Just two years after their miraculous return, relegated Parma bid farewell to the top flight on Saturday, as they visit Sampdoria at Stadio Luigi Ferraris.
The Serie B-bound Crociati must win to stand a chance of avoiding last place, while their hosts will want victory as a potential leaving present for coach Claudio Ranieri, who is expected to depart Marassi at the end of the season.
Match preview
© Reuters
Sampdoria continued their positive end to the season last weekend, as veteran striker Fabio Quagliarella scored the Blucerchiati's second-half winner from the spot, against an Udinese side that still posed a threat to their top-half place in the standings.
As ever, Samp coach Claudio Ranieri was effusive in his praise of the venerated former Italy international, lauding 38-year-old Quagliarella as "a special boy" for his undying enthusiasm and inspiring captaincy of the team. In fact, all being well, Saturday should mark his 500th Serie A appearance; following in the footsteps of fellow forwards Francesco Totti (with 619), Roberto Mancini (541), Silvio Piola (537) and Alberto Gilardino (514).
While their 12-goal top scorer is expected to stay on in pursuit of reaching 100 goals for the Ligurian outfit next term, Ranieri will meet the Sampdoria board after Saturday's final fixture to decide his imminent future.
Reports in the Italian sports media suggest that club president Massimo Ferrero is in the process of offering Red Star Belgrade coach Dejan Stankovic terms as the former Leicester City manager's replacement, so his players will undoubtedly seek to give him a fitting send-off should that be the case.
Having already secured the club's fourth top-half finish in the last five seasons, Samp now require one final win to achieve Ranieri's often-stated aim of accumulating 52 points for the season - and will be confident of doing so against crestfallen opponents this Saturday.
© Reuters
Parma's abject form shows no sign of abating before they leave the top flight, with their latest reverse coming in an Emilian derby with in-form neighbours Sassuolo last weekend.
Their 3-1 defeat was the Gialloblu's eighth successive league loss, as they have slumped to the bottom of the pile - two points behind a Crotone side who have conceded nearly 100 goals this term.
An uncharacteristically meek relinquishing of their place among the elite - given a meteoric rise back from the depths of Serie D during recent years - has not been well-received by fans and club president Kyle Krause alike, with returning coach Roberto D'Aversa singularly unable to turn a listing ship around.
Undoubtedly, the primary cause symptom of their malaise has been in attack, as they are one of only two clubs to register fewer than 40 goals so far: Danish striker Andreas Cornelius has scored just once to date, soon-to-depart wing wizard Gervinho has generally been injured or off-form and several others have flattered to deceive.
Only the pride of averting a rock-bottom finish can motivate Parma going into the final 90 minutes of a forgettable season, then, as they travel to the iconic Stadio Luigi Ferraris for the last time for at least a year.
- W
- L
- W
- L
- D
- W
- L
- L
- L
- L
- L
- L
Team News
© Reuters
Claudio Ranieri may have to juggle his midfield resources for Saturday's final game of an inconsistent but entertaining campaign. While Adrien Silva is still injured, Morten Thorsby is now suspended, so Jakub Jankto could be moved into the centre and Mikkel Damsgaard therefore asked to operate on the left flank.
In attack, Gaston Ramirez is set to be absent through injury, so Keita Balde and Manolo Gabbiadini are the main candidates to partner Fabio Quagliarella up front.
Meanwhile, Alex Ferrari may get a rare start in defence, with Bartosz Bereszynski apparently being offered a rest ahead of Poland's upcoming Euro 2020 campaign.
As is customary in the Parma camp, absences will once more hamper the selection of coach Roberto D'Aversa, with injuries still stubbornly refusing to relinquish their grip on his squad.
Midfield regular Jasmin Kurtic has joined the recently injured Juraj Kucka on the sidelines this week, due to a suspension for accumulation of bookings, while Andrea Conti, Wylan Cyprien, Yann Karamoh, Dennis Man and Roberto Inglese are also among those still unavailable for the Crociati.
Gervinho, however, will be fit to mark his goodbye to the club he served so well last year, after returning from the bench against Sassuolo, and should join Andreas Cornelius - without a goal in the last nine rounds - in the visitors' much-depleted attack.
Sampdoria possible starting lineup:
Audero; Ferrari, Colley, Yoshida, Augello; Candreva, Jankto, Ekdal, Damsgaard; Keita, Gabbiadini
Parma possible starting lineup:
Sepe; Laurini, Dierckx, Alves, Valenti; Sohm, Brugman; Gervinho, Brunetta, Hernani; Cornelius
We say: Sampdoria 2-0 Parma
Parma could go out with a whimper this weekend, as recent appearances suggest all life and confidence has been sucked out of their ailing attack - with the back line not faring much better.
If this is goodbye to Claudio Ranieri for Sampdoria, their various offensive options mean they can send their charismatic coach off with a positive performance and all three points at Marassi.
Top tip
Jonathan O'Shea
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Sampdoria win with a probability of 46.13%. A win for Parma had a probability of 30.38% and a draw had a probability of 23.5%.
The most likely scoreline for a Sampdoria win was 2-1 with a probability of 9.25%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (7.86%) and 2-0 (6.79%). The likeliest Parma win was 1-2 (7.3%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (10.71%). The actual scoreline of 3-0 was predicted with a 3.9% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Sampdoria would win this match.
