As the 2025/26 Serie B season canters toward its climax, tantilising storylines are beginning to be written at both ends of the table. A white-hot contest to achieve promotion to Serie A is juxtaposed with a wide-open relegation battle that threatens to slay some of Italy’s sleeping giants. The action beyond Serie A is as compelling as ever.
At the sharp end of Serie B, a four-horse race has emerged with eight matches left to play. Hipsters Venezia have led the standings since the end of January as they look to bounce back from the disappointment of last season’s relegation. Coach Giovanni Stroppa is aiming to achieve promotion to Serie A for the fourth time, having previously accomplished that feat with Crotone, Monza and Cremonese. The Venetians’ charge for the title shows no signs of abating.
In hot pursuit are big-spending Monza, who sit just one point behind the leaders; the head-to-head clash between these two next weekend could be pivotal in revealing the destination of the Serie B title. A further four points back in third place, Frosinone are pushing the leading duo hard. They’ve barely been out of the top three all season, though their recent form has left a little to be desired.
The pressure is rathceting up for Pippo Inzaghi at Palermo; operating with one of the largest budgets in the division, there was a clear expectation for him to deliver automatic promotion at the start of the campaign. To succeed, they will need to make up a five-point deficit to Monza in that final promotion place. Inzaghi will be hoping to leverage his experience of previous successful campaigns with Benevento and Pisa during the final weeks. The form of their talisman Joel Pohjanpalo, who has 8 goals in his last 9 games, will be critical in determining their fate.
Matchday 34 serves up a mouth-watering clash between Frosinone and Palermo – a must-win for both teams if they are to prolong their automatic promotion dreams. Venezia have the most difficult run-in on paper, in addition to the clash with Monza they face a final day encounter with Palermo. That said, there will be no easy games with the entire division either looking up to the play-offs or over their shoulder to the relegation play-outs.
In the play-off positions, Catanzaro and Modena look like fairly safe bets for the end of season shake-up; too far adrift to catch the front four, but with a sizeable cushion to the final play-off spot. The remaining play-off berths are currently occupied by Juve Stabia and Cesena – however, both have suffered a catastrophic dip in form in recent weeks so Sudtirol and newly-promoted Padova will believe they still have a chance of making it. Cesena have taken decisive action by sacking coach Michele Mignani this weekend and look set to make a left field appointment of Ashley Cole as his replacement.
At the other end of the table, the battle to avoid relegation is wide open. Just 8 points separate Carrarese in 11th from basement club Pescara. Three teams go down automatically, with another two contesting a relegation play-out. Any of the teams in the bottom half at this stage will harbour legitimate worries about relegation.
Pescara looked dead and buried just a few weeks ago, but a fine run of form including an unlikely victory over travel sick Palermo has breathed new life into their season. The capture of Lorenzo Insigne – a poetic homecoming for the former Delfino – has sparked newfound belief on the Adriatic coast.
Bari too have climbed the table in recent weeks after shuffling their pack, including a change of coach, during the winter transfer window. Remarkably, they are tied on 31 points along with three other teams, straddling the precipice. As is often the case at the time of year, the nearing prospect of relegation has prompted an upturn in results from several relegation contenders in recent weeks.
Crisis-striken Sampdoria enjoyed a mini-revival in February…only to see it fizzle out in March. This led to the re-appointment of club icon Attilio Lombardo, who has been asked to deliver salvation for the second consecutive season. Virtus Entella, Mantova and Spezia have all witnessed improved results over recent weeks, but not sufficiently so to pull them clear of the drop zone.
There is heightening alarm at Reggiana, who were sitting comfortably in mid-table at Christmas. A change of coach has done little to enhance their fortunes and they currently occupy penultimate place. Momentum is key at this point in the season – and Reggiana have only been heading one direction. Empoli have suffered a similar decline, they were in the play-offs as recently as January, but a sudden loss of form makes the propsect of back-to-back relegations very real.
Looking ahead to the remaining fixtures, Pescara have a degree of control over their own destiny, with fixtures still to come against five of the aforementioned relegation battlers. By contrast, Bari and Reggiana must play three of the top four in the remaining rounds, increasing the importance of getting results from their relegation head-to-heads.
The action promises to go right down to the wire, doubtless with futher twists and turns to come. From here on in, every point is crucial and the final matchdays promise to deliver a dramatic conclusion to a season full of drama.
Calcio England 