CittaCalcioUSA Editor Jake Iovine reports.

For the first time in over 15 weeks, Cittadella find themselves inside the relegation play-out zone in Serie B. With five games remaining, the Granata’s dream of completing a decade in the second division is at risk after Saturday’s 1-0 loss to relegation rivals Sampdoria.

It’s been a nightmare season for the Venetians. In October, the club sacked manager

Edoardo Gorini, who became the first man to lose his job mid-season since general director Stefano Marchetti joined the club in 2005. 

Cittadella also suffered three record defeats to Sassuolo, Spezia and Sudtirol, broke a club record for most Serie B home games without a win, and set another club record for most consecutive home losses in the division.

On top of that, August’s 1-1 draw with Pisa turned into a 3-0 forfeited loss after an appeal by the Tuscans, who argued the Granata fielded an ineligible player. 

After 33 games, Cittadella’s 35 points are their lowest points tally at this stage of a Serie B season since the 2013-14 campaign.

So how did the Granata go from the verge of a historic Serie A promotion four years ago to a possible relegation to Serie C for the first time since 2015?

Started with Sampdoria, ending with Sampdoria?

Just 15 months ago, Cittadella hosted Sampdoria at the Stadio Piercesare Tombolato and took the lead after a 54th minute goal from Luca Pandolfi. As it stood, the Granata soared to 5th place in Serie B and on track to secure a sixth straight home win.

However, Samp completed an unexpected turnaround and won the game 2-1, which led the way for Andrea Pirlo’s side to finish 7th place by May. Cittadella, meanwhile, finished the season in 14th and managed to scrape one win in their remaining fixtures..

Of the teams that have been in Serie B over the past two seasons, none have collected fewer points than Cittadella since the Sampdoria defeat at the end of January. 

The Granata put up 45 points between the remaining 16 games of the 2023-24 campaign and the entirety of this season since losing to the Blucerchiati, registering 10 wins, 15 draws and 24 losses in 49 games.

Four hundred and forty two days later and Sampdoria came out victorious again over Cittadella, this time with a 1-0 victory in front of over 25,000 fans at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris after Giuseppe Sibilli’s second half header broke the deadlock.

Dal Canto said in recent weeks the “episodes” in Cittadella’s upcoming fixtures would determine the outcome of the games. Once again, he was proven right in a match which saw three combined attempts on target from each side.

“No offence, but we lost a ‘tasteless’ match,” Dal Canto said after the game. “Half an episode against us can’t be enough to lose.”

It’s another relegation six-pointer in which Citta failed to win. With five games to go, the only team the Granata hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over are bottom of the table Cosenza, who are eight points adrift. 

Sampdoria, Sudtirol, Mantova and Carrarese all hold the tiebreaker over Citta, with Salernitana potentially joining the group if they avoid defeat next Monday.

Scoring has been hard to come by for Dal Canto’s side this season, scoring the lowest amount of goals in the league with just 25.. Saturday’s loss highlighted it again as the Granata failed to register a shot on target in the 90 minutes, while recording an xG (expected goals) tally of 0.29.

“We never gave the impression of scoring, while at the same time not conceding,” Dal Canto said. 

“The environmental context of the match made the difference, not the match itself.”

Staring at a relegation to Serie C for the first time since 2015, it’s a dire situation for Dal Canto’s crew. However, Citta know fate is in their own hands.

Four relegation finals: the deciding factor?

Four of the next five opponents for Cittadella sit in the bottom half of the Serie B table.

The next two fixtures – at home against Salernitana then away at Reggiana – are against teams currently occupying the automatic relegation zone and are within striking distance of the Venetians.

The next two games could very well be Cittadella’s last chance to get a much-needed win. Salernitana, who beat relegation rivals Sudtirol 2-1 on Saturday, can leapfrog Cittadella with a victory at the Tombolato on Easter Monday. 

But winning on the road has been extremely difficult for the Campanians, who hold the worst away record in Serie B this season, winning once and losing 10 in 16 attempts, and have not won away from the Arechi since October. 

Likewise, Cittadella’s home struggles have plagued the club for the past season-and-a-half. 

The Granata have won twice at the Tombolato since January 2024: A remarkable stretch during which they lost 12 times at home, which included a club record 16-game winless streak between January and December 2024.

Reggiana on the other hand are skating on thin ice after losing their third straight game following the international break. Winless in 10 games, Davide Dionigi’s men could be facing a do-or-die clash against Cittadella on April 25 at the Mapei Stadium, depending on the outcome of their trip to Brescia a week earlier.

The Rondinelle will also travel to the Tombolato as part of Cittadella’s final three fixtures, which include an away trip to a resurgent Frosinone, before hosting playoff-chasing Bari on the final day.

Despite all the troubles facing the Granata this season, everything is still to play for with six points separating 19th and 11th. 

As the 120 traveling Cittadella supporters showed in Genoa on Saturday, the club will not go down without a fight. Dal Canto, together with the club’s loyal supporters, dare to dream of a great escape.

“We know we have to fight until the end,” he said. “If we avoid throwing away points, it’s even better.”