A gennaio 2021 aveva lasciato il Torino terzultimo, a quota 13 punti, ora lo ritrova da ex con una squadra nella stessa situazione
The challenge between Lecce and Torino will have a special flavor for Marco Giampaolo. The current Giallorossi coach, in fact, will face the Granata for the first time as a former player. A sort of sliding door for Giampaolo who, in 2021, was exonerated by Toro with the team facing relegation. The coach finds himself in the same situation.
In his Torino days, Giampaolo was exonerated in January, when the club had time to hit the salvation goal. In Lecce, however, the coach will have to win the next 2 games and hope for a misstep by his rivals to save his category. Few grains of sand remain in the hourglass, and Giampaolo knows that to end the season with a smile will require tripping his former team.
Torino-Giampaolo, i precedenti da avversari
Marco Giampaolo faced Torino 14 times before sitting on the Granata bench. So far, the coach has scored 6 defeats, 4 wins and 4 draws against Toro. The first confrontation between the former AC Milan and the granata dates back to the 2006/2007 season, when Giampaolo was coaching Cagliari. At the helm of Toro was Alberto Zaccheroni, and the two teams ended the championship on equal points (40), achieving salvation thanks to a single length over eighteenth and relegated Chievo.
Next Sunday, Marco Giampaolo will want to get a win to forget the last 3 matches with Toro. The coach is coming off 3 consecutive defeats. The first came in November 2018, when the granata won 1-4 against Sampdoria at the Ferraris Stadium in Genoa. In the second knockout, Giampaolo was still leading the blucerchiati (2-1 in Turin). The third defeat came in Torino-Milan on Sept. 26, 2019. A year before the coach’s arrival on the Toro bench, the Granata beat the Rossoneri 2-1 thanks to Andrea Belotti’s brace.
Giampaolo, da Torino al Torino
Marco Giampaolo arrived in Turin in August 2020. The coach’s adventure started in the worst way: 3 defeats in the first 3 days of the championship. Giampaolo did not leave his mark at the Olimpico Grande Torino. After a crushing 5-4 defeat in the Coppa Italia against AC Milan and a drab home draw against Spezia, the management decided to exonerate the coach from Bellinzona in January 2021.
At the time of his farewell, Torino was in 18th place in the league and fighting to avoid relegation. On Sunday, May 18, after four years, Giampaolo will challenge Torino with “his” Lecce, eighteenth in the standings and fighting not to be relegated to Serie B.
Marco Giampaolo e Andrea Belotti
