Sampdoria avoided dropping into Italy’s third tier for the first time in their history after victory over Salernitana in the Serie B relegation play-off.
The game was abandoned in the 65th minute with Sampdoria leading 2-0 on the night and 4-0 on aggregate after crowd trouble at the Arechi Stadium.
The match was initially suspended as seats in the Salernitana section of the ground were ripped up and thrown onto the pitch, alongside flares, and the referee took both sets of players off the field and back into the changing rooms. After an attempt to resume the game was met with more seats being thrown onto the pitch, the match was abandoned, and Sampdoria’s Serie B status for the 2025-26 season was confirmed.
Sampdoria had finished 18th in Serie B, the league’s final relegation place, but were offered a lifeline at the end of May after Brescia were deducted four points following an investigation into financial irregularities at the club.
The first leg of the Serie B relegation play-off had initially been scheduled to take place on May 19 but was postponed amid the uncertainty surrounding Brescia, after Covisoc — Italian football’s supervisory body — informed the league of the investigation into the club five days after the conclusion of the regular season.
Crowd trouble marred Sunday’s relegation play-off (Photo by Ivan Romano/Getty Images)
Brescia’s eventual points deduction moved Sampdoria up to 17th and meant they contested the first leg of the relegation play-off against Salernitana on June 15, securing a 2-0 win thanks to a goal in either half from Melle Meulensteen and Marco Curto.
The second leg had been scheduled for Friday, June 20 but was pushed back to Sunday after a food poisoning outbreak in the Salernitana camp. Salernitana said 21 players and members of staff were impacted and submitted a formal request for the game to be postponed.
In Sunday’s rescheduled fixture, Massimo Coda gave Sampdoria a 1-0 lead on the night to extend their aggregate advantage in the 38th minute, before Giuseppe Sibilli added a second four minutes into the second half to ensure the visitors’ survival.
Sampdoria have never played outside Italian football’s top two divisions in their 79-year history.
The club enjoyed a period of success in the 1990s, reaching successive Cup Winners’ Cup finals in 1989 and 1990, the latter of which they won. They were crowned Italian champions in 1991 and were beaten by Barcelona in the European Cup final at Wembley the following year. They also won the Coppa Italia on four occasions between 1985 and 1994.
(Photo: Simone Arveda/Getty Images)
