Before the season got underway last summer, few had predicted that Catania would have made sure of retaining their status before springtime had yet to start.
Last weekend, Catania beat high-flyers Lazio 1-0 at home and with 10 games to go they are now joint seventh in the standings with Inter despite having parted with the free-scoring Maxi Lopez who joined Milan in January.
Catania, who made a return to the Serie A after 22 years in 2006, are not only getting positive results but they are also playing some of the most refreshing football in the Italian top flight.
The good results are not coming along by sheer coincidence though as Catania are bearing the fruit of years of planning and a shrewd transfer market strategy adopted by the club’s chiefs.
The appointment of young coach Vincenzo Montella was a smart move in itself as Catania scouts continue to unearth new talent, particularly from South America.
At present, they have nine Argentines on their books.
Montella did a great job in the latter part of last season when he replaced Claudio Ranieri at Roma. However, the team from the capital did not extend his contract, preferring Luis Enrique instead.
But Montella was an instant hit at Catania as the Sicilians have been playing well for most of the season with the side reaching a peak these last two months. At the moment, they are seven points adrift of third place and a slot in the Champions League.
Founded in 1908, Catania have spent much of their history in the doldrums of the lower divisions, gaining access to the Serie A only five times. To date, the club has achieved modest success with their highest ever position being eighth – twice in the early 1960s.
Catania managed 28 of their 41 points at their own backyard, beating heavyweights Inter, Napoli and Lazio in the process.
This season, only Chievo (1-2) and Cagliari (0-1) left the Angelo Massimino stadium with all three points.
Away from home, Catania have been somewhat less inspiring, collecting only two wins and seven draws in 14 outings.
Catania could indeed mount a serious challenge to a top-five finish and a place in the Europa League next season. But they have to step up their game away from home.
Their remaining trips are at Napoli, Chievo, Cagliari, Palermo and Roma.
Apart from their clash with Milan on March 31, Catania’s last four home games seem to be less daunting – vs Lecce, Atalanta, Bologna and Udinese.
But what is more important for Montella is that Catania are practically safe, having surpassed the 40-point benchmark considered as the tally required to avoid the drop.
The Catania club chiefs are already looking to convince Montella to stay another year as rumours have it that recently he was approached to coach Napoli next season if Walter Mazzarri decides to go.
In the recent past, Catania were the ones to launch the coaching careers of a )number of promising talents in Italy – Pasquale Marino, Walter Zenga, Sinisa Mihajlovic and Diego Simeone are in that list.
However, their priority should be to retain Montella. If not, Catania have to see that a new man in charge will have to work with the same bunch of players and continue to build on the solid foundations left by his predecessor.
Serie A statistics...
0 wins for Cesena in their last 10 outings (two draws and eight defeats) as last weekend they were comprehensively beaten by Cagliari at the Sant’Elia stadium. For the latter, this was their first success after one drawn match and three straight defeats.
1st defeat for Siena after three wins in a row as the Tuscany side were agonisingly floored by lowly Novara at their own backyard on Sunday. For Novara, this was their second successive win, following the 1-0 home victory over Udinese. Novara currently trail fourth-bottom Parma by eight points.
2nd win for Juve in their last eight outings as the Bianconeri trounced struggling Fiorentina 5-0 in Saturday’s late kick-off. This was Fiorentina’s second successive defeat following the 0-1 upset to Catania. Fiorentina have last beaten Juve at the Artemio Franchi stadium in December 1998 (1-0).
3rd win in a row (vs Palermo 4-0, Lecce 2-0 and Parma 2-0) for leaders Milan who preserved their four-point lead over Juve. Parma are without a win in their last six games (three draws and three defeats). Parma and Milan have last shared the spoils at the Tardini Stadium in February 2008 (0-0).
24 goals were scored on the 28th day: 10 coming from the hosts and the other 14 from the visitors. Foreigners contributed with 11 goals while there were 10 first-half goals. Total number of goals scored so far is 702. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Milan) is the leading scorer with 20 goals.