in court and guaranteed to the FIGC. The agreements for the heavily deferred debt payments would become—and frankly already are—worthless, and the auditing board would be forced to acknowledge the lack of business continuity.

While the FIGC showed no mercy to clubs with lesser financial troubles than Sampdoria’s (think Reggina, sent to Serie D, or Chievo, erased from the football landscape), the Blucerchiati have been handled with kid gloves, receiving every possible favor: accepting guarantees that were utterly disregarded and whose failure now risks disaster. To the Genoa court (and thus the FIGC), Sampdoria had assured that by today, May 8, 2025, they would be in Serie A and safe; instead, they are in Serie B with one foot in Serie C. So much for the integrity of the championships and respect for fair competition.

We’ll see what happens tomorrow in Sampdoria-Salernitana (and Saturday in Lazio-Juventus).

As they say in these cases: tomorrow (and the day after) is another day. We’ll see.