Berlusconi’s Monza ascends for the first time in its history

Monza, a club with 109 years of history and bought in 2018 by Italian businessman and former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, will play next season in Serie A for the first time in its history after beating Pisa on Sunday in extra time in the final of the promotion playoff.

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After winning 2-1 at their stadium on Thursday, Monza achieved their goal after a dramatic match at the Arena Garibaldi in the presence of the 85-year-old Berlusconi. Pisa scored 3-2 in the 90th minute with which they forced extra time and in this the Lombards turned the score around to end up winning again 3-4.

Berlusconi bought it a year after leaving Milan.

Serie A was the great goal that Berlusconi set for himself since he bought the club a year after selling Milan, which he turned into a giant of European football during his more than 30 years of management (1986-2017).

Monza accompanies to Serie A the two clubs that obtained the direct place at the end of Serie B: the champion Lecce and Cremonese, who finished second.

Fourth in Series B and to the playoff

Fourth in the championship, Monza had to go through the playoffs, with the participation of the six teams that finished between 3rd and 8th place. First they eliminated Brescia and today Pisa, who had finished third in Serie B.

The three promoted will occupy the places of the relegated Venezia, Genoa and Cagliari in the elite.

Monza were still in Serie C when Berlusconi bought the club in 2018. They were promoted to Serie B in 2020 and failed to advance last year after falling out of the playoffs despite an aggressive transfer policy. marked in particular by the signing of big names like Kevin-Prince Boateng or Mario Balotelli.

Technician Giovanni Stroppa, the architect

Berlusconi entrusted the management to Adriano Galliani, who was already his right-hand man at Milan, and this season Monza relied on players with more experience in Serie B. He also placed coach Giovanni Stroppa, 54, a former player, on the bench. of Milan and Monza and already the architect of Crotone’s promotion to Serie A in 2020.

Monza has finally achieved the goal it was pursuing although it has had to wait until the last breath of the season. Today Pisa led 2-0 after ten minutes thanks to goals from Ernesto Torregrossa and Hjörtur Hermannsson, but José Machín replied in the 20th minute and Christian Gytkjaer seemed to sentence the tie with 2-2 (79′). However, Giuseppe Mastinu forced extra time at 3-2 in the 90th minute.

Monza made the difference during the extra half hour thanks to a header from Luca Marrone (96′) and Gytkjaer (101′).