And so here we are, the most controversial Serie B matches of the season are upon us.

Sampdoria and Salernitana are set to do battle in the relegation play-out, one last chance at salvation, one last attempt to avoid the drop into the quagmire of third-tier football.

Both teams have been nothing short of abysmal all season: only 19 wins from 76 games between them tells its own story.

Yet it is Samp who will feel the more relieved of the two. The Blucerchiati were relegated in the regular season due to a horror show of a campaign in which they cycled through four managers and produced one insipid performance after another.

Their demise has been written about enough on these pages this year. But it was the dissolution of another club that saved them, or rather, gave them a second chance of life.

Brescia were, by early May, safe. Their own campaign had been mixed to say the least, but at least they would be in Serie B again next season. Or so everyone thought.

They were found guilty of financial irregularities by the Federal National Tribunal of the FIGC, the Italian Football Federation, and docked four points for the season just gone and four for 2025-26.

This meant Brescia dropped into the bottom three and were relegated to Serie C along with Cosenza and Cittadella. 

The original play-out was due to be between Frosinone and Salernitana, but Brescia’s troubles meant the former moved up and out of the relegation dogfight, with Samp taking their place.

Sadly, Brescia have gone out of business as a result of their growing debt, said to be around €3million, and 114 years of history has come to a sad end.

As for Sampdoria and Salernitana, they won one game each in two meetings between them across the season.

The Campania outfit triumphed 3-2 at the Stadio Arechi in late August, a result which cost Andrea Pirlo his job. This was, with the benefit of hindsight, a watershed moment in Sampdoria’s season, a decision they never recovered from.

The pair met again in early May at the Marassi, with Samp securing a 1-0 win that kept their faint hopes of survival alive, at least for another week.

Yet if Salernitana had their way, theses post-season games would not be played at all. 

The club put in a request to the TFN, National Federal Tribunal, to annul the play-out on the grounds the original fixture with Frosinone was postponed without setting a new date and not indicating who the teams would be for the revised clash.

Samp, for their part, are attempting to fill the Stadio Luigi Ferraris to capacity in an effort to create an electric atmosphere. Some 22,000 tickets had been sold by Friday afternoon, with the aim of reaching 30,000 by kick-off. Season ticket holders can buy a ticket for just €1.

The home side will likely go with a 3-5-2, with Max Coda and Giuseppe Sibilli leading the line.

Fabio Borini and M’Baye Niang, who have been struggling with injuries over the past month, could feature from the bench should things not be going Samp’s way.

In goal, Alessio Cragno will continue, while in defence, we are likely to see Alessandro Riccio, Alex Ferrari and Davide Veroli.

The midfield will consist of Fabio Depaoli on the right, Nicholas Ioannou on the left, with a central trio of Ronaldo Vieira, Gerard Yepes and Leonardo Benedetti.

For Salernitana, coach Pasquale Marino will look to Simy and Alberto Cerri for goals, and is likely to retain most of the starting XI who secured a 2-0 win away to Cittadella on the final day of the regular campaign.

Roberto Soriano, with all his experience, could also be someone to keep an eye on in a set of games with so much at stake.

Either way, even when both games are played, the dust will not settle for weeks. Expect chaos, appeals and counter appeals. Serie B at its controversial best. 

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