It is the most difficult day of the season, certainly the most complicated after the successes of 2025. It’s a shame that it is the opening day of 2026, which everyone expected could begin under other auspices. Instead, this Cantù-Tortona match, an unprecedented match in the history of the two clubs, has a lot of flavor to it. Not just a great challenge to experience and play for Cantù, but also a sort of dress rehearsal, before making decisions.
It’s no mystery: today’s match at 7pm at PalaFitLine could be a crossroads. Everyone in the team is involved in this moment of strong decisions, from the coach to the players. And we know, it’s never good to play with this type of sword of Damocles. Either legendary performances arise, or you end up being crushed by the weight of pressure and expectations.
In short, we wouldn’t want to be in the shoes of coach Nicola Brienza and his players, called to reverse course in a Serie A championship, never so long awaited and few times in history so difficult for the Brianza team. Unfortunately, at a certain point, affection and gratitude end their beneficial effect. And the numbers speak for themselves.
Those from Cantù talk about a team that has lost six consecutive games, which from time to time shows very clear signs of recovery, but which is unable to give the continuity necessary to make a definitive turn. One step forward and one (often two) back. Fans have been wondering why this happens since the beginning of the season.
The merciless numbers away from home – only defeats, often Cantù collected over 100 points – are fortunately contrasted by the slightly more lenient ones at home. It cannot be said that PalaFitLine is a fort, but those 6 points that still keep S.Bernardo afloat were obtained in home matches against Reggio Emilia, Cremona and Udine. Even in the defeats, in particular against the battleships Virtus Bologna and Milan, something good was seen, even more than something.
Now, against a mentally free team – Tortona is -4 from the top and has already arithmetically qualified for the Final Four of the Italian Cup – it might not be very easy to play. But, never like this time, all the wheels will need to turn without jamming. Without those blackouts that often sent Cantù to hell in single matches and which often made the difference between a match on equal terms and a defeat.
It’s easy to say who the most anticipated players are, but the spotlight is on those who haven’t yet convinced, like the playmaker Gilyard and the big man Ajayi, both generous but perhaps not at ease in the context of Serie A. And then there’s Brienza’s bench, clearly not very solid after the black streak that they want to try to remedy.
The opportunity to change the season and a future that, in case of defeat, seems almost already written is there. And it’s tonight’s one, because it will be difficult to go further if the seventh knockout in the series arrives.
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