Hellas Verona, from the abyss of Piacenza to relegation with Delneri
A love story of ups and downs, of passion and quarrels, of kisses at sunset and of slamming doors. The relationship between Hellas Verona and the Serie A championship has always been like this: a championship, many unforgettable moments, many difficult moments, many promotions, many saves and many relegations. A troubled story let’s say.
Something broke
May 5, 2002. Garilli Stadium of Piacenza. Something breaks. A strange season, which is almost sensational. The Gialloblù, coached by Alberto Malesani at the time, relegated points in Serie B with 39 points after a championship in the European zone until the twenty-second day, when the Scaligeri had scored 32 points. From this round of the championship onwards, with the salvation just a few meters away, a dizzying descent began that led Hellas Verona to realize only 7 points in 14 days and to relegate bitterly to cadetlosing on the last day the match point salvation in Piacenza for 3-0.
A descent that cost Verona seven seasons in Serie B and four in Lega Pro. A ravine and dove Hellas saw the bottom in the 2007-2008 vintage when in Busto Arsizio, against the Pro Patriathe equalizer of Zetulaev saved the Gialloblù from relegation to Serie C2. That of the Uzbek striker is perhaps the most important goal in Hellas Verona’s recent history.
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The return to Serie A
May 18, 2013. Certain loves make huge returns and poino sings Venditti. Hellas and Serie A meet again on a day in May 2013, when at the Bentegodi stadium the 0-0 draw against Empoli, in the last round of the championship, is worth the promotion to the top flight. The Gialloblù of Mandorlini and Serie A then made an appointment again at the end of the summer, when the ideas on their history were perhaps a little clearer than usual.
24 August 2013. Everything started again from that Hellas Verona – Milan. The Rossoneri, coached by Massimiliano Allegri and dragged forward by Mario Balotelli, arrived at the Bentegodi, the real special of that hot late summer day. 25,164 souls. A game that could make history. A game that made history.
The Verona of the reconfirmed Mandorlini for this return to Serie a he presented himself with a 4-3-3 composed by Rafael between the posts; four defense formed by Hunter, Maietta, Moras and Albertazzi; in the median Massimo Donatisupported by the two half wings Romolo and Jorgenho. Attack trident with Martinho to the left, Jankovic right and the new nine Luca Toni central striker, making his league debut in the yellow-blue jersey.
A match he saw initially Milan took the lead with Polionly to be reached a few minutes later from header by Luca Toni who uses a cross from a corner kick and beats Abbiati. In the second half Hellas writes history. Minute 53. Counterattack by the Gialloblù. Ball to Jankovic who controls the ball, looks in the area and with the drilla (editor’s note: cross or pass with the outside of the foot) brushes the ball on the head of Luca Toni that hits and sinks Abbiati for the second time and gives the victory to the yellow and blue.
The triumph against the Rossoneri was the appetizer of a fantastic season. The guys from Mandorlini closed the Serie A 2013-2014 at tenth place in the standings, thanks to 54 points, a number never seen before in Verona. This new record has not yet been reached or surpassed by anyone; the only one to touch it was Igor Tudor last season who with his players reached 53 points.
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A stability that did not last long
The salvation of the season in the previous one brought an incredible excitement to the city: during the summer they arrived Rafa Marquezcaptain of the Mexican national team and former Barcelona player for seven seasons, e Javier Saviola, also a former player of the Catalans from 2001 to 2004 and in the 2006-2007 season. A season he saw again Almond trees on the Scala bench; the manager from Ravenna has completed another fantastic season, even if he failed to improve his previous championship placement. In fact, it closed at thirteenth place with 46 points and obtained the second consecutive salvation. During the 2014-2015 Serie A Luca Toni won the classifiers with 22 goals on a par with Mauro Icardi of Inter. It seems the beginning of a period of continuity and stability in Serie A for Verona. But it was not so.
The third season in the top flight begins, always under the Mandorlini management. Racines’ retirement starts with the most optimistic expectations for another season as an outsider. One of the strongest Italian strikers of the new century arrives in the yellow-blue: Giampaolo Pazzini. A great friend of Toni since his time with Fiorentina, the Tuscan center forward will score six goals in his first season with the Verona shirt. The start of the 2015-2016 championship was complicated for Mandorlini, who had to deal immediately with many injuries, including that of Toni. Hellas collects only six points in the first fourteen days, and the company thus decides to take the coach from Romagna off the post, after five on the yellow-blue bench.
In its place it arrives Gigi Delneri, an old acquaintance of Verona football, who coached Chievo from 2000 to 2004 and then in the 2006-2007 season. The Friulian coach’s task was to shake up the environment and save a disheartened team that, at the bottom of the table, was coming apart from an unlucky first part of the championship. A January players of the caliber of Rebic, Emanuelson and Samir arrived to try and straighten the fortunes, but the efforts did not help to prevent the Gialloblù club from relegating to the cadeteriawho closed in last position at 28 points, and fell in the category together with Frosinone and Carpi.
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