Sampdoria continue their rapid descent towards Serie A Femminile relegation with AC Milan defeat

The drama in Serie A Femminile has not been lacking this season with many teams moving up and down the table regularly. One team that has only been heading in one direction since the early weeks is Sampdoria.

Having had a fairly successful first season after acquiring the place of Florentia San Gimignano in 2021, Sampdoria must have hoped that they could take the next step towards challenging for the UEFA Women’s Champions League (UWCL) places.

There were early signs in 2022/23 that they could do just that, but now, their attention is firmly focused on the other end of the table.

Sampdoria’s race to the bottom after good start

No one really expected Sampdoria to be right towards the top of the Serie A Femminile table in 2022/23 but they were considered as an outside bet to finish above the likes of Inter, AC Milan and Fiorentina. They certainly started the season like that, winning their first three games.

The important context to those three victories is that they were against Sassuolo on the opening day, a side that took nine games to get their first win of the season, Pomigliano, and Como, two sides tipped for the drop as the season began.

Nonetheless, they could only beat what was in front of them and Sampdoria were flying. Since then, they have not won a single league game. Four defeats in a row followed, albeit against top sides, but it quickly removed any hopes that Samp may spring a surprise. A draw against rock-bottom Parma has been their league highlight since. Ten defeats in 14 games, and now they sit four points off the bottom and devoid of any confidence.

With Stefania Tarenzi and Kelly Gago misfiring after a promising start, it is not clear where the goals will come from. There seems to be little intervention from the club to stop the drift towards relegation.

The latest defeat came against AC Milan, who have not had a good season themselves but have now won three on the bounce. Albeit those wins have come against Samp, Parma and Sassuolo. It seems to be too little too late for Maurizio Ganz though as they are only competing to finish third. They won’t be overthrowing Juventus or Roma for a Women’s Champions League place.

AS Roma and Juventus win whilst Inter drop points

Whilst they may not have been comfortable wins, Roma and Juventus each put three more points on the board to cement the fact that they will be Italy’s representatives in the Women’s Champions League next season.

Roma were away at Parma and managed to win 3-2 with a fortuitous penalty late in the game. For Juve, they fell behind away at Pomigliano but managed to score twice and secure a narrow win.

Surprisingly, Inter suffered a slight setback as they could only manage a 1-1 draw with Como, whilst Sassuolo lost at home to a combative Fiorentina side.

Serie A Femminile Matchday 14 results

Serie A Femminile table after Matchday 14