Palermo met their next opponent in the playoffs: it will be Virtus Entella coached by Gennaro Volpe. With a second draw carried out a few minutes later, the League has also formalized the entire scoreboard with the pairings from here to the final act of the final. If the rosanero were to pass the turn they would face one between Feralpisalò and Reggiana in the semifinal.
But let’s go in order. This is the complete draw of the second round of the national playoffs: Virtus-Francavilla-Palermo, Monopoli-Catanzaro, Padova-Juventus Under 23, Feralpisalò-Reggiana. As you can see, the runners-up in their own groups will also come into play: Padua (Group A), Reggiana (Group B) and Catanzaro (Group C). These three, together with Palermo, will have the advantage of playing the return home and accessing the next round with two out of three results at the end of the double challenge.
But the pairings continued until the final. The second draw was carried out without constraints linked to top-seeded teams: the simple (random) draw order defined the possible semi-finals and the home-away sequence of the matches. What came out of it?
The winner of Monopoli-Catanzaro will challenge the one between Padua and Juventus Under 23. Whoever wins between Feralpisalò and Reggiana, will instead go to meet the winner of Virtus Entella-Palermo. The “fate” has also decided that the two teams that will prevail in their respective matches, Padova-Juventus Under 23 and Virtus Entella-Palermo, will play the second leg of the semifinals and the final at home.
The matches of the second national round will begin on Tuesday 17 May with the first leg matches, while on Saturday 21 May the returns are expected. The semifinals will instead be played on May 25 (first leg) and May 29 (return). Meanwhile, the times of the double confrontation between Virtus Entella and Palermo have also been issued: they will be played at the Chiavari Municipal at 20:30 (Tuesday) while the return to Renzo Barbera will be at 18 (Saturday).
Semifinals with the Var and without seeds
From the semifinals the big news consists in the introduction of the Var, but that’s not all. The “seeded” criterion will no longer be considered. In the event of a tie, in fact, whoever boasts the best position in the standings at the end of the regular season will not qualify, but extra time will be played and then possibly penalties. There is no away goal rule. Let’s take a practical example: If in a possible semi-final the double confrontation (between home and away) were to end at 3-3, it would go to extra time. The teams will play, in this way, absolutely equal without ranking restrictions. In conclusion, the opponent of Palermo in a possible semifinal will come out of the match between Feralpisalò and Reggiana, with the team coached by Aimo Diana (ex rosanero) absolute favorite in the quarter-finals by virtue of the best placement in the standings. Exactly what applies to Baldini’s boys on the other side of the scoreboard against the Genoese club.
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