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A taste of top-flight football is at stake for lower-division sides Spezia and Alessandria when they meet in the quarter-finals of the Italian Cup today.
Spezia, who are playing a fourth successive season in Serie B, hope to improve from quarter-finals appearances in 1937 and 1941, when they played in the same division, and go on to tackle AC Milan in a two-leg semi-final.
Lega Pro club Alessandria played one final of the tournament in 1936, crashing 5-1 to Torino.
Napoli are the only club from the Serie B to have won the cup in 1962.
A victory from Alessandria Monday would please their former ace Gianni Rivera, who was 15 on his debut in the Serie A with the squad of his native town, then proceeding to a
stellar career with Milan on the 1960s and 1970s.
“It is a great pleasure to see Alessandria at high levels after so much time,” Rivera said after the team beat Genoa 2-1 in December. Now let’s hope they do well in the league. And see them back in the Serie A would be the maximum. I have not yet seen them on the pitch; I hope to do it soon.”
I Grigi—the Greys, from the colour of their jersey—crashed 3-0 at FeralpiSalo Friday, but stayed top on goal difference ahead of Cittadella in the third-tier Lega Pro league.
“It is a strong feeling, but we must keep our feet on the ground,” president Luca Di Masi said.
“We beat Serie A sides like Palermo (3-2) and Genoa, but our real goal remains the league.”
I Grigi, however, are also still engaged in the Coppa Italia Lega Pro, with a last-16 game to Cremonese on January 28.
The Piedmontese club won the trophy in 1973, while Spezia lifted it in 2005 and 2012.
Spezia, a seaside club in the northern Liguria region who eliminated Roma on penalties, host the game at the Alberto Picco stadium.
They were held to a scoreless home draw to Bari Friday and lie in 12th position, 19 points from leaders Cagliari.
“We must respect Alessandria. On Monday it will be a big game to make history for both sides and it will be a great battle,” said Spezia coach Domenico Di Carlo, who in late November replaced Croat Nenad Bjelica, 14 games into the season.
“The motivation for the quarter-final that awaits us are infinite.
“We will need to have courage and determination to win this game, without losing our balance on the pitch and displaying the will to get into a semi-final that all our fans are dreaming about,” Di Carlo added.
The first quarter-final saw Milan advance from a 2-1 defeat of Carpi on Wednesday. Napoli will meet Inter Milan tomorrow while Lazio take on Juventus on Wednesday.
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