Championship play-offs: tomorrow we will know the first two semi-finalists

The Campionato Sammarinese postseason shows no sign of letting up, with matches scheduled every three days up to the finals on 17 May. Tomorrow evening we will already know the first two semi-finalists, who will emerge from two Quarter-final ties on opposite sides of the bracket. In short, whoever comes out on top in the clashes between Tre Penne-Cosmos and Folgore-San Giovanni will in any case have to wait until Wednesday evening to find out their next opponents.

At Montecchio and Dogana, tomorrow at 20:45, there will be two extremely well-balanced matches, both in the build-up and based on what we have actually seen on the pitch. Last Saturday we witnessed two games whose outcome remained in the balance right to the end, and there is nothing to suggest that it will be any different in just over twenty-four hours’ time. What is certain is that Tre Penne and Folgore have no alternative but to win, given the first-leg results. The club from Città must do so because they finished the regular season behind Cosmos: the Gialloverdi, thanks to Saturday’s 1-1 draw in Dogana (Nigretti’s opener cancelled out by Badalassi), can book their place in the semi-finals as long as they avoid defeat in the ninety minutes against last season’s play-off winners.

San Giovanni will also take the field with two results out of three in their favour. Tognacci’s men, despite finishing below Folgore in the regular season, overturned the odds on the artificial pitch in Montecchio. The narrow win signed by Augusto Garcia Rufer puts the Rossoneri in the best position ahead of tomorrow’s encounter, scheduled at the Ezio Conti in Dogana at 20:45.

It is worth remembering that there will be no extra time, either in the Quarter-finals or in the Semi-finals. Should the aggregate score be perfectly level in terms of goals scored and conceded after both legs, it will be the team with the better record in the Campionato Sammarinese regular season that progresses.

Whoever wins between Cosmos and Tre Penne will face the winner of the tie between La Fiorita and Faetano, with the Montegiardino club strong favourites after yesterday’s 2-1 victory and their higher league placing – the latter being a factor they can rely on in the event of a narrow defeat. By the same logic, the task facing Fiorentino is even steeper: they were beaten 3-1 by Tre Fiori in the first-leg derby and also trail their rivals in the regular-season standings. The side that comes through will take on whoever emerges on top from the San Giovanni-Folgore pairing.

Here is the full schedule for the 2024-25 Campionato Sammarinese play-off Quarter-finals: