Coppa Italia - Group Stage Draw The Coppa Italia begins on August 17 with 8 groups of four from playing a round robin on three dates. Two Serie A teams compete at this stage (Ancona and Lecce, 3rd and 4th in Serie B last year), along with the 20 Serie A teams and 10 from C1. The group winners then enter the first knockout round along with 8 additional Serie A teams. Here is the schedule: Code: Aug 17 GIRONE 1 GIRONE 2 P.Patria-Cagliari Cesena-Livorno Piacenza-Como Genoa-Torino GIRONE 3 GIRONE 4 Verona-Treviso Venezia-Atalanta Palermo-A.Leffe Triestina-Vicenza GIRONE 5 GIRONE 6 Ternana-Samb Ascoli-Teramo Ancona-Pisa Martina-Bari GIRONE 7 GIRONE 8 Salernitana-Napoli Avellino-Lecce Messina-Pescara Brindisi-Catania Aug 24 GIRONE 1 GIRONE 2 Como-P.Patria Torino-Cesena Cagliari-Piacenza Livorno-Genoa GIRONE 3 GIRONE 4 A.Leffe-Verona Vicenza-Venezia Treviso-Palermo Atalanta-Triestina GIRONE 5 GIRONE 6 Pisa-Ternana Bari-Ascoli Samb-Ancona Teramo-Martina GIRONE 7 GIRONE 8 Pescara-Salernitana Catania-Avellino Napoli-Messina Lecce-Brindisi Sept 3 GIRONE 1 GIRONE 2 Como-Cagliari Torino-Livorno P.Patria-Piacenza Cesena-Genoa GIRONE 3 GIRONE 4 A.Leffe-Treviso Vicenza-Atalanta Verona-Palermo Venezia-Triestina GIRONE 5 GIRONE 6 Pisa-Sambenedettese Bari-Teramo Ternana-Ancona Ascoli-Martina GIRONE 7 GIRONE 8 Pescara-Napoli Catania-Lecce Salernitana-Messina Avellino-Brindisi
Coppa Italia - Group Stage Draw nice, a fairly easy group for Palermo... perhaps they can make a run like I believe Bari and Vicenza did from B last yr... I'm surprised the Coppa is regardly so lightly, where in other European leagues its a bigger deal...
I agree, but I think the big clubs don't WANT it to be anything other than a chance for them to run out their reserves in a "meaningful" game every few weeks, so that's the way it stays. They only allow 10 teams from the 3rd division in the competition at ALL, then they make it damn near impossible for any of them to advance past the group stage. Then they have slumber-inducing home-and-home knockout stages. And to top it off, the teams that make it to the final have nearly no incentive to win since at least one of the finalists has already clinched a spot in Europe, thereby assuring a UEFA Cup spot for the other even if they lose. There are numerous ways it could be made more interesting for fans, but nobody cares about that, so nothing will change.
you make excellent points... if they let in every team from C1 and also had one-off matches you'd see underdogs doing much better... I can't knock the big clubs from playing reserve teams but what makes the FA Cup so exciting is all the minnows advancing... having the final as a two-leg affair is another bad facet...
Couple of days late, but the Coppa began this past weekend. Only two Serie A teams are involved at this point: newly-promoted Lecce and Ancona. Lecce won 1-0 (should've been by more from the highlights I saw) over Zdenek Zeman's Avellino, while Ancona looked like good candidates for quick relegation to Serie B, losing 2-0 at home to Serie C1 club Pisa. Gianfranco Zola scored on a PK in Cagliari's win. Torino was lucky to beat Roberto Donadoni-coached Genoa 1-0. Napoli and Salernitana ended 0-0. Group 1,Wk 1 Pro Patria 0-2 Cagliari Scorers: Zola pen 44, Esposito 93 Piacenza 2-0 Como Scorers: Tarana pen 52, Cipriani pen 94 Group 2, Wk 1 Cesena 1-1 Livorno Scorers: Cavalli 15 (C), Protti 25 (L) Genoa 0-1 Torino Scorer: Tiribocchi 9 Group 3, Wk 1 Verona 1-0 Treviso Scorer: Myrtaj 61 Palermo 2-0 Albinoleffe Scorers: Pepe 8, Vasari 81 Group 4, Wk 1 Venezia 2-0 Atalanta Scorers: Ginestra 41, Fantini 67 Sent off: Sarr 92 (A) Triestina 1-1 Vicenza Scorers: Margiotta 89 (V), Aubameyang 90 (T) Group 5, Wk 1 Ternana 1-2 Sambenedettese Scorers: Criniti 32, pen 79 (S), Giampà’ 43 (T) Sent off: Paci 55 (T) Ancona 0-2 Pisa Scorers: Ambrosi pen 55, Mannini 92 Group 6, Wk 1 Ascoli 2-2 Teramo Scorers: Pia’ 6 (A), Sanetti 19 (T), Quadrini 76 (T), Bonfiglio 90 (A) Martina 1-2 Bari Scorers: Spinesi 34 (B), Mitri 35 (M), Valdes 61 (B) Group 7, Wk 1 Salernitana 0-0 Napoli Sent off: Bernini 49 (N) Messina 2-0 Pescara Scorers: Zaniolo 45, Parisi pen 84 Missed pen: Sullo 15 (M) Group 8, Wk 1 Avellino 0-1 Lecce Scorer: Chevanton 17 Brindisi 1-1 Catania Scorers: Francioso 15 (B), Oliveira 81 (C)
Sunday's second turn is apparently not going to happen because 19 of the Serie B teams are on strike in protest of the expansion of the division to 24 teams. Serie A participants Lecce and Ancona have also pledged solidarity with the striking teams. Certainly wreaks havoc with this week's schedina (national pool), which now has only one game on it - Fiorentina-Prato, ironically enough, in the Coppa Italia of Serie C.
