BKN301 Championship: curtain up on the quarter-finals with Europe in sight

The post-season of the 2023-24 BKN301 Campionato Sammarinese is entering its decisive phase. With the final doubts resolved following the outcome of the Preliminary Round of the play-offs – which saw Juvenes-Dogana and Folgore progress – the quarter-final bracket is now complete. Each tie will be played over 180 minutes, and in the event of an aggregate draw after the second leg, the team with the higher ranking in the regular season will advance. This rule now benefits the four seeded clubs: La Fiorita, Tre Penne, Cosmos and Murata. The knockout format also ensures that the top two teams in the seeding can only meet in a potential final. A series of intriguing and finely balanced ties is in prospect. It all starts with the two fixtures scheduled for tomorrow, when Tre Fiori and Murata will officially kick off the play-off phase (Acquaviva, 15:00). In the two previous meetings between the sides from Fiorentino and Città this season, just one goal has been scored: Echel’s strike on 16 March, just before the international break, which gave the Bianconeri the edge in the head-to-head and effectively launched their run towards fifth place – ultimately secured thanks to four consecutive victories. Fully aware they can compete on equal terms, De Falco’s side will nonetheless have to overhaul their defensive phase: the Gialloblù have conceded at least one goal in every match since 11 February, when the win over Folgore (1-0) gave Nardi his last clean sheet. Toccaceli, the Murata midfielder, is the only player suspended for this game. In terms of technical quality and squad depth, Cosmos must be considered favourites over two legs against San Giovanni. However, underestimating Tognacci’s side would be dangerous, given what they have shown over the course of the season. To begin with, only Virtus and La Fiorita have beaten the Rossoneri in the last two months, a period in which Aprea and his team-mates have also collected seven wins and a draw. Extremely dangerous from set pieces, San Giovanni will look to spring a surprise on the Gialloverdi, who are aiming to replicate last year’s run and secure another place in the UEFA Conference League. They will also have to overcome competition from La Fiorita and Tre Penne, Virtus’ main challengers in the title race eventually won by the Acquaviva club. The Montegiardino Gialloblù took the title battle right to the final day, while the outgoing champions fell out of contention a few weeks earlier. Both in action on Sunday, they will face the last two teams to book their place in the play-offs. La Fiorita are set for a two-legged tie with Folgore, coached by their former boss Oscar Lasagni. Falciano’s side is hard to read, capable of producing their best in high-difficulty fixtures: not by chance, one of La Fiorita’s three league defeats this season came against Folgore, with the Montegiardino side edging the other head-to-head by a single goal. Were those same results to be repeated, it would be Rinaldi and his team-mates who would go through thanks to their better regular season placing. It is an advantage they could also retain in the event of qualification for the semi-finals, just like Tre Penne. The club from Città approaches the play-offs with confidence, keen to redeem a season that saw them drop out of the trophy hunt earlier than expected. In the Coppa Titano they suffered a painful elimination at the hands of La Fiorita, while in the league regular season a number of slip-ups prevented Ceci’s men – the coach has announced he will step down at the end of the season – from going toe-to-toe to the very end with the surprise package Virtus. This season there is also the Juvenes-Dogana jinx, which now looms again at the quarter-final stage of these play-offs. After a draw on the opening day of the competition (2-2), Amati’s side then claimed victory on Matchday 16 (3-2). For this reason, the Serravalle club will be hoping to prove just as competitive in the two-legged tie to be played over four days. In the quarter-final bracket, four seeded teams have been designated – ensuring that the second- and third-placed sides from the regular season can only meet in a potential play-off final. The semi-final line-up will pair the winners of the ties indicated in the table as A-B and C-D. The first legs will be played on Saturday 4 May, with the return fixtures scheduled a week later. The two finals will instead be played in mid-May. The match that will determine the winners of the BKN301 Campionato Sammarinese play-offs, and with it a place in the 2023-24 UEFA Conference League, is scheduled for Saturday 18 May at the San Marino Stadium, kicking off at 20:45. The previous evening, at the same time but at the Acquaviva Stadium, it will be the turn of the teams defeated over the two-legged semi-finals.

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