Spal, only the playouts remain. Milan and Lucchese on the run

Milan and Lucchese, the devilish, courageous and poorly paid Lucchese, the next day inflict two more resounding slaps on the Spal and they fly away. It's not easy to spread optimism now, as Baldini from his point of view tries to do because he has to. Every week Spal fans are forced to take a beating, without an exception. Take this day: the missed victory over Pontedera - which the white and blues would have deserved this time, and instead have as usual unfortunately thrown away - is matched by Milan's victory over a now exhausted Ternana waiting for the playoffs, and that of the now unreachable Lucchese who dominates Vis Pesaro. So the position of the white and blues is even more reduced: from the hope of avoiding the playouts to the very early certainty of having to play them, and now also to the very high probability of playing them with a handicap, having to win them to avoid being relegated with equal results between the first and second legs. And we must also hope that Legnago does not win tonight in Carpi, to avoid the risk of having to downsize to the last of the reductions, that is, direct relegation to the bottom of the group. It is not easy to hope for victories, when in a season you have achieved only 8 in 36 games, 2 in the second half of the season and only 1 with the new coach already in double figures of games. And yet we must, there is nothing else to do. Unless we make up three points on Milan out of the six that remain up for grabs in the two final days, with Spal in Pesaro and at the "Mazza" with Gubbio, and Oddo's Rossoneri dealing with the same opponents on inverted fields.

The problem is that the others occasionally take home the three points, and Spal never does, not even when they give it their all like against Pontedera. So what hopes should we cling to? The fans have also given the signal: Spal has grown a little, the fans have acknowledged it with that "fight for us" instead of the usual invitation to find another job. The team's limitations remain glaring, and they materialize in two not insignificant inconveniences in the game of football: they continually concede goals and score them with an eyedropper. Against Pontedera, yet another recklessness on a corner has ruined everything, and that's it. Parenthesis: even if it's understandable, given the very rare opportunities to celebrate, perhaps after a goal it would be a good idea not to let yourself go into unbridled pile-ups, and stay put and postpone them until the end of the game. Only at the final whistle do they really count...

But let's get back to the tenuous topic of growth. In Sassari and then on Saturday at home, Spal seemed more toned, physically in better condition and more inclined to lead the game with determination. With 180 minutes to go in the regular season, if you want to scrape your skin out and avoid Serie D, you can only make an effort to enhance these positive aspects in the hope that it will serve some purpose. The fans will do their part, there's no doubt about that: even with their noses held, they will push Spal until the last second. As always.

Saving Private Rao would be another good thing. Having ended up at the center of disco controversies, the boy, born in 2006, has gone haywire and is missing goals that he would have scored at another time. He needs a signal, and in turn he must send one. He is very young and is also the best resource the club has on the future market. He needs help. Spal's weapons are few and they need all of them. He won't repeat certain mistakes, you can bet on that. If you can, try to forgive him as you would a grandson, because that's his age.

Mauro Malaguti