Italian Serie B
Stadio Atleti Azzuri d’Italia, Bergamo
Admission: €10.00
Team Sheet: Free
Attendance: 1,366
Match Rating: 4
For some time I have wanted to take in some Italian football. Not so much for the entertainment potentially on offer – I have often found Italian football to be quite dull to watch, but more to enjoy the game in a country where the support is passionate and where the style of football appears to be vrey different. Mindful of how difficult and complicated it is to obtain tickets to watch a league match in Italy, I chose to attend a game where getting in in terms of capacity would not be a problem, and for that reason, a trip to Bergamo to watch AlbinoLeffe in Serie B fitted the bill. AlbinoLeffe are quite an interesting club, only formed in 1998 as a result of a merger of two teams from the fourth tier of Italian football, Albino and Leffe. Since being promoted into Serie B in 2003, they have become a real success story of a small club punching above its weight, and they came close to reaching Serie A a few years ago. For a small club having to play in Bergamo as their home stadium in Leffe is not adequate for Serie B, and who attract less than 2,000 fans to their games, their prolonged existence in Serie B is a fairly remarkable achievement.
Getting to Bergamo was certainly affordable and convenient, with a £10.00 return flight from Stansted, and the city of Bergamo just a 15 minute bus ride from the airport. I made my way straight to the Atleti Azzuri d’Italia stadium, which AlbinoLeffe share with Atalanta, located about a half hour walk north-east from the train station, to buy my ticket from a portakabin type ticket office opposite the stadium.
After enjoying a tour of the very scenic and historic city of Bergamo, I returned to the stadium, and showed my passport as well as my ticket (which was also necessary when purchasing the ticket) Whilst this seems a good way of ensuring that known hooligans do not enter the stadium, what was rather strange to me was that absolutely no physical checks were carried out on persons or bags. My ticket bought me a place on metallic benches below the main stand, views were surprisingly very good for the cheapest seats in the stadium, with a glass wall separating the fans from the pitch. The grandstand behind where I was is where most of the fans were located, on more comfortable plastic seats. On the opposite side is a similar covered stand, which was unused today, as were the vast open terrace curves behind both goals, save for the small contingent of visiting supporters confined to one small section of a curve. With a capacity of around 25,000 but with just 1,500 fans inside, the expansive stadium had a rather eerie feel to it. Team sheets were handed out free of charge inside the stadium.
The match today was between two teams struggling in Serie B this season. AlbinoLeffe were in 17th place in the 22 team Serie B, whereas Cittadella were second bottom. It didn’t take too long for the first stereotype of Italian football to be confirmed – barely ten seconds into the match and along came an outrageously theatrical dive after minimal if any contact. Confirmation of more positive stereotypes followed though, and what particularly stood out was the level of skill, patience and confidence on the ball compared to what we are used to in England. On 7 minutes, AlbinoLeffe took the lead with a superbly taken goal, struck powerfully by Matteo Momente on the half-volley from a fairly tight angle 12 yards out which flew past the keeper. Within three minutes, Cittadella were back on level terms when a free kick from 25 yards out was struck low by Daniele Dalla Bonna through a crowd of players which seemed to deceive the keeper. AlbinoLeffe looked the stronger side until what turned out to be the game changing moment on 38 minutes, when a Cittadella striker spun past Cristian Zenoni, who fouled him by the penalty spot. With as clear a goalscoring opportunity as you would ever see, the red card rightly came out and Federico Pivoaccari smashed the ball above the keeper’s dive to give the visitors the lead, which they held on to until half time. The game still looked in the balance, until AlbinoLeffe were reduced to nine men for what seemed a very soft second yellow card for an apparent tangling of legs by Dario Bergamelli, who it is fair to say didn’t take the decision well, as he threw his football boots to the ground and kicked hoardings as he slowly and indirectly made his way to the dressing room. This really killed the game as a contest, as Cittadella boringly but sensibly played keep-ball. Still AlbinoLeffe managed to carve open the occasional chance, but the game really was all over on 85 minutes when AlbinoLeffe were reduced to 8 men, when substitute Karamoko Cisse was rightly sent off for wild scissor kick lunge. Gennaro Volpe finally put the game beyond any doubt on 89 minutes, hitting home firmly from about 16 yards to the right of the goal.
So, an eventful game to say the least which was entertaining for the first hour but was spoilt as a contest by the red cards. A trip to the Stadio Atleti Azzurri d’Italia can be recommended for a visit to a typical Italian stadium, although maybe taking in a game of Atalanta, also currently of Serie B, may be a better choice with their vastly increased support (averaging around 16,000, comfortably the highest in Serie B) who are well known for their passionate support, compared to AlbinoLeffe.
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