Three years later, the Bentegodi ghost still haunts Cittadella.

Three years ago, Cittadella went into Verona with a 2-0 lead, with 90 minutes away from an historic promotion. To this day, the loss still hurts many around the club.

The biggest game in Cittadella’s history took place on June 2nd, 2019 at the Stadio Marc Antonio Bentegodi against Hellas Verona. On a warm Verona evening, 3000 Cittadella supporters filled the away section, with many more watching on a big screen at Piazza Pierobon back at home.

Just three nights prior, a stunning performance by Roberto Venturato’s side put Cittadella on the brink of promotion. More than 7,000 people packed the Stadio Piercesare Tombolato where Davide Diaw’s brace sent fans into delirium. A 5 star performance from the team put them in touching distance of Serie A.

Then came the second leg. From the start of the referee’s whistle, it was the start of a catastrophic nightmare.

Cittadella were put under immense pressure from the get-go, with Verona pilling everything on the Cittadella defense. The breakthrough came 27 minutes in, where Mattia Zaccagni beat the offside trap. Thanks to Verona having the higher seed, one more goal would seal Cittadella’s faith.

Luca Parodi received his marching orders after a clumsy tackle. The pressure proved too much, and former Cittadella striker Samuel Di Carmine got the go-ahead goal with around 20 minutes to play. Cittadella’s Serie A dream was looking unlikely.

The final nail in the coffin came with seven minutes to go, as a miscommunication between Alberto Paleari and Domenico Frare let in current Cittadella midfielder Karim Laribi to an empty net. The Serie A dream was officially extinguished.

Images and videos of heartbroken players circled around the Granata internet. Images of longtime captain Manuel Iori crying in front of the 3,000 traveling supporters engraved into the fans’ minds. Just two hours ago the dream was looking certain, but in the end it was Verona who celebrated long into that June night.

“Obviously I still think about that game today.” explained Antonio Brunello, a lifelong Cittadella fan reliving the match. “Clearly the suffering and disappointment have passed after these years but such a thing is impossible to forget, because it was a keystone of our history, and who knows where we would be today had that game gone differently.

So where are we now? Three years on from the Verona defeat, and Serie A promotion is still in the minds of everyone involved with the club. Just last year came another golden opportunity for Cittadella to gain promotion, only to lose to Venezia in another hear trenching final loss.

The 2019 playoff run was something out of a movie. Nobody will ever forget that month, from the win against Spezia to 6/2/19. The 3,000 fans who were present in Verona was one of the biggest away supporting turnouts the club has seen. Through the bad times, there is always something to look back and smile on.

But the loss in Verona is still biting at the club. The way it happened was the most hurting. It’s the feeling of ‘what if’ and all the possibilities that could’ve gone Cittadella’s way. It’s the feeling of if we had gone up, who knows if we could’ve turned into a Sassuolo type of team.

“The days before the match I was afraid of exactly what happened.” Brunello continued. “Before the game started, however, I was strangely calm, but after conceding the first goal I began to feel a lot of anxiety.”

“After the game I think I stayed under the covers of my bed for at least three quarters of an hour. I think it has marked me for the rest of my life.”

When I spoke to Domenico Frare last summer in my interview, I asked a question in relation to the Verona match. Frare preferred not to speak about that game, with the wound still fresh in his memory.

It’s been three years and the ghost of the Bentegodi still lives in the minds of the Cittadella community. Perhaps this game was the start of a common theme with Cittadella: always finding ways to ‘bottle’ these types of games in the playoffs. It’s a theme that we still haven’t gotten off our backs.

Signs have been shown that Serie A is only a matter of time, but some still believe things have to be improved on and off the field to finally reach that promotion.

“We should focus on players of higher quality and experience even at the cost of undertaking greater economic outlays.” Brunello went on. “Furthermore, the goal should not always and only be to avoid relegation, but should be raised to something more ambitious. Unfortunately at the moment, changing the mentality here in Cittadella seems difficult, almost impossible.”

The upcoming season brings another wave of promise and hope. Though playoffs were missed this year, the next season has already gotten underway in the market, as contract renewals and signings have begun.

A promotion too Serie A would erase all the bad memories of the Verona match. But until then, that night will still live in infamy within the community.