Cittadella vs Palermo: Granata end the year with familiar foes
On December 28, 2024 by Jake IovineMATCH: Cittadella vs Palermo | Serie BKT Matchday 20
DATE: Dec. 29, 2024 | 17:15 CET (11:15 a.m. EST)
VENUE: Stadio Piercesare Tombolato | Cittadella
The year of 2024 has not gone the way most at Cittadella would have hoped for, but if there’s one team that has posed little threat to the Granata since January, it would be Palermo.
Since playing the first match of 2024 against the Rosanero and beating them 2-0 on Jan. 13, Cittadella has only won six Serie B games since that win. One of those six victories also came against Palermo, with the Granata winning in Sicily after a 90th minute goal by Luca Pandolfi.
Despite the recent success, Cittadella head coach Alessandro Dal Canto is keeping his feet on the ground as his team prepares for the Palermo “tank”.
“A tank is coming tomorrow,” Dal Canto said in his prematch press conference. “It will be a difficult and delicate match. They are a team that will have a chance to go to Serie A and they have players off the bench that give an advantage. We have to go for what we can determine.”
Cittadella hosts Palermo for the final game of 2024 at the Stadio Piercesare Tombolato, with kickoff scheduled at 17:15 CET.
Two weeks ago, Dal Canto’s men were sitting bottom of the league with the longest home winless streak in club history. Since then, back-to-back victories against Reggiana and Sudtirol–the former being the first home win since January–has brought new life into the Granata.
The club can start the new year outside the relegation zones with a win on Sunday afternoon, but Dal Canto doesn’t want to get too ahead of himself.
“We cannot afford to make mistakes,” Dal Canto said. “We cannot get caught up in the two recent victories and draw. It does not mean anything.”
Cittadella will hope striker Luca Pandolfi can continue his positive form against one of his best-performing opponent. Palermo is the team which the Neapolitan striker has scored the most career goals against, which includes scoring in three straight meetings against the Rosanero. Pandolfi leads Cittadella in goal scoring with five goals, all of them coming since the start of November.
After a much-needed victory against Bari on Boxing Day, Palermo snapped a three game losing streak which put pressure on head coach Alessio Dionisi. The Sicilians sit on the outside of the playoff zone with 24 points: eight points less than what they had last season after 19 games.
It’s been a year of constant struggles for Cittadella, but the club can end 2024 on a high note with three straight victories and propel itself above the relegation zones.
“We have to continue at our recent level of performances,” Dal Canto said. “We must hammer the continuity.”
PHOTO: Massimo Felicetti / A.S. Cittadella
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