With a precious place among Italy's elite at stake, promotion rivals Spezia and Cremonese reconvene for the second leg of their Serie B playoff final on Sunday.
After a goalless draw in Cremona, the teams meet again at Stadio Picco, where the hosts only need a draw thanks to their higher league finish.
Match preview
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Both Cremonese and Spezia are trying to book their top-flight return at the second attempt, having been relegated from Serie A together in 2023, and they could not be split in Thursday's tense first leg.
Separated by just five points in the final Serie B standings, the pair clashed for a third time this term, in a game of few chances at Stadio Zini: Spezia had a goal disallowed as Giuseppe Aurelio handled the ball just before scoring, before Filippo Bandinelli had a red card rescinded after the VAR's intervention.
Failing to fully capitalise on home advantage, Cremonese only carved out one clear chance, but Dennis Johnsen blazed over the crossbar in the closing stages, leaving the final finely poised ahead of Sunday's decider.
While they have lost four of the clubs' last six meetings, Spezia did beat their opponents to third place this season, bouncing back from a dismal 2023-24 campaign: following relegation from Italy's top tier, the Aquilotti finished 15th last year, narrowly avoiding the relegation playoff.
In contrast, the Ligurian side only lost six times this term - a league-low tally alongside champions Sassuolo - and then breezed through their semi-final tie, beating Catanzaro 4-1 on aggregate.
Not only do they now have home advantage for the second leg, which will be played in La Spezia, but Luca D'Angelo's men just need a draw to return to Serie A.
They hold a vital tie-breaker in hand, because if the teams are tied after two games, Spezia's higher league finish would take them straight up without need for either extra time or penalties - so, avoiding defeat will be enough.
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However, D'Angelo has yet to forget how he missed out to Giovanni Stroppa's Monza side when in charge of Pisa for the 2022 final. On that occasion, Monza came from behind in the second leg to beat Pisa 4-3 in extra time and win 6-4 on aggregate.
Now head coach of Cremonese, Stroppa's current club have their own demons to conquer, as the Lombardy side drew 0-0 at home in the first leg of last year's final against Venezia, then lost 1-0 in Venice.
This time, they must go to the Picco and win, which they managed to do as recently as three weeks ago. Then, they raced into a big lead - with Belgian winger Jari Vandeputte scoring their third goal just before the break - but had to hang on for a nervy 3-2 victory.
That result helped Cremo finish inside the top four, and having overturned a first-leg deficit to beat southern upstarts Juve Stabia in the playoff semi-finals, they are now vying to join Sassuolo and runners-up Pisa in Serie A next season.
However, as the Grigiorossi finished behind third-placed Spezia, league rules dictate that their only option is to win within 90 minutes on Sunday - otherwise, their hopes will be dashed once again.
Team News
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While Spezia midfielder Salvatore Esposito and veteran striker Gianluca Lapadula were both able to make the bench for Thursday's first leg, Luca Vignali missed out with a minor knee injury, joining Italy Under-21s defender Nicolo Bertola and Cremonese loanee Fallou Sarr on the sidelines.
The hosts' main man is Inter Milan-owned Francesco Pio Esposito, brother of teammate Salvatore and Empoli forward Sebastiano Esposito. The young striker recently signed a long-term contract renewal at Inter, after sharing the Serie B golden boot with Sassuolo's Armand Lauriente.
Giuseppe Di Serio is set to join him up front, while Lapadula, Antonio Colak and Diego Falcinelli are among several attacking options on the bench.
Meanwhile, Cremonese must choose between Franco Vazquez, Dennis Johnsen and Manuel De Luca in the final third; versatile winger Jari Vandeputte scored in last week's semi-final second leg, after recording 13 assists in Serie B, and should also claim a place.
The Grigiorossi will be without key defender Luca Ravanelli, who has been struck down by acute appendicitis, Gianluca Saro and Matteo Bianchetti; Valentin Antov was passed fit to start at Stadio Zini, though, and he should again feature in a back three.
Elsewhere, Giovanni Stroppa hopes that captain Michele Castagnetti can recover, having been forced off during the first leg due to dizziness caused by a clash during the opening stages. His replacement, Francesco Gelli, and combative midfielder Charles Pickel are both on standby.
Spezia possible starting lineup:
Gori; Hristov, Wisniewski, Mateju; Elia, Nagy, Kouda, Cassata, Aurelio; Di Serio, F. P. Esposito
Cremonese possible starting lineup:
Fulignati; Folino, Ceccherini, Antov; Barbieri, Collocolo, Pickel, Azzi; Johnsen, Vazquez, Vandeputte
We say: Spezia 1-0 Cremonese (Spezia win 1-0 on aggregate)
A year on from their last failure to reach the promised land, Cremonese face more disappointment. They are under pressure to take risks, given Spezia only have to draw - and that might see them caught out.
Boasting Serie B's best defence, the hosts have proven tough to beat throughout the campaign, so their fans will be celebrating at the final whistle.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Jonathan O'Shea
