Ready for the new owner of the band. With Cittadella it's Sernicola's time

On Saturday afternoon the Arena pitch is ready to christen a new "first time". The yellow card received by Idrissa Toure in fact, at the end of the match in Palermo he triggered an automatic one-day disqualification: the German winger will therefore have to watch his teammates from the stands, engaged in the tricky match against Citadel. The absence of the number 15 therefore opens the doors to his debut from the first minute of Leonard Sernicola, who arrived at the Nerazzurri halfway through the winter transfer market and has already been the protagonist of two excellent performances.

The Fondi-born player has shown that he has fully immersed himself in the atmosphere of the locker room, playing with great competitive spirit and full tactical application the moments of the game granted to him by Pippo Inzaghi against Salernitana and Palermo. In the first two games played with the new jersey, the 27-year-old has put together twenty-two minutes, also occupying a portion of the pitch practically unseen in his career.

In his absolute debut against Salernitana, in fact, the new number 66 of Sporting Club took the place of Malthe Hojholt, going to place himself on the center-left of the midfield line drawn by Inzaghi in the final minutes. A week later, at the "Barbera" in Palermo, the change with Tourè was instead automatic: Sernicola settled on the right flank of the Nerazzurri chessboard, helping his teammates to protect the precious victory and then launching into a wild celebration under the 500 arrived from Pisa.

After the running-in experience experienced in these two meetings, Leonard Sernicola is ready to take the field from the first minute with the Pisa jersey: there is no shortage of alternatives to Superpippo, but the most "obvious" replacement is the former Cremonese player. On paper, Arturo Calabresi and Adrian Rus could also act in place of Idrissa Tourè.

But they represent more conservative choices compared to the technical and tactical qualities of the number 66: the first two were born as central defenders and only thanks to their physical and tactical peculiarities have they developed the characteristics to adapt to the position of full-backs. For their contribution to the maneuver and ability to sting even in the offensive midfield Leonard Sernicola instead represents the best solution to guarantee the Nerazzurri's device the right outlet on the right flank, in a match in which - in all probability - Pisa will push intensely to crush Cittadella, also encouraged by the crowd that will occupy the steps of the Arena.

The winger who grew up in Ternana thus has the opportunity to regain his place as a starter more than two months after his last opportunity: it was December 29 when Sernicola started from the first minute in the derby between Cremonese and Brescia.

MA