The Monday Match – The New South Tyrolean Daily Newspaper

Photo: Bordoni

FC Südtirol welcomes the Palermo team to the Drususstadion on Monday evening. Kick-off is at 7:30 p.m.

FC Südtirol is facing a matchday of a special character. In a deviation from the usual weekend rhythm, the White Reds are not called upon on Saturday or Sunday, but on Monday, September 30th. As part of the 7th matchday of Serie B, Captain Tait & Co. will host the traditional club Palermo at their home Drusus Stadium. The kick-off in Bolzano’s Triester-Straße takes place at 7.30 p.m.

THE INITIAL SITUATION OF FC SÜDTIROL

After the great away win against Reggiana, the White Reds were narrowly defeated 1-0 against Sampdoria last weekend. FC Südtirol also put in a convincing performance at the prestigious Luigi Ferraris Stadium, which – as coach Valente emphasized in the subsequent press conference – deserved at least one point. The motivation of Jasmin Kurtic & Co. is now even greater to take something countable with them in the new duel with Palermo. After the first six games of the season there are three wins and three defeats, which currently puts FC Südtirol in sixth place in the table – level on points with Brescia.

Regarding the personnel situation, Coach Valente will have to do without the injured Alessandro Mallamo, Andrea Masiello, Andrea Cagnano and Simone Davi in the game against Palermo.

Photo: Bordoni

THE OPPONENT PALERMO

The traditional club from Sicily is just behind FC Südtirol in the table with eight points. Palermo started the championship with two defeats, against Brescia and Pisa, but is now unbeaten in four games. For coach Alessio Dionisi’s team there were recent wins against Cremonese and Juve Stabia and two draws against Cosenza and last weekend against Cesena. As part of the round of 16 of the Italian Cup, Palermo visited Napoli on Thursday, with the encounter ending with a 5-0 win for the “Azzurri”.

Coach Dionisi will have to do without injured goalkeeper Alfred Gomis against FC Südtirol, whose absence at the start of the season was compensated for by the return of Salvatore Sirigu. Defender Alexis Blin is also missing. The use of Ionut Nedelcearu is questionable as he had to sit out the cup game in Naples due to muscle problems.

THIS IS WHAT COACH VALENTE SAYS

“This time we had a little more time than usual to prepare for the party. Over the course of the week we analyzed Genoa’s game thoroughly, but at the same time tried to rehearse the next match as best we could. Palermo is a very well-positioned team in all areas, with enormous individual quality and a broad squad. A real challenge awaits us: we have to defend together and try to create interesting offensive moves together. On paper, Palermo is one of the strongest teams in the entire league and shows on the pitch that they have a clear game idea. For our part, it will be crucial to ensure that we stay on top of our game and bring all available forces onto the field.”

THE REFEREE TEAM

The match between FC Südtirol and Palermo will be led by Mr. Simone Galipò from the Florence section. At his side are the assistants Matteo Passeri (Gubbio) and Lorenzo Giuggioli (Grosseto) as well as the 4th. Official Giorgio Di Cicco (Lanciano). The parties’ video referees are Antonio Di Martino (VAR; Giulianova) and Daniele Paterna (AVAR; Teramo).