Ahead of the second international break of the season in October, Destination Calcio questioned which was the real Bari.
The team that won one point from their first three matches after a summer of turmoil or the one that went unbeaten over the next two months?
The answer, it now appears, is the latter. And emphatically so.
The Galletti are now unbeaten in 14 matches and the 1-0 win over Cesena on Saturday afternoon lifted them up to fourth in Serie B, nine points behind third-placed Spezia and one further adrift of Pisa, their opponents on Friday.
There’s something pleasantly old-fashioned about Bari’s new-found solidity. With just five wins to their name in 16 matches, the Pugliesi have won the fewest games out of any top-six side in Serie B, while their nine draws are the highest of any team in the top eight of calcio‘s second tier.
Similarly, no team in the top six has scored fewer goals than Bari’s tally of 20 so far, but in the whole of Serie B only Spezia, league leaders Sassuolo and Palermo have a better defensive record.
Bari, then, may not win any plaudits for their style but it has proved to be mightily efficient so far. Kevin Lasagna and Mehdi Dorval have both scored four goals each, while Andrija Novakovich has chipped in with three of his own and Boris Radunovic has kept seven clean sheets, the second-most in Serie B this season.
It is a remarkable turnaround in fortunes for a club that found itself on the brink of the Serie C precipice just over six months ago, avoiding the trapdoor only via a relegation play-off.
A summer of protests against the ownership of Aurelio De Laurentiis has lingered long into the season, hardly an ideal backdrop for a new manager.
But Moreno Longo, who took over in June, has simply got on with the job and so have his players. The result, so far, is that Bari find themselves in the promotion race for the first time in two years, when their Serie A hopes were dashed in injury time in the play-off final against Cagliari.
Longo, for his part, remains resolutely grounded.
“The league table? We shouldn’t worry too much about that,” he said after the win against Cesena on Saturday.
“We need to focus on our initial plan. Even after this win, I won’t change my approach. We’ll take it one game at a time. Now we have to think about Pisa, without getting ahead of ourselves.
“Let’s lay another brick in the foundation we’ve been building since the start of the season.”
If Bari’s credentials as promotion contender are to be tested, exams don’t come much tougher than Pisa, who led Serie B until two weeks ago before losing to Carrarese and throwing away a 2-0 lead against Cosenza.
A 3-2 win away against Mantova on Saturday suggests Filippo Inzaghi’s men, who trail league leaders Sassuolo by three points, have overcome their wobble.
Pisa may be favourite on Friday night, but Longo is adamant the fixture against the Tuscans will not define Bari’s progress.
“I haven’t forgotten where we started, and we have a clear vision,” he said.
“We’re in a positive moment right now, and we need to keep this momentum going for as long as possible. We must keep working hard and stay focused.
“There might be some setbacks along the way, but we need to maintain a straight and balanced approach to do our job well. We should just focus on working hard and building a team that can last.”
