Coppa Titano: first-leg semi-finals tomorrow, both live on TITANI.TV

With the verdicts of the league regular season now filed away, Sammarinese football is ready to make room for the Coppa Titano, which – having been halted on 8 December – will resume from the semi-final stage. The two first-leg fixtures are scheduled for tomorrow, both available via live streaming on TITANI.TV (click here to access), the FSGC’s new OTT platform which, after its absolute debut for the senior National Team’s friendly against Cape Verde played on neutral ground, is now set for its first outing within the borders of the Republic. The four remaining clubs overlap only halfway with the league’s Fab Four who earned direct access to the play-offs. La Fiorita and Tre Fiori belong to both of these elite groups and will face each other in a match that has the flavour of a re-run of last season’s final, when it took an endless penalty shoot-out before Montegiardino could celebrate. On the strength of that triumph, Lasagni’s side skipped the opening round of the current edition of the oldest competition in the Titano. Their campaign began directly from the quarter-finals: there they got past Faetano, winning both legs without conceding, and so the perfect clean sheet still figures among the secondary objectives of a team recently crowned top seed no. 1 in the league, while it goes without saying that the main target is to add a seventh Coppa Titano to their honours list. The other three contenders, ça va sans dire, come into this stage with two matches more in their legs. Tre Fiori cannot boast a perfect clean sheet, but the overall balance of the Gialloblù’s run is more than positive, starting with a double derby against Fiorentino – a draw in the first leg, followed by a 2-0 Tre Fiori win in the return – and continuing with the two clashes with Pennarossa, both won but with different scorelines: a narrow victory in the first 90 minutes, with Ferraro as match winner; a clearer margin in the return, which ended 3-1. As for this season’s head-to-head record, La Fiorita are ahead thanks to their victory in the first league meeting, while the reverse fixture produced a spectacular 3-3 draw, with Tre Fiori coming back thanks to goals from Simoncini and De Lucia, both absent tomorrow: the former through injury, the latter suspended, just like D'Addario. The other semi-final will pit together two teams who are not yet in the league play-offs. Both Folgore and Domagnano will have to pass through the crucible of the Preliminary Round to secure a place among the eight sides that will battle for the title. Only the reigning champions will be able, in the event of a draw, to rely on the advantage of their league position. Domagnano, on the other hand, will have to prevail on aggregate over two legs against Libertas, the natural consequence of a season which, after a sparkling start of four consecutive wins, has struggled to find consistency, alternating between uplifting victories and painful setbacks. The first-leg quarter-final win over Tre Penne certainly falls into the former category: that 2-0, signed by Parma and Gabellini, allowed the Wolves to absorb without consequence the narrow defeat in the return leg, knocking out one of the most fancied contenders for the trophy. In the round of 16 it had instead been two victories over San Giovanni that pushed the Wolves to the second rung of the bracket. As for Folgore, a lack of consistency is undoubtedly a trait they share with their upcoming cup opponents. And in a way, this is also reflected in the four matches they have played in the competition, where wins and draws have alternated perfectly: their journey began with a draw against Libertas, followed – again against the Granata – by a resounding 5-1 victory. Then came another draw – this time goalless – to open the two-legged tie with Murata, which ultimately went the Giallorossoneri’s way thanks to the 2-1 win over the Bianconeri on 8 December in the return leg. This season’s head-to-head record is weighted towards the Giallorossi: the Wolves began their run of four opening wins with a 1-0 success over Folgore; in the return fixture, the scoreline was the same, but whereas previously Mattia Ceccaroli had decided matters, on 2 April the match-winner’s laurels went to Karim Bara. This is the semi-final schedule:

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