(FM16) Il Ritorno: Parma Calcio

MARCH UPDATE

Results

03.03.2019: Parma 0-2 AC Milan
- Milanese Giants Secure Victory With Fine Second Half Performance
47: G. Piscitella
60: G. Bonaventura
90: D. Origi
Ignazio Abate

10.03.2019: Genoa 0-2 Parma
- Flowing Football Sends Parma Fans Wild As Team Move 10 Points Clear
12: F. Corapi
45: N. Belloni
Francesco Corapi

17.03.2019: Parma 1-1 Torino
- Contentious Penalty Earns Torino Undeserved Point
12: I. Ezekiel
40: A. Chipciu
Alexandru Chipciu

23.03.2019: Bologna 2-2 Parma
- Niccolo Belloni Leads Parma Fightback To Claim Draw With Rivals
27: M. Trotta
45: M. Destro
59: I. Mbaye
73: N. Belloni
Niccolo Belloni

League Table

* Juventus are Champions, sitting 26 points clear of second placed AC Milan with 7 games left.

Player of the Month

Niccolo Belloni

Perhaps Parma’s best player this season and the catalyst for their drive to safety, Niccolo Belloni has played his best football of the season during March, scoring twice and providing one assist as Parma moved 11 points clear of the relegation zone and Belloni’s name may deservedly be upon the lips of higher reputation clubs.

Injuries

Norbert Gyomber. The Slovakian central defender form has been somewhat a little shaky this season suffered strained knee ligaments whilst on international duty with Slovakia that will leave him out of action for two months and will mean Gyomber will more than likely miss the rest of the season.

Youth Intake

The club’s annual youth intake took place in March. Of the crop of youngsters to be promoted to Parma’s youth sides Fausto de Caroli and Paolo Paganelli look the most likely to have a part in Parma’s future.

Next Month

With just seven games left and sitting 11 points clear after hitting that mythical 40 points mark, Parma can perhaps play their four games in April with less pressure on their shoulders. Up first is a visit from Napoli who are still in the chase for the final UEFA Champions League place. Next up are two away days against teams involved in mid table in Novara and the relegation mix up in Sassuolo, so dependent on other results, two defeats could see Parma slip towards the wrong end of the table. Paolo Vanoli’s side finish the month back at the Ennio Tardini with a game against Palermo whose own relegation fears have eased a little of late.

Other News

03.03.2019: After a 1-0 defeat to Juventus left Atalanta Bergamo in 18th place with just ten games left, the Bergamo based club took a big gamble by sacking manager Walter Mazzarri as they hope that his replacement can steer the club away from the bottom three.
26.03.2019: With only seven games remaining in the Serie A season, Atalanta perhaps indicated that their priorities were to rebuild in Serie B next year by appointing from within as long term coach Sergio Porrini was appointed as the clubs new first team manager.

Manager’s Thoughts

Five points from a possible twelve is still a good return for us. We’ve done very well to get to that 40 point mark and against Torino and Bologna it was a case of us not taking our chances and had we stuck an extra goal in the back of the net we would have been even further clear of the relegation zone and potentially challenging for European football. We didn’t disgrace ourselves against Milan and that’s something to be proud of, whilst against Genoa we did very well and I am very proud of my team. We’ve got seven games left, four of which will be played next month and hopefully by the time we get to the end of April, we’ll be safe and there’ll be no chance whatsoever of us going down and we can start looking forward to the summer and a second season in Serie A.