The league has given all 24 teams that didn't show up for Sunday's games a 3-0 loss AND removed one point from the standings. I only thought 21 team were boycotting - the Serie B sides except for Como and Lecce and Ancona, but that's only 19, so I don't know who else participated in the boycott. None of the games were played.
The following teams were penalized: AlbinoLeffe Ancona Ascoli Atalanta Avellino Bari Cagliari Como Lecce Livorno Martina Messina Napoli Palermo Pescara Piacenza Pisa Ternana Torino Treviso Triestina Venezia Verona Vicenza These 8 teams were awarded 3-0 victories: Brindisi Catania Cesena Genoa Pro Patria Salernitana Sambenedettese Teramo The updated group standings are here: http://www.channel4.com/sport/football_italia/coppar1.html At least the Coppa will have some underdogs make it into the knockout stages
Of tomorrow's schedule Code: Sept 3 GIRONE 1 GIRONE 2 Como-Cagliari Torino-Livorno P.Patria-Piacenza Cesena-Genoa GIRONE 3 GIRONE 4 A.Leffe-Treviso Vicenza-Atalanta Verona-Palermo Venezia-Triestina GIRONE 5 GIRONE 6 Pisa-Sambenedettese Bari-Teramo Ternana-Ancona Ascoli-Martina GIRONE 7 GIRONE 8 Pescara-Napoli Catania-Lecce Salernitana-Messina Avellino-Brindisi only Cesena-Genoa, Pisa-Sambenedettese, and Salernitana-Messina look set to take place. If so, the likely group-winners are Pro Patria, Cesena or Genoa, Palermo or Verona, Venezia, Sambenedettese or Pisa, Teramo, Salernitana or Messina, and Brindisi or Catania. Not sure how they'd break some of those ties. Brindisi and Catania, for instance, drew 1-1 . Perhaps Catania would go through since it was an away game for them. Interesting that some of the striking teams could still win their groups.
Only two games were played yesterday: Cesena 1 Genoa 1 Pisa 1 Sambenedettese 1 Salernitana-Messina did not take place after all. I don't know which teams showed up and which didn't, so can't figure out the final standings until they announce any forfeit results and penalties. Genoa is the only "Serie B" team (should be C-1) to play, and they were rewarded with a serious knee injury suffered by one of their best players - Cameroonian Patrice Feussi. He'll be out around 6 months.
These teams did not show and were all docked a point in the standings: Avellino Lecce Messina Pescara Bari Ternana Piacenza Como Cagliari Torino Livorno AlbinoLeffe Treviso Verona Palermo Vicenza Atalanta Venezia Triestina Ascoli Martina Napoli, Ancona and Pisa dropped out of the boycott. Napoli showed up with their youth squad. These teams were awarded 3-0 victories: Pro Patria Teramo Napoli Salernitana Catania Brindisi Ancona Two games were played, as mentioned above, both 1-1 ties. By my reckoning, the tables look like this: 1.Pro Patria 6, Cagliari 1, Piacenza 1, Como -2 2.Cesena 5, Genoa 4, Torino 1, Livorno -1 3.Palermo 1,Verona 1, Treviso -2, AlbinoLeffe -2 4.Venezia 1, Triestina -1, Vicenza -1, Atalanta -2 5.Sambenedettese 7, Pisa 4, Ancona 2, Ternana -2 6.Teramo 7, Bari 1,Ascoli -1, Martina -2 7.Salernitana 7, Napoli 3, Messina 1,Pescara -2 8.Catania 7, Brindisi 7, Lecce 1, Avellino -2 We'll see if they decide to validate the result of this "competition".
Ok, after carefully compiling that, I found the official standings here: http://www.lega-calcio.it/ita/timc_gironi.shtml And I just had one mistake (Pisa only had 3 pts). Apparently, Palermo wins group 3 via goal difference, while the Brindisi/Catania tie will broken by a random draw.
Coppa Italia - Group Stage [R] just awful...a competition that few cared about has even less credibility now...
