Bari in Serie C: from near promotion to relegation to the playouts

Now the drama is over. After a championship spent on the edge of the relegation zone, Bari is now officially in Serie C. Druso needed a win in the second leg of the playout against Sudtirol after the 0-0 draw at San Nicola. And, instead, the Apulians didn’t even manage to score, replicating the result of the first leg which rewarded Castori’s men best placed in the standings. It’s the rules, baby. But what is surprising – more than the result – is the attitude of the men in the red and white shirts. No jolts, not even a noteworthy action in 180 minutes. Just an outside post from Rao in the first half and a dirty deflection from Gytkjaer towards the end. Too little to maintain the category against a Sudtirol team who, at least, tried, calling on Cerofolini for a miracle several times and having a goal canceled out by VAR. But the playouts are the mirror of a season spent just scraping by, without ever trying to take the extra step. The attitude that the fans criticize the De Laurentiis presidency, which has been contested for years in an often ghostly San Nicola. This factor, undoubtedly, did not help a team that was already poorly constructed and never really correct on the market. Today Bari has sunk into a nightmare, but three years ago it was one step away from the dream…

sliding doors

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The sliding doors of red and white history take us back to June 11, 2023 when Bari’s great return to Serie A was about to materialize. An event awaited for 12 years, which faded to the best of times, with 120 seconds left, due to a butt from Pavoletti. The verdict is cruel, the San Nicola ice cream: Claudio Ranieri, Cagliari’s coach, runs under the visitors’ sector and makes dramatic gestures. “No, no, the Bari fans deserve applause, not teasing.” A gesture from a Lord and a capital S is not a typo. That moment, however, marked the beginning of a vertical collapse, which led – in the space of a few months – the Apulians to change four coaches (Mignani, Marino, Iachini and Federico Giampaolo). A total chaos that relegated the red and whites – who started out as serious candidates for promotion – to play the playouts to avoid relegation to Serie C. In that case averted by success in the double match against Ternana. Salvation and a clean slate: away is director Polito (replaced by Magalini) and a new technical project entrusted to Moreno Longo. In the end – after a market full of loans and second choices – it will be a disappointing ninth place. Without infamy and without praise, with the playoffs four points away.

the hell of the c

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And then comes the current season, that of disaster. The project restarts with a new coach, Fabio Caserta, and with a squad that has once again been revolutionized. But it doesn’t last long. Just 13 games, then the dismissal: Vivarini was brought in, but he was unable to reverse the trend and was kicked out after just 7 games. In January, sporting director Magalini also disappeared, but the shock did not arrive. Moreno Longo was recalled to the bench, and in the final stages of the championship he tried to save what could be saved. When, on the penultimate day, the Apulians reach the playout, hope seems to return. Bari can still save themselves: the Sudtirol obstacle doesn’t seem so insurmountable. And, instead, it is a flat encephalogram. Of ideas, of opportunities, of stimuli. A double 0-0 which confirms how little Bari has done this season: 18 defeats in 40 matches with only nine wins and twelve draws (including playoffs). Too little. Bari were relegated to Serie C on the pitch for the first time since 1983. They return there for the first time since 2019, when De Laurentiis took the team from the ashes of bankruptcy. Then it took three years to return to Serie B. Today who knows.