After a new defeat against Udinese (2-0) on Monday during the 34th day of Serie A, Sampdoria de Genoa was relegated to the second division, the logical conclusion of a disastrous season sportingly and economically. Goals from Roberto Pereyra (9th) then Adam Masina (34th) were enough to accomplish what club supporters had been dreading for months: with 17 points, the “Samp” can no longer hope to stay in the top flight, four days before the end of the season.
The Ligurian club could even be demoted lower as they are in financial difficulty. After salary delays, its leaders notably had to negotiate an agreement with the players to avoid a sporting sanction. The club’s current owner, Massimo Ferrero, who had to resign from the presidency in December 2021 after being arrested in connection with a fraudulent bankruptcy case, would be ready to disengage completely by selling the club, according to several media.
Another proof of the deleterious climate surrounding the Genoese club this season, a package containing a pig’s head was found in front of its headquarters in February, accompanied by a threatening message aimed at Ferrero and vice-president Antonio Romei, according to the agency. Ansa and La Repubblica. To make matters worse, this relegation comes two days after Sampdoria’s rival, Genoa, another historic club in the port city, validated its ticket to go the opposite way next season.
Club born from the merger between Ginnastica Comunale Sampierdarenese and Ginnastica Andrea Doria in 1946, Sampdoria wrote the most beautiful pages of its history in the years 1980-90. In those two decades, the northwestern Italian club won its only scudetto (1991), four Italian Cups (1985, 1988, 1989 and 1994), a European Cup Winners’ Cup ( 1990, competition now defunct) and even reached the final of the Champions Clubs’ Cup in 1992.
Led by their captain and No.10 Roberto Mancini and by their striker Gianluca Vialli, who died in January, the ‘Samp’ players were beaten that year by FC Barcelona’s Ronald Koeman, the only free kick scorer, at Wembley in added time (1-0).