Following Frosinone securing promotion and becoming the first Serie B side to book their place in Serie A for the 2023/23 season, Genoa joined the Canarini and sealed an immediate return to the Italian top flight on Matchday 36 with a 2-1 win over Ascoli.
The weekend was one of mixed emotions for the city of Genoa, with the Grifone’s promotion being sealed on the same weekend that Sampdoria were relegated from Serie A. Having had to endure seeing Blucerchiati fans celebrate their demise a year earlier, Rossoblu fans will no doubt be taking great satisfaction from the two heading in opposite directions this summer.
The combination of league changes does, though, mean that Italian football fans will go another season at least without one of Serie A’s most hotly-contested derbies, the Derby della Lanterna.
Spezia could follow Sampdoria into Serie B
Fellow Ligurian side Spezia, similarly to Samp, fell to defeat on Matchday 34 of Serie A away at 19th-placed Cremonese, seeing the Aquilotti drop into the relegation zone.
Having had three Ligurian sides in Serie A in 2021/22, then, there may well be just one left standing in 2023/24. Spezia sit on 27 points, three points off 18th-placed Hellas Verona and with four matchdays left to play.
Genoa and the Portanova case
The season hasn’t come without problems for Genoa though. Midfielder Manolo Portanova was sentenced to six years in prison following accusations of gang rape, and the Grifone’s failure to publicly address the matter drew criticism. Even being named in a matchday squad after the sentencing, Portanova soon disappeared from squad lists and didn’t appear at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris for the game in question.
The details of the Portanova case, the verdict of which the player has opted to appeal, are here.
