Playoffs Serie C, the postseason comes into full swing with the entry of the three teams that finished second in their respective rounds: news, rules and predictions.
The denouement is still far away but the C Series playoffs are gradually coming into full swing. In this round, which is the second of the National Phase, the second-place finishers of the three rounds, namely Padova, Torres and Avellino, will also enter the scene, as they will face Vicenza, Benevento and Catania, respectively. In the event of a tie at the end of the 180 minutes, as in the previous round, there will be no extra time or penalties. The team that placed best in the standings will advance to the Final Four.
Between the most intriguing challenges is surely the one between Gaetano Auteri’s Benevento, fresh from two very balanced matches with Triestina, and Torres, who finished second in Group B behind the elusive Cesena. The Sanniti, after limping through the regular season are banking on experience for an immediate return to the cadetteria, while the Sardinians are dreaming of what would be their first promotion to Serie B. As is often the case in these cases, the fact that the guests played over 20 days ago is not necessarily an advantage, which is why the Giallorossi seem slightly favored in a match in which Torres is also likely to score a goal. A similar argument can be made for the electrifying Veneto derby between Vicenza and Padova, who come face to face after clashing in the regular season (the biancoscudati finished with 7 more points).
Stefano Vecchi’s men appeared very solid in the double-header with Taranto (0-1 and 0-0) but against the second force in Group B they will have to do something more from the offensive point of view. The season’s two previous matches do not help to decipher this derby, since they both ended in a draw (1-1). And it cannot be ruled out that the match at the “Menti” will close with a new nothing.
The predictions on the other matches
The other pairing to watch out for is that between Catania and Avellino. Two great places in southern Italy that after difficult years want to return as soon as possible to a category more in keeping with their blazon.
Catania enters the postseason thanks to winning the Coppa Italia Serie C but in the previous round they struggled to win over Atalanta Under-23. The Etnei after winning in the first leg lost with the same result (0-1) in the return, passing only by virtue of the best placement. Avellino, on the other hand, enters the game only now after ending the championship on a crescendo (and also taking advantage of the 4-point penalty imposed on Taranto). The Irpini, coached by Michele Pazienza, in any case have won both season clashes (0-2 and 5-2) and should be able to at least avoid defeat at the “Massimino” in a match that does not promise to be eventful.
We close with the challenge between Juventus Next Gen and Carrarese. The young Bianconeri did the feat in Caserta by overturning the defeat suffered in the first leg and seem capable of creating some problems even for coach Calabro’s giallazzurri, who nevertheless won both regular season matches by a narrow margin.
Playoff Serie C: possible winners
Benevento (in Benevento-Torres).
Avellino or draw (in Catania-Avellino)
Carrarese or draw (in Juventus NG-Carrarese)
The matches of at least one goal per team
Benevento-Torres
Vicenza-Padova
Serie C: matches by less than three goals overall
Juventus NG-Carrarese
Catania-Avellino
