Coppa Titano BKN301: final showdown between Virtus and Tre Penne on Saturday

In just over 48 hours, the curtain will come down on the Sammarinese football season. On Saturday 27 May at 20:45, Tre Penne and Virtus will go head-to-head in Montecchio for the Coppa Titano BKN301. The side from Città, having already placed the BKN301 Campionato Sammarinese title in their trophy cabinet almost a month ago, are now chasing the double and a cup they have not lifted since 2017. For the Acquaviva club, meanwhile, it would be a historic first after losing the 2011 final to Juvenes-Dogana. Furthermore, should Virtus lift the trophy, the victory would be worth double as it would also secure a place in the UEFA Europa Conference League preliminary round. Tre Penne are already sure of a UEFA Champions League berth as Sammarinese champions and, should they win, La Fiorita would be the side to benefit: despite losing the league play-off final to Cosmos, they would join the Serravalle club in the Conference League qualifiers. Tre Penne return to competitive action after more than a month, but coach Stefano Ceci remains optimistic: "The lads are in good shape even though we haven’t played for a long time. Favourites? Perhaps, based on what we did in the league, but we must stay focused because we are facing a very strong side coached by an excellent manager." While Ceci has never lifted the cup, Virtus coach Luigi Bizzotto already has one Coppa Titano to his name, having won it in 2016 with La Fiorita, but he is eager to bring joy to the Acquaviva faithful as well: "We are very hungry for victory and fully focused on achieving our goal. The club has been waiting for this moment for years and we are proud of what we have done. Having gone through the league play-offs we come into this with a lot of energy already spent, but the chance to win and to go into Europe drives us on. For us it would be the fulfilment of a dream." Tre Penne captain Nicola Gai has already lifted the Coppa Titano back in 2017 and, after winning the league this year, he has no intention of stopping: "We want to go all the way in this competition as well. We’ve had a great season and winning the cup would be the icing on the cake. We are focused on bringing home this trophy too." It will also be a family Battistini derby: Michael in the biancazzurro colours on one side and Manuel in neroverde on the other. The Tre Penne midfielder speaks of "competition between us brothers, but it will be the pitch that speaks and decides who is the better player. It’s my first final and I want to give my best. I expect a great match because they also play very good football." His brother – and national team-mate – Manuel calls it a "highly charged clash that can give us the opportunity to enter Europe and lift a trophy. We have had a good campaign in the league as well and shown excellent things. We have everything it takes to play our cards right, especially in a one-off game where anything can happen." Recently used as a goalkeeper – and performing very well – following the injury to Alex Passaniti, Nicola Angeli will also be involved for Virtus: "This is an important match for us; we’ve been waiting for this chance for a long time and now we can do it. Tre Penne are a very strong side but we can make our presence felt too." The league meetings between the sides this season ended in a 0-0 draw on Matchday 7 and a 2-1 win for Tre Penne on Matchday 23. In that latter match the Biancazzurri came from behind: after falling behind to a Tortori goal, Nigretti made it 1-1 and, in added time, Tisselli sparked jubilant celebrations and took his side a decisive step closer to the San Marino title. The match will be refereed by Antonio Ucini, assisted by Gianmarco Ercolani and Fabrizio Morisco, with Michele Beltrano as fourth official. Admission to the Montecchio Stadium will be completely free of charge (parking along Viale Campo dei Giudei is recommended, and the only access to the stand will be via the route that descends towards the main stand) and the match will also be broadcast live via streaming on the Titani.tv platform from 20:40, with full commentary in Italian.

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