Coppa Italia - 2nd Round [R] After the ridiculous "first round" when most of the Serie B teams did not participate, the knockout stages begin tonight. Here are the matchups: Sept 30 Salernitana-Reggina Oct 1 Pro Patria-Sampdoria Palermo-Brescia Venezia-Empoli Sambenedettese-Modena Cesena-Perugia Teramo-Siena Oct 2 Brindisi-Bologna At least it's nice for some Serie C teams (Pro Patria, Sambenedettese, Cesena, Teramo, and Brindisi) to get a rare shot at a Serie A opponent. The Palermo-Brescia matchup could be very interesting although I'm sure both teams are much more interested in their league results than this competition. BTW, here are the matchups for the following round, when all the "bigs" join in: Pro Patria/Samp vs Milan Palermo/Brescia vs Roma Samben./Modena vs Lazio Venezia/Empoli vs Parma Salernitana/Reggina vs Inter Brindisi/Bologna vs Udinese Cesena/Perugia vs Chievo Teramo/Siena vs Juventus
Tue/Wed results: Salernitana 0 Reggina 2 Pro Patria 0 Sampdoria 1 Palermo 1 Brescia 1 Venezia 2 Empoli 0 Sambenedettese 2 Modena 1 Cesena 1 Perugia 2 Teramo 0 Siena 1 Just two upsets with Venezia beating Empoli and Sambenedettese beating Modena. One more game today with Brindisi hosting Bologna.
Little Brindisi beat Bologna 3-2! It's just too bad they don't have a straight knockout format instead of home-and-home. Then maybe Italian fans would get a flavor of what happens in a cup compeition when a little Cinderella team comes out of nowhere to make it a few rounds. As it is, Bologna should still advance, with 2 away goals under their belt.
Does anybody know how the Serie C teams qualify for this tournament? I know that all the Serie A and B teams go in automatically, but only 10 Serie C teams get in (the field was set before Serie B was expanded, so, for instance, Fiorentina did not participate in this tournement but is in the Coppa Italia for Serie C). Anyway, how are the Serie C participants chosen? I always thought they were the "top" C1 teams, but I just realized that Brindisi is in C2. Is it based on league results or related to how teams performed in the previous years' Serie C Coppa Italia?
Okay, I figured it out myself. Brindisi won the Coppa Italia Serie C last season. Pro Patria (a C1 team) was the other finalist. The other 8 Serie C teams would normally be the 4 teams relegated from Serie B plus the top two teams from each Serie C1 group that did not get promoted. The four "relegated" teams were Salernitana, Genoa, Catania and Cosenza. The first three remain in Serie B, while Cosenza folded and is playing down in the amateur leagues this season. The 3rd and 4th teams in each C1 group last year were Martina, Pisa, Cesena and Teramo. Sambenedettese, who finished 5th in C1B last year, replaced Cosenza in the field. Forza Brindisi!!
Sue, why is it that they play 2 legs...prob isnt money since these games dont draw well?? (or maybe they do at lower levels?) It would feel like a real cup if teams like Brindisi and Sambenedettese could go far on one-off upsets...
I think it's mostly a "fairness" thing that Italians obsess over (or perhaps should I say an "unfairness" thing). 1) Two legs guarantees a home gate for both clubs. 2) Determining the home team by "random draw" would be just too .... um, random. I think Italians actually PREFER a level of predictability in their competitions. Also, having a random draw would also open things up to charges of bribery or favoritism (what!? no! never!). and 3) the 2-leg format favors the big clubs, and they wield all the power.
unfortunately it does make some sense...the big clubs hold all the cards... this offseason has certainly shown the need for a strong FA with power, and fixing the Coppa could be one thing a strong organization could do..
Here's the schedule of 2nd round, 2nd leg games for this week: Tue Oct 28 Empoli-Venezia Wed Oct 29 Sampdoria-Pro Patria Modena-Sambenedettese Reggina-Salernitana Bologna-Brindisi Perugia-Cesena Siena-Teramo Thu Oct 30 Brescia-Palermo All games kick off at 2:30 EST. Forza Brindisi!!!
Today's result: Venezia 1 Empoli 1 and a struggling Serie B club goes through at the expense of a struggling Serie A side. One of the original "strikers", no less - they and Palermo are only here since they were lucky enough to be in a group without any non-striking teams!). Venezia will face Parma in the next round.
Alas, Brindisi and all the other underdogs lost today. Reggina (A) 3 Salernitana (B) 0 (agg 5-0) Bologna (A) 3 Brindisi (C2) 0 (agg 5-3) Modena (A) 2 Sambenedettese (C1) 0 (agg 3-2) Sampdoria (A) 3 Pro Patria (C1) 0 (agg 4-0) Siena (A) 3 Teramo (C1) 0 (agg 4-0) Brescia hosts Palermo tomorrow with the score 1-1 after the first leg.