With AS Roma Women crowned Serie A Femminile champions, all eyes turn to the Survival Pool

AS Roma's maiden Scudetto and Juventus' UWCL qualification means the Scudetto Pool in Serie A Femminile is complete, whilst Sassuolo have secured their safety. For the teams below them, it is all to play for.

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We are not far from the finishing line in the 2022/23 edition of Serie A Femminile and for six teams within the division, they know almost exactly how their season will end.

The two places in the Scudetto Pool that are worth fighting for, first and second, have now been claimed and it just leaves three teams battling to see who can finish third. At the top of the Survival Pool, one team has already secured their place in the division for next season, whilst the other four will be fighting right to the bitter end.

That is why all eyes are going to be on the bottom of the table for the rest of the season as Pomigliano, Sampdoria, Parma and Como all do their best to avoid dropping down to Serie B.

AS Roma Women’s Valentina Giacinti, Sophie Roman Haug and Claudia Cicotta celebrate their title win. (@ASRomaFemminile)

Clelland secures Sassuolo’s fate whilst remaining four scrap for survival

Sassuolo‘s form had picked up prior to the split at the end of the regular season and they have continued that in the Survival Pool, making it clear from the off that they are by far the best team of the five.

With three games left to play, they have now mathematically ensured that their terrible start to the season was not terminal and they will be in Serie A Femminile next season.

They took on a Sampdoria side that have been trying to have a rally of their own as they picked up five points in the previous three fixtures. They had their moments in Liguria on Matchday 6 of the playoff phase and Kelly Gago almost put them ahead with 15 minutes to play.

In the end, the quality of a resurgent Lana Clelland was too much for Sampdoria to handle. The Scottish striker won a penalty late on after her shot was handballed and after seeing her penalty saved, she quickly netted the rebound. Just minutes later, she picked up the ball on the halfway line and hit a superb shot over Amanda Tampieri to make it 2-0.

Having netted just three times in the 18 games of the regular season, Clelland’s return to form during the playoff phase has been the key to ensuring Sassuolo avoided a surprising relegation. She has scored four times in the last five games and can start planning for another year in Serie A.

As for the teams directly beneath the Neroverde, there is a lot of uncertainty. The only team that may not be terrified is Como as they hold a six-point lead over the relegation playoff spot and have played one game less than everyone else, having just been on a rest week.

With Sampdoria losing at home to Sassuolo, they really needed Parma and Pomigliano to draw, whilst both of those teams, particularly Parma, knew that a draw is of little use. The superb Ana Martinez gave Pomigliano the lead in Parma as the second half began, but Parma rallied dramatically late on.

Mia Corbin netted an equaliser with just over 10 minutes to play after a good move, before Michela Cambiaghi danced through two defenders in the box and fired Parma into a crucial lead with just a couple of minutes to play. Summing up Parma’s season, though, a loose ball across the box broke for Martinez who netted her second in stoppage time. That takes her to six for the season and the 2-2 draw means Pomigliano stay three points ahead of Parma and Sampdoria for the time being. Pomigliano and Sampdoria face off on the final day of the season.

History for AS Roma, UWCL again for Juventus

The writing has been on the wall for a few weeks now, but AS Roma Women have finally reached the promised land. Alessandro Spugna has guided his team to their first-ever Serie A Femminile title and they have dethroned Juventus with three games still to play.

They came into their game at the Stadio Tre Fontane knowing that a win over Fiorentina would seal the title, regardless of Juventus‘ exploits the next day against AC Milan. They wasted little time in getting the ball rolling with a defensive mix-up ending with Giada Greggi scoring into a largely empty net.

It soon became clear that the sold-out Tre Fontane wasn’t going to see a vintage Roma display as Milica Mijatovic was released after a Giallorosse corner and sent the ball soaring from distance over Camelia Ceasar as she was out of position. Roma still had almost the entire second half to find the one goal that they needed.

AS Roma Women celebrate their title win. (@ASRomaFemminile)

They didn’t need anywhere near that long though as in the 63rd minute, as Elisa Bartoli’s shot from inside the box found the far corner. The Tre Fontane erupted and Fiorentina were able to muster little response, seeing Kaja Erzen being sent off in the final ten minutes.

The scenes on the final whistle were emotional and heartfelt. Considering how unbeatable Juventus have looked for the past five seasons, it is an incredible achievement from Alessandro Spugna, every single player in the squad, and everyone on his backroom staff.

Having already learned that their title has been lost, Juventus focused on their own game and drew 3-3 dramatically with AC Milan, a result that made sure they will finish second and be in the Women’s Champions League next season.

Serie A Femminile Playoff Matchday 6 results

DateSerie A Femminile Results
Sat, Apr 29Sampdoria 0-2 Sassuolo
Sat, Apr 29AS Roma 2-1 Fiorentina
Sun, Apr 30Parma 2-2 Pomigliano
Sun, Apr 23AC Milan 3-3 Juventus
Inter and Como on rest week

Serie A Femminile table

PosClubMPPts
1AS Roma2363
2Juventus2350
3AC Milan2339
4Fiorentina2338
5Inter2235
6Sassuolo2329
7Como2221
8Pomigliano2318
9Parma2315
10Sampdoria2315
Scudetto pool; Survival pool

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