The derby is still far away. There are four very important matches before the match against Cosenza, the match of the year for both fans which will be played at the “Ceravolo” on Sunday 26 November (after another break for the national teams). The derby is a long way away and therefore waiting, preparations, expectations and dreams – not only for the team, but also for the environment – they can safely wait. Also because the next four matches will be equally crucial for the Eagles’ progress: the two matches to be played at home (Feralpisalò and Modena) are tough and the away ones (Como and Venice) are very tough.
The team resumed work yesterday afternoon in Giovino with their minds focused only on Feralpisalò, the second rookie to face after Lecco, beaten in Padua. The Lombards will present themselves at the “Ceravolo” on Saturday (kick-off at 4.15pm). Even if the start of Catanzaro has produced ideas other than salvation, maintaining the category remains the declared objective of the club, consequently the one with Feralpi is a salvation point that should not be missed. Scoring points against a direct competitor – at least on paper – is essential, especially because it is played at home. Vecchi’s team is going slowly, but there is no lack of organization and the summer reinforcements – all in the category – are integrating, as demonstrated by the almost victory in the derby against Brescia, which was lost at the last minute. From a Lombardy to Lombardy: seven days later the Giallorossi will go to Como. Let’s leave aside the old and sweet memories of the last promotion to Serie A obtained right on the lake thanks to a goal from Palanca; let’s leave aside the announced and large presence of many people from Catanzaro transplanted to the north or to Switzerland who have bought up tickets in the sectors generally reserved for the home public; the Larians are accredited candidates for noble positions in the rankings, they may have started slowly, but before losing at the “Sinigaglia” against Cremonese they had won four in a row (no one has managed such a good streak) and drew in Bari.
One Saturday leads to another: on November 4th back to Calabria to face Modena. The Emilians have slowed down a bit recently after a fast start (three wins in the first three) and in the last two games they have lost against Venice and Palermo. Modena has been in Serie B since last year and changed coach in the summer (from Tesser to Bianco, Allegri’s former deputy), has an experienced and quality group, a rich and ambitious club. Additional complication: up to now they have never lost away, despite playing only three times (they have to make up one match), two less than Catanzaro. The last poker match, Friday 10 November (8.30 pm), is the toughest journey of all, probably the most difficult of all the external games that Vivarini and his players will play up to that point. Parma fell at the “Penzo” in Venice a week ago, the warning is valid. Lagoon’s aspirations are the highest possible: going to Serie A, directly or through the playoffs, doesn’t matter. The club can support the jump in category (it already happened two years ago, after all), the team seems built in the right way to give it a serious try, from the striker Pohjanpalo to the Italian-American midfielder Busio, from the other Scandinavian striker Gytkjaer to Tessmann up to the defender Altare and the goalkeeper Joronen. The quadruple “distances” the derby, but at the same time it can turn into a nice springboard.
News bulletin. Yesterday, at the restart, if we exclude the injured Situm, the only absentee was the Italian Ambrosino, who was busy this afternoon in Bolzano in the Italy-Norway Under 21 match. Oliveri has overcome the flu, Krajnc continues to work in the gym for the backache. Today a double portion of training, as always in Giovino’s headquarters.
