After 11 seasons in Serie A, the star of relegation fell to Sampdoria Series A

The specter of relegation has been circulating in Genoa for a while and now the curtain has finally fallen. With 17 points from 34 matches, Sampdoria can no longer avoid a place in the bottom three.

Spezia (18th with 27 points) and Cremonese (19th with 24 points), Cyriel Dessers’ team, can still train four days before the matches.

The fact that his Genoa compatriot is making the reverse move to Serie A makes it all the more painful for Sampdoria. It fell for the first time since 2012. The club became champions once, in 1991. A year earlier, it won the European Cup Winners’ Cup, defeating Anderlecht in the final.

Sampdoria’s headache does not end with relegation, because there are also financial difficulties. The players were not paid on time and the club’s board of directors had to strike a deal with the players to avoid a sporting penalty.

The club’s current owner, Massimo Ferrero, did not step down as chairman at the end of 2021 following his arrest in connection with a fraudulent bankruptcy. He is said to be willing to sell the club.

In February, tempers ran high after a box with a pig’s head was left on the club’s premises. It contained a message threatening Ferrero and Vice President Antonio Rome.