League: Folgore-La Fiorita takes centre stage in a weekend of three derbies

Almost half of the fixtures scheduled for the 13th matchday of the 2024-25 Campionato Sammarinese will involve teams from the same Castello. Curiously, all of them will be played on Sunday, which will also feature two late kick-offs. On Saturday, meanwhile, Virtus and Faetano will meet again at the Stadio Federico Crescentini – having faced each other in the Titano Cup last night. Bizzotto’s men start as favourites and will aim to keep hold of top spot in the table, counting on Folgore to help them extend their lead. At the same time, but in Montecchio, it will be the turn of San Marino Academy-Pennarossa. Both sides are chasing a second league win and are in desperate need of three points to give their season a jolt and build up momentum for a push towards eleventh place – currently seven and nine points away respectively. At 18:00 Fiorentino-Domagnano is scheduled, again in Montecchio. Tarini’s side want to get back to winning ways after a run of three straight victories was halted by a narrow defeat to La Fiorita, a match in which the Rossoblù showed they are on a par with one of the main title contenders. Domagnano, for their part, returned to winning ways with a clear 3-0 success over Libertas in the late kick-off of the previous round. On the Sunday programme, three matches will kick off at 15:00. The most eagerly awaited, without a shadow of a doubt, is Folgore-La Fiorita. Last year, Falciano’s club – thanks to former La Fiorita man Pancotti – sprang a surprise that proved pivotal in the title race eventually won by Virtus. The Gialloblù from Montegiardino will need to show they have learned their lesson and can also rely on a more measured management of their energy in the midweek Titano Cup fixture. While the holders were able to ration their efforts, having all but sealed qualification in the first leg and merely formalised it within ten minutes of the return game, the team coached by former La Fiorita boss Oscar Lasagni come into this one on the back of an intense, physically demanding 120 minutes against Tre Penne. Berardi’s men will at least arrive tired but buoyed by their place in the semi-finals. On Sunday they face Murata, in what promises to be a spectacular derby given the quality on the pitch, although the ongoing lack of a recognised goalkeeper could again weigh heavily on the Bianconeri. Sergio Grassi is eagerly awaiting the opening of the winter transfer window to address the unfortunate situation that has affected Murata’s league position – they have lost three of their last five outings. In Fiorentino it will be Tre Fiori’s turn, as they take on bottom side Cailungo. Not alone in that position, though: Sarti’s men recently claimed their first win of the season to draw level with the Academy in the standings. The Gialloblù are operating at title-winning pace and only two moments of magic from Ben Kacem denied them victory over Cosmos last weekend. We then come to the two Sunday late kick-offs, both all-Sammarinese derbies. In Borgo Maggiore, the balance of power between the local clubs will be put to the test: San Giovanni are out to confirm themselves after last season’s excellent campaign, which they are backing up with the current seventh place. Libertas, on the other hand, have collected just one point from their last four matches and the change of coach has yet to translate into concrete results on the pitch. The programme closes with Juvenes-Dogana-Cosmos, the only match scheduled for 18:30, to be played at the Ezio Conti in Dogana. It is a must-not-misstep fixture for Lepri’s Gialloverdi, who have dropped nine points to Virtus over the last five games and now trail the leaders by five. On the Juvenes-Dogana side, there is a clear determination to build on the wins over Pennarossa and San Giovanni, putting their tangible recent improvement to the test in a match where they are underdogs and have nothing to lose. This is the picture for the 13th matchday of the 2024-25 Campionato Sammarinese, with all fixtures available live via streaming and on demand on the Titani.TV platform.

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