From the man behind the football king to the football king

After the 35th round of Serie B, the results were mostly normal, but the situation in Serie B was in chaos.

The originally clear-cut championship situation returned to suspense because Sassuolo suffered a defeat.

At the top of the standings, Sassuolo still ranks first with 22 wins, 7 draws and 6 losses, with 73 points.

However, their lead was only 4 points left. Novara, which won, also improved its record to 22 wins, 7 draws and 6 losses, but only scored 69 points due to point deductions.

If the points deduction factor is excluded, Sassuolo has actually been overtaken by Novara. Because Sassuolo's goal difference is only 34, while Novara's goal difference reaches 43.

Although Sassuolo still maintains a 4-point advantage, considering Novara's current explosive state, it is still unknown how long Sassuolo can maintain its advantage.

Moreover, Verona and Livorno behind the two teams are also aggressive.

After defeating Trana 2:1, Verona's points also rose to 67 points, 6 points behind Sassuolo at the top.

Similarly, Livorno also reached 67 points after defeating Ascoli 3:0.

With seven rounds left in the league, both Verona and Livorno have rejoined the title race.

In this way, Novara successfully blocked Sassuolo, almost knocking off Sassuolo who had already won the league title. This also made the subsequent Serie B league a lot more exciting.

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The championship battle has become suspenseful again, and the competition for qualification for the promotion play-offs is even more dazzling.

Empoli, who is fifth in the league, currently has 57 points, Vares, who is sixth in the league, currently has 52 points, and then there is the huge 40+ legion, from Brescia, which is seventh in the league with 49 points, to Brescia, which is seventh in the league with 40 points. In the 19th place, Ascoli, there are thirteen teams crowded in this area.

With seven rounds left in the league, these fifteen teams are all likely to end up in the top six.

In a mid-range team that is extremely unstable, if they can perform well and win a few games in a row, their ranking will rise. But if you suddenly fall into a slump and lose several games in a row, you will fall directly into the abyss.

For example, Ascoli, currently ranked 19th in the league, was still ranked among the top ten in the league ten rounds ago, and was only one step away from the promotion play-offs.

Who would have thought that after a few rounds of games, they would drop to 19th in the league?

Of course, even if they are ranked 19th in the league, Ascoli does not seem to be at much risk of relegation.

This is because the three teams in the relegation zone are very stable. Vicenza, which is 20th in the league, currently only has 32 points, which is 8 points less than Ascoli in front of them.

Given Vicenza's poor performance this season, it is simply impossible to make a comeback in the next seven league rounds.

Not to mention Vercelli, who currently only scored 28 points, ranking second from last, and Grosseto, who only scored 23 points, ranking first from last.

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Although many people had foreseen that Sassuolo might lose to Novara before the game. After all, Novara, which had won seventeen consecutive victories, was too morale, but no one expected that Sassuolo would lose so cleanly, or even be able to do so. It's a bit miserable.

After all, five months ago, they defeated Novara very strongly at home.

If someone who dropped his book bag saw this scene, he would definitely exclaim with great interest: Success or failure has changed, and the achievements have been reversed!

No, in the big country in the East, some fans have already sang after watching this game: It's not that I don't understand, it's that the world is changing too fast!

But in any case, it is a fact that Sassuolo lost to Novara.

The scene where many people expected Sassuolo to block Novara did not appear. Instead, Novara defeated the opponent forcefully and blocked Sassuolo's bid to win the championship.

With the strength of Sassuolo, they have not been able to stop Novara from moving forward. Who can defeat Novara and stop their winning streak?

Is it Vicenza, which is deep in the relegation zone? Or is it Livorno who retains a glimmer of hope of winning the championship? Or is Modena committed to competing for a place in the promotion play-offs? Or someone else?

With Novara's current unstoppable momentum, it may be difficult.

Is it really like what "Gazzetta dello Sport" said, that we have to wait until the people of Novara have won enough before they stop progressing?

