Serie B Post-Season Picture Confirmed… Here’s What Happens Next

The curtain fell on another thrilling Serie B campaign on Friday night, but don’t go away because the encore is sure to be a cracker.

Champions Venezia and runners-up Frosinone are heading for Serie A, while Pescara, Reggiana and Spezia slipped through the trapdoor. Now, the post-season is just around the corner.

The top two waved goodbye to the regular season on a winning note, live on Destination Calcio TV, with Venezia seeing off Palermo to claim the title and Frosinone thumping Mantova 5-0.

Avellino held on to the final play-off spot with a victory over Modena and those two, along with Monza, Palermo, Catanzaro and Juve Stabia will battle it out for the last ticket to the big time.

Sudtirol and Bari face a fight to stay in the division as finishing 16th and 17th puts them in the relegation play-out.

Going Up?

With third place down to eighth taking part in the play-offs, the two highest-ranked – Monza (third) and Palermo (fourth) – receive a bye into the semi-finals.

The semis are two-legged, and another advantage of finishing higher in the table is that third and fourth play their second legs at home. The remaining four teams have to duke it out from the first round, with Catanzaro (fifth) hosting Avellino (eighth) and Modena (sixth) entertaining Juve Stabia (seventh).

The first-round games are one-offs, with extra-time to follow the 90 minutes in the case of a draw. Importantly, there is no penalty shootout. So, if there is nothing to divide the teams after 120 minutes, the highest-ranked side goes through. The thinking behind the format being that the lower-ranked team needs to attack, therefore making games more exciting.

The winner of the two first-round ties progress to the semis, with Monza facing the winner of Modena against Juve Stabia, and Palermo taking on the winner of Catanzaro against Avellino.

For the semis, there is no extra-time and no penalties. If the tie is all square after two legs, again the highest-ranked team goes through.

The final is also a two-legged showpiece and here too the highest-ranked team is the winner if they are level after 180 minutes.

The action gets under way on Tuesday May 12 when both first-round matches are played, before the semi-final first legs on Saturday May 16 and Sunday May 17, with the returns on May 19 and 20.

The final is scheduled for Sunday May 24 and Friday May 29.

Going Down?

The relegation play-off, or play-out as it is known in Italy, is more straightforward than events at the other end of the table.

This is contested over two legs and Bari, as the lowest-ranked team, will be at home in the first game. Should the tie be level after both legs, Sudtirol, as the team that finished the season in 16th, survives.

The first leg of the play-out is on Friday May 15 with the return a week later on May 22.

The Serie B post-season will be shown live on Destination Calcio TV.

FULL SCHEDULE (BST)

Promotion play-offs

May 12: Modena vs Juve Stabia, 5:45pm

May 12: Catanzaro vs Avellino, 8pm

May 16: Modena or Juve Stabia vs Monza, 7pm

May 17: Catanzaro or Avellino vs Palermo, 7pm

May 19: Monza vs Modena or Juve Stabia, 7pm

May 20: Palermo vs Catanzaro or Avellino, 7pm

May 24: Final first leg, 7pm

May 29: Final second leg, 7pm

Relegation play-out

May 15: Bari vs Südtirol, 7pm

May 22: Südtirol vs Bari, 7pm