Come the end of the 2017/18 campaign it may well be that Benevento end up being relegated from Serie A. The minnows have advanced so quickly – earning back-to-back promotions in consecutive seasons in order to reach the top flight – that the club have clearly struggled to compete with such an obvious gulf in quality. However, unlike some other small teams that have come and gone without so much as a whimper in recent years, Le Streghe (the witches) are determined to leave their mark on the Italian football landscape.
Their promotion from Serie B last year saw the side compete in Italy’s top division for the first time ever, their 16,867 seater stadium having undergone renovation work in order to meet the requirements set by the Lega Serie A. However, Benevento attracted headlines for all the wrong reasons when they lost every single one of their opening 14 matches during their maiden season in the top flight by losing an extra two games than the Manchester United side that had suffered defeat in their opening 12 First Division matches during the 1930/31 campaign.
Such a miserable losing streak had to come to an end at some point, and true to form, Benevento didn’t do things by halves. The side garnered press attention on an international scale when they earned their first ever point at home to AC Milan, goalkeeper Alberto Brignoli heading in a miraculous equaliser to rescue a brave 2-2 draw in the 96th minute. Their first ever victory came on January 6th, an impressive 3-2 victory over sixth-placed Sampdoria, making many question whether they could pull off the impossible to remain in the division.
Yet the biggest surprise was yet to come as they pulled off the signing of an individual with a plethora of Premier League, Champions League and World Cup experience when Bacary Sagna signed as a free agent last Saturday. Rumours have also begun to increase that ex-Arsenal duo Samir Nasri and Alex Song could also join Sagna in order to help achieve what seems to be impossible with Benevento some 11 points from safety.
It really does beg the question of why Sagna would choose this club in particular as after all, he did have other offers. The answer lies in his words upon his arrival, his statements proving why football is still an unpredictable and romantic sport, and why corporate predictability is yet to have completely penetrated the places where true beauty can be found.
“My career for the past decade has been at the very top level, what Benevento offers me is the opportunity to represent the underdog and to play for a club whose story is such a beautiful one,” said Sagna to Footballfancast.com.
“In an era when football has become more of a business at many clubs than an actual sport, Benevento represents the heart and soul of what a football club should be about. Passion, heart, hope, joy, love and a philosophy that is aligned to that of my own way of thinking in life. They are a great family club, built around the community they are in.”
Sagna also gave credit to Oreste Vigorito, declaring that the Benevento owner had made him feel welcome in the area and paid tribute to the unsung work he had done for underprivileged and disabled people in the region.
“We might be insane, we might be dreamers, we might be suicidal, but we certainly put our heart and soul into what we want to be a huge achievement,” said Vigorito after he completed the signing of the former Arsenal and Manchester City man. “Sagna is too much of a champion to not realise how hard this will be, but he chose to let his heart beat with Benevento and hopefully we can all have our hearts beat together in celebration.”
The “insane” and “dreamers” among us will all be rooting for Benevento after the events of this season, and maybe, just maybe, with the help of Bacary Sagna they might just do it.
