Berlusconi’s Monza climbed 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 playoff final of the promotion.

After a 2-1 win at their stadium on Thursday, Monza achieved their goal after a dramatic match at Arena Garibaldi in the presence of the 85-year-old Berlusconi. Pisa scored 3-2 in the 90th minute where they forced extra time and here the Lombards twisted the score to win again at 3-4.

Berlusconi bought it a year after leaving Milan.

Serie A is the great goal Berlusconi has set for himself since he bought the club a year after selling Milan, who became a European football giant in his more than 30 years of management (1986-2017).

Monza joined in Serie A the two clubs that secured a direct spot at the end of Serie B: champions Lecce and Cremonese, who came in second.

Fourth in Series B and in the playoffs

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

The three promoted will occupy the areas of relegated Venezia, Genoa and Cagliari to the elite.

Monza was 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 into the playoffs despite an aggressive transfer policy. particularly marked by the signing of big names like Kevin-Prince Boateng or Mario Balotelli.

Technician Giovanni Stroppa, the architect

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

Monza has finally achieved the goal it was chasing although it had to wait until the last breath of the season. Now Pisa took a 2-0 lead after ten minutes thanks to goals from Ernesto Torregrossa and Hjörtur Hermannsson, but José Machín responded in the 20th minute and Christian Gytkjaer seemed to have sentenced the tie to 2-2 (79 ‘). However, Giuseppe Mastinu forced extra time to 3-2 in the 90th minute.

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