Catanzaro and Palermo are planets light years apart, but the field can level out the differences (it has already happened), the game cannot be bought and goals are not scored only by investments. Qualification for the playoff final is open and the Sicilians will have to sweat it out. They have the advantage of two results out of three, the experience of a team that has superior category players and the push of a place that has incomparable numbers, yet the Giallorossi have always looked them in the eye, even since the City Group (i.e. the United Arab Emirates with their economic power almost) included the Rosanero in the portfolio of clubs that has the Manchester Blues in the lead.
The first difference is precisely in the money underlying the respective projects: Palermo has a salary of almost 30.5 million euros, the second in the category after Monza, while Catanzaro costs just under 11 million, meaning that 13 have spent more. It is the first pepper on the match: it is true that in the championship the Sicilians finished with 13 points more (72 to 59), but the direct clashes ended in a draw with a narrow victory each: 1-0 for the Calabrians in the first leg, 3-2 for Palermo in the return leg. And Inzaghi’s team has never proven to be superior to Aquilani’s.
The full article is available in the print and digital editions
