Returning to the field immediately to forget the insult suffered in full recovery by Turris. For the Messina the opportunity to chase away that bitterness, however great, comes with the match scheduled for this evening at 8.45pm on the Virtus Francavilla pitch, an absolutely consolidated reality of the third series and an authentic bête noire of the biancoscudati.
Giacomo Modica hopes that the immediate return to the field will produce the expected effects: «We recovered in just 48 hours – he says – and now this important and demanding race awaits us after a not bad journey. It will be a delicate challenge like all the others that will arise, but we will get there calm and calm. In the match against Turris the 20 days of stoppage had a relative impact, even if we made this impression, but it all comes from the desire to want to manage that 3-1. We weren’t good at it and we felt the pinch, because I think we’re physically fine, so much so that ours is just a problem of attention and mentality. We must quickly resolve our growth defects, because a team worthy of calling itself such, even if we are not yet one despite being on the right path, must immediately forget and archive the bad situations. All we lacked is the result that gives you enthusiasm, awareness, certainty and security, but we are growing well, I am happy to have this group which however must go through a growth phase. The important thing is to work with desire, dedication, serenity, application and pleasure.”
And the opponent that Messina will face is certainly not the softest to face. Virtus Francavilla is doing well, capable of getting back on its feet after the narrow double knockout at the beginning of the season with Picerno and Benevento. In the next two matches, in fact, there was a home victory against Crotone and a goalless draw against Foggia, a sign of how the blue-and-white team reacted positively to the difficulties: «In this championship the matches are all difficult – Modica explains again – you have to always play them with great intensity because, over the course of the 97′, you see many things that surprise you. Virtus Francavilla deserves respect, they play on a narrow pitch, similar to “Marullo”, and always know what to do. So we have to be good at knowing how to counter them: they are a physical team, they beat Crotone and are healthy, but with this in mind we should use them properly.”
Previous
Tradition not at all favorable to Messina in the matches played at the Nuovarredo Arena in Francavilla. Three defeats in the three matches played in Puglia, two of which were very heavy: in the 16/17 season, the team coached by Cristiano Lucarelli suffered a heavy 3-1 (temporarily tied by Palumbo), while in the 21/22 season the deficit was even heavier with the 5-1 achieved by Ezio Raciti’s patched-up group (temporary 3-1 scored by Balde). Last year, however, the early season defeat for Messina led by Gaetano Auteri materialized with a 1-0 scored by Patierno.