Relegation Dogfight: Parma-Siena preview

By: Francesco | November 2nd, 2007

On Sunday Tuscan minnows Siena come to the Ennio Tardini to take on the Gialloblu’. Ever since Siena has been in Serie A (which really isn’t a long time), they have never beaten Parma at the Tardini. Let’s hope Sunday will be no different and Parma will come away with a valuable 3 points. Parma are still on a high after the 1-1 draw in Sicily vs. Palermo, while Siena drew at home vs. Catania. Parma are currently on 10 points, and Siena are on 8. A win for Parma would put them safely midtable.

More on the game after the jump.

This game should be an emotional one for striker Bernardo Corradi. He was born in Siena, and this summer was very close to making the move to the Tuscan side (why anyone would want to go to Siena and get relegated is beyond me).

In other news, Reginaldo is back from suspension and will most likely take back his starting spot (unless, like in Palermo, Di Carlo has more surprises up his sleeve), while Francesco Parravicini is back but will most likely start from the bench due to the excellent play of Parma’s midfield last game.

Fernando Couto still sits out because of his spitting incident, so Marco Rossi will again get a start. He formed a good partnership with Massimo Paci last game. Luca Bucci should be back in goal, but with Di Carlo we never know, seeing as Pavarini started the last game unexpectedly.

Siena’s coach Andrea Mandorlini is under pressure and got the “vote of confidence” from the Siena owner (or owners, they are owned by the famous Montepaschi bank now…). If Siena don’t do well here he may be gone come Monday. They have some decent players like Tomas Locatelli, Paolo De Ceglie, Valerio Bertotto, and Daniele Galloppa, but I don’t see them avoiding the drop this season.

Here are the probable XI’s

Parma: Bucci; Coly, Paci, Rossi, Castellini; Dessena, Morrone, Cigarini, Pisanu; Reginaldo, Corradi

Siena: Eleftheropoulos; Rossettini, Loria, Portanova, Grimi; Jarolim, Codrea, Galloppa; Maccarone, Bucchi, De Ceglie

Last season Parma-Siena ended 1-0 thanks to a goal from Andrea Gasbarroni.

Since we’re talking about Corradi, here’s him singing some lines of Adriano Celentano’s famous hit “Azzurro” with the Italian National Team prior to Euro 2004: