Contrary to what is happening in the Serie A this season, where the title race has taken the shape of a two-horse title race between Milan and Juventus, in the Serie B there are, at least, five teams harbouring aspirations of making a top-two finish that would guarantee automatic promotion.
Torino are currently leading the standings with 56 points from 28 games. The once-mighty Maroons are one point clear of nearest pursuers Sassuolo and two ahead of Verona, another former scudetto winners.
Zdenek Zeman’s Pescara – the surprise package of the season along with Verona – are four points behind the leaders but with a game in hand.
Before the season got underway, many were backing Padova to win the Serie B championship.
However, they are currently lagging in fifth place but could still have their say especially if they win their game in hand away at Modena on March 6.
Gianpiero Ventura’s Torino were off to a blistering start this season only to experience a dip in form and results in the December-January period.
This is typical of teams men-tored by Ventura, a shrewd coach with a vast repertoire in Serie B having led Lecce and Cagliari to promotion in 1997 and 1998 respectively.
On Sunday, Torino could have extended their lead at the top of the standings but were pegged back by Brescia.
In a game that could have gone either way, Torino confirmed their troubles in attack as they could not find a way back after letting in a Matteo Darmian own goal soon after the restart.
Torino possess the worst scoring record from the sides vying for promotion. In fact, they have scored a staggering 22 goals less than fourth-placed Pescara who have a prolific striker in young Ciro Immobile, this season on loan from co-parent clubs, Genoa and Juventus.
Italy U-21 goal-getter Immobile has scored 18 goals so far. Torino’s main striker Rolando Bianchi has only managed five and the last time he was on the mark was way back in October.
The Calori effect
Brescia have been firing on all cylinders ever since ex-Udinese defender Alessandro Calori took over from Beppe Scienza on December 12.
Brescia not only remained undefeated under Calori but still have to concede a goal with him around.
Now, thanks to Sunday’s win, Brescia have climbed to seventh, three points outside the play-offs zone.
A side that needs a similar positive run to that of Brescia is Samp-doria, who have fallen off the pace and are currently ninth, level on points with modest duo Cittadella and Grosseto.
Last season, Sampdoria played Champions League football but since then, the team has fallen into oblivion.
The change of coach in mid-November – Beppe Iachini instead of Gianluca Atzori – has left no positive effect on the players as Samp continue to misfire badly.
With 14 games to go, the campaign is now in its crucial phase and things can change so rapidly in this championship.
To start with, a series of direct encounters still have to be played so at this stage you cannot discard any of the contenders.
Serie A statistics
0 points collected by Inter in their last four outings (vs Roma 0-4, Novara 0-1, Bologna 0-3 and Napoli 0-1) as on Sunday they were edged by the in-form Napoli away. The southerners are unbeaten in their last five outings (three straight wins and two draws) as Inter have only managed one point (a 4-4 home draw with Palermo) from the last available 18.
1st positive result for Genoa after three straight defeats (vs Chievo 0-1, Catania 0-4 and Atalanta 0-1) as Rodrigo Palacio struck twice and salvaged a home draw against Parma. Had the latter conserved their lead, it would have been their first success at the Luigi Ferraris Stadium since January 1994 (4-0).
4th home draw for leaders Milan after surrendering an early lead to share the spoils with Juventus at the San Siro for the first time in almost three years. For Juventus – the only side still unbeaten this season – this was their 11th draw of the term. They remain one point behind the Rossoneri but with a game in hand (away vs Bologna on March 7).
15 out of 24 points collected by Lecce this season came away from their Via del Mare stadium. On Sunday, Serse Cosmi’s side beat Cagliari 2-1 to hand them their first upset after a four-match positive run.
30 goals were scored on the 25th day with foreign players contributing with half of that tally. Total number of goals scored so far is 622. German Denis grabbed a hat-trick that helped Atalanta overcome Roma 4-1. He is currently three goals short of leading marksman Antonio Di Natale (Udinese), who has hit the back of the net 18 times this season.