Genoa – Dreaming of the “Final Four”. On Sunday at 3 pm, coach Gennaro Ruotolo’s Genoa U18 will host Empoli in Begato in the last round of the championship. Objective: win to hope to access the finals as seconds championship that will be played from 11 to 13 June. At the moment the ranking sees Roma first at 55 points and already qualified, Bologna second at 45, Grifone and Sassuolo third at 44. The Bolognese, however, have one more game and will rest in the last round. The fight, therefore, will be above all between Genoa and Sassuolo.
However, it will not be enough for Ruotolo’s boys to win against Empoli: if Sassuolo were to beat Napoli, at that point they would finish second due to direct matches. In case, however, of draw between Sassuolo and Napoli and simultaneous Rossoblù victory, Genoa would go to the “Final Four”. In reality, there is also the possibility of more teams arriving on 45 points: Bologna, Genoa, Sassuolo and also Fiorentina and Lecce, both on 42. In that case, the separate classification would come into play, but Genoa would have little chance of do it.
In short, everything passes from the double challenge Genoa-Empoli and Sassuolo-Naples. The Neapolitan team is penultimate in the standings, but beat Lazio 4-0 in the last round. The hope of retrain after two years at the “Final Four” there is and it would really be a great result: in 2021 Ruotolo’s Under 18s became champions of Italy by beating Inter in the semifinal and Roma in the final. Of course, repeating that feat will be very difficult, but the Genoa Under 18 team is used to surprising: «For the sacrifices this team has made, they deserve qualification. Unfortunately in the last two, three races there have been some unfavorable episodes which have prevented us from having that little extra point which we now need. For sure we have to beat Empoli, then we’ll see what happens between Sassuolo and Napoli. At a youth level you can’t count”, underlines Michele Sbravati. The two matches will be played at the same time and it is probable that many rossoblù fans will go to Begato on Sunday afternoon to encourage the Under 18 team, the only youth team still in the running
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