Futsal, league: opportunity for Folgore in a matchday packed with head-to-head clashes

With Fiorentino set for their rest day, one of the main talking points of Matchday 6 in the San Marino Futsal Championship is the opportunity that presents itself for Folgore to move clear at the top of the Single Group, albeit in a naturally provisional situation. Tomorrow the reigning champions – so far with a perfect record, just like the “resting” Rossoblù – will take on Murata in Fiorentino, who come into the game off the back of a win over Cosmos and a strong display in the second leg of the cup Round of 16, which nonetheless was not enough for Palermino’s side to overturn Tre Fiori and reach the next round. The evening in Fiorentino will be opened by Domagnano and Libertas: the former are on an unbeaten run in the league (one draw and two consecutive wins) but are hurting after their recent elimination from the Titano Futsal Cup, while the latter need to improve their league position, yet are clearly buoyed by qualification for the cup quarter-finals, achieved thanks to two highly convincing victories over Cosmos. Domagnano are currently third, level on points with Virtus and Tre Fiori. While the Neroverdi will once again feature in the late kick-off, the Gialloblù will face Pennarossa tomorrow, who have struggled so far in the league (although they did pick up their first win in the last round) but pulled off a brilliant feat in the cup. Whether the adrenaline rush from their double victory over La Fiorita has given Casadei’s Biancorossi enough of a boost to relaunch themselves in the league as well is something we will already find out tomorrow night in Dogana. On the same artificial surface, Cailungo and Tre Penne will have met earlier in a sort of rematch of the Titano Futsal Cup Round of 16, which ended with a stunning comeback by Levani’s men, three goals down in the second leg and able to turn it around to 4-3 thanks to a rampant Gamba. Now, however, the imperative is to repeat that in the league, where the Rossoverdi are still stuck on a painful zero in the points column. In any case, given that Tre Penne find themselves in exactly the same situation, we can reasonably expect a contest every bit as fiercely fought as the recent cup encounter. Just above the two sides at the bottom sit Cosmos, who have one point and are therefore still chasing their first league win – or rather, their first win of the season, given the two defeats suffered in the cup. Here too, a very tight game is in store in the second time slot in Acquaviva, as Muccioli’s Gialloverdi will be up against San Giovanni, who are only two points ahead of them and have not won since their victory two rounds ago over Cailungo, which remains Gualtieri’s side’s only success of the season. The evening in Acquaviva will be opened by the so‑called “Marano derby” between Faetano and La Fiorita, both disappointed with how their Titano Futsal Cup campaigns ended and both in search of points to climb a table that is decent but far from ideal, with the two sides separated by just a single point: 8 for Ghiotti’s team, 7 for Corbelli’s, who unlike their opponents on the night must also reverse a trend of three straight defeats in all competitions. The matchday will conclude with Tuesday’s late fixture between Juvenes-Dogana and Virtus: unlike La Fiorita and Faetano, both of these sides come into it on a high after progressing in the cup, and they too, just like the two Gialloblù teams, are separated by only one point. Another thing the two rivals have in common is the need to bounce back from defeat in their last league outing: against Folgore in the case of Pollini’s Neroverdi, and against La Fiorita for Zonzini’s Biancorossoazzurri. Here is the schedule for Matchday 6 of the league: Click here for the updated league table.

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