Championship: the final 90 minutes to decide the play-off grid

The discussions that "really matter" are now over and so the final matchday of the regular season will serve to confirm the finishing order and determine the pairings for the subsequent stages, starting with that Preliminary Round which is the gateway for those aiming to join La Fiorita, Tre Penne, Tre Fiori and Virtus in the play-offs. Out of the running are Cosmos, Juvenes-Dogana and Cailungo, while eight of the fifteen sides are preparing to face off in what are improperly – but tellingly – referred to as "play-offs", with a "cross-pairing" logic that will pit fifth against twelfth, sixth against eleventh and so on. Therefore, finishing this last league round in the best possible position in the table takes on strategic importance, but also a practical one when you consider that the Preliminary Round ties do not include extra time at the end of the second leg and, in the event of a draw on aggregate, will be decided based on the higher placing obtained in the regular season. A couple of teams have no way of improving their standing. Domagnano and Fiorentino are too far from the teams above and below them, and will therefore certainly close in 10th place (Domagnano) and 9th (Fiorentino). In the remaining six positions, everything is still up for grabs. The most coveted is undoubtedly fifth, currently occupied by Pennarossa but with a slender advantage that does not guarantee the Biancorossi safety from Faetano, just one point behind. There is nothing Libertas can do about that, as despite trailing by three points they are at a disadvantage in the head-to-head record and can at best threaten sixth place, currently held by Faetano. Tomorrow the Granata will face Folgore, who are one point behind them and can realistically plan an overtake on the home straight – perhaps even a double one if Faetano were to miss their appointment with Cailungo. In fact, this season’s head-to-head record favours Folgore against the Gialloblù, and so the prospect of closing the regular season with a double leap in the standings will give the reigning champions extra energy in what shapes up to be the most appetising fixture of the entire round. There are league positions at stake but, of course, the difference in pedigree makes the clash between Pennarossa and Cosmos less "appealing". Bottom-placed Cosmos may be driven by the desire to seize one last chance to unlock their win column in the league, which sadly still reads 0. But it is easy to imagine that the determination of Selva’s Biancorossi, combined with the need to protect the most desirable of the places leading to the Preliminary Round, will make the decisive difference. Against a Domagnano side that, as mentioned, have nothing to play for in terms of league position, San Giovanni will look to secure 11th place and thus a slightly different pairing from the worst possible one. Murata, who sit just behind the Rossoneri, will instead try to overtake them at the death in their match against Virtus, who in turn are very much driven by their own league targets. The head-to-head clash on the previous matchday has in fact – for now – denied the Acquaviva side a place on the podium. Tre Fiori, who caught them and actually moved ahead on the basis of that direct encounter, have only one thought: to live up to expectations in their meeting with Juvenes-Dogana, a fundamental step to finish in a position that can offer at least a slight advantage in the play-off pairings, bearing in mind that the top four will be matched with the Preliminary Round qualifiers according to the standings in this regular season: the number one seed will face the lowest-ranked qualifier, the number two seed will get the second-best pairing, and so on. And while the battle for third place will be settled only at the end of the final 90 minutes of the regular season, there is no doubt that La Fiorita will in any case be the number one seed. With Tre Penne on a bye week and behind in the head-to-head, the fact that both sides sit on 59 points is purely formal for the Montegiardino team, who can even afford to lose to Fiorentino tomorrow and still look down on everyone else. Suspended for this final round are Nanni (Domagnano), Molinari (Fiorentino), De Biagi, Montebelli and Angelini (San Giovanni), Liverani, Iuzzolino and Muccioli (Cailungo), Guidi (La Fiorita), Soumah (Faetano), Nigretti (Libertas) and coaches Tognacci (San Giovanni) and Girolomoni (Faetano). Here is the full schedule for the 30th league matchday:

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