But the people of Novara quickly gave their own answer: the hatred has not been eliminated, and Novara has not won enough!

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April 13, Serie B round 36.

Novara faced relegation team Vicenza at the Piola Stadium.

I don’t know if it’s because the victory over Sassuolo made the Novara players excited. Facing a weak team like Vicenza, they were a little uninterested, or something else. In the first half of this game, Novara seemed Somewhat listless. On the contrary, Vicenza, who played away from home, played more proactively in the game.

In the 27th minute of the first half, Vicenza took a frontcourt free kick and scored with a header from Matteo Gentili, a tall center back on loan from Atlanta.

This lost goal woke up Novara, who immediately launched a counterattack, and in the 41st minute of the game, Bruno assisted midfielder Flavio Lazzari to score and equalize the score.

At halftime, Texel severely criticized the team's performance in the first half of the first half and asked the players to correct their attitude in the second half and take the game seriously. If anyone continues to be careless, he will replace him.

Bruno also encouraged his teammates to be serious. Vicenza is not an easy opponent to deal with. The two teams have met three times in history, but Novara has lost two games, including a 1:2 loss on the road in the first half of this season. That defeat gave Novara four straight games. defeat.

Bruno said that he did not want the team to overturn in the gutter after winning against Sassuolo and lose to Vicenza instead.

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After the second half of the game started, some Novara fans in the stands showed the score of Novara's 1:2 away defeat to Vicenza in the 15th round of the league, shouting for revenge.

What happened in the locker room at midfield, and seeing the actions of the fans, made the Novara players hold their breath in their hearts and launched a fierce offensive towards Vicenza's goal.

Facing the onslaught of Novara, even teams like Sassuolo, Verona and Livorno couldn't stop it, let alone Vicenza, which has been in the relegation zone for a long time this season.

In the 55th minute of the game, Bruno sent a through ball. Gonzalez in the penalty area was about to take a shot, but he was pushed to the ground by a Vicenza defender. The referee awarded Novara a penalty kick.

Since captain Rubino and vice-captain Rudy did not play in this game, Buzigori, who wore the captain's armband, was the first penalty kicker. He easily sent the football into Vicenza's goal.

2:1, Novara took the lead.

In the 70th minute of the game, Novara made another appearance. Argentine forward Pablo Gonzalez once again received Bruno's precise through ball and broke Vicenza's goal from close range.

3:1, Novara secured the victory!

After the game, Novara fans gathered in the stands for a long time and refused to leave, shouting in unison:

"Novara hasn't won enough yet!"

"Novara! Forward!"

"champion!"

News came from the Mapei Tricolore Stadium that Sassuolo was tied 1:1 by Brescia at home!

Sassuolo has 74 points and Novara has 72 points. The championship does not look impossible!

In addition, Livorno also caught up, with their victory reaching 70 points. However, after Verona's draw, there were some signs of early elimination.

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On the evening of April 17, Novara visited the Aldo Spinelli Stadium to challenge the title rival Livorno.

This is the last game of the 37th round of the league and the focus of this round.

One day ago, Sassuolo defeated Reggina 2-0 in an away game, temporarily widening the point difference. Therefore, both Novara and Livorno are determined to win this game, because once they lose, it is equivalent to saying goodbye to the league championship in advance.

Swiss forward Haris Seferovic became the hero of the game. He scored a hat-trick to help Novara win 3:1 away from home. Bruno sent 1 assist in the game, raising the total number of assists this season to 27.

After this round of games, the points situation of the top four in Serie B is as follows:

Sassuolo has 23 wins, 8 draws and 6 losses, ranking first with 77 points;

Novara has 24 wins, 7 draws and 6 losses, followed by 75 points;

Livorno has 20 wins, 10 draws and 7 losses, ranking third with 70 points;

Verona has 19 wins, 12 draws and 6 losses, ranking fourth with 69 points.

With only 5 rounds left in the league, Livorno and Verona are basically out of the championship competition.