Pontedera seeks historic victory in Perugia to end on a high note

Stimuli to try to win at Perugia? There are, there are. Even if the qualification for play off it's already in your pocket, for the Pontedera the match that closes the regular championship today offers the chance to write your name in the annals. Two reasons above all: no Granata team has managed to conquer the Steal in the previous six away games (the first in 1932-33, the last last year: 3 defeats and 3 draws) and, by winning, the team of menichini would rise to 32 points won in the second half of the season, a feat never achieved in the 6 championships of Serie C to 20 teams played in the 12 years of third division. At most there were 30 in 2020-21.

Not bad at all for a team looking for a seventh consecutive useful result to make, if possible, an extraordinary season even more extraordinary. This, just 96 hours after having thrashed the Rimini with a 3-0 that the match numbers justify well: more than double the total shots, 15 to 7, exactly double those that ended up on target, 6 to 3, as well as a double xG (expected Goals) of 0,858 against 0,433. Only the ball possession was clearly unbalanced in favor of the guests, 65% against 35%, but this confirms that the Granata do not want to have the ball to dominate, but to direct the match, to be able to exploit with the ball the spaces that they manage to create with their play and that were also capitalized to the maximum on Wednesday. Today at Perugia, against a team that has mathematically failed to access the play off but who will want to say goodbye to his audience in the best way, Pontedera he won't go to be a pretty little statue. And the coach menichini It's clear: "We want to finish in the best possible way on a prestigious pitch and honour the match to give continuity and prepare ourselves as best as possible for the play off. I honestly haven't looked at who we might face, but they are all tough opponents." With the returns of Vitali e Sala and the absence of Fishing due to disqualification, the coach will avoid playing those who are at risk of suspension because in the event of a warning, the disqualification would start in the first match of the play-offs. The opponent will be one of Arezzo, Vis Pesaro, Pineto e Pescara. Start at 16,30pm (all races at the same time), directs Robilotta di Sala Consilina.

Probable formation (4-2-3-1): lively; Perretta, Pretato, Martinelli, Migliardi; do you drive, Van Ransbeeck; Vitali, Lipari, Gaddini; Corona.

Stefano Lemmi