It was the worst ever start to a season in the history of Europe’s top five leagues. Football supporters in Italy could hardly believe that Benevento had lost every single one of their opening fourteen matches during their maiden season in the top flight, breaking a record that had stood for 87 years. Surprisingly it was Manchester United who previously held the negative record after they lost their opening 12 First Division matches in the 1930/31 campaign, but Benevento blew this out of the water by adding an extra two miserable defeats on top.
Considering the well-documented gulf between Serie A and Serie B, it was understandable why the newcomers had struggled so desperately in the opening encounters in Italy’s top division. They had only reached the league below for the first time ever at the beginning of last season, and their subsequent back-to-back promotion could have been more of a curse than a blessing for a team nicknamed Le Streghe (the witches).
They may have been dead certs for relegation, but their negative run of defeats was bound to come to an end at some point. Not content to do things by halves, the Campanian outfit won their first point in some style, creating headlines across the world in the way they achieved it. At 2-1 down at home to AC Milan, Benevento goalkeeper Alberto Brignoli came up for a corner in a last-ditch attempt to avoid their 15th straight defeat.
No-one could have imagined the scenes at the Stadio Ciro Vigorito when the ‘keeper rose up above all others to make it 2-2 in the 96th minute, making history with his headed goal. Such an occurrence would not have been out of place in an FA Cup encounter but – once the euphoria died down – they still had to face the prospect of another 23 matches before the end of the season.
The following three matches demonstrated that – while this side had provided some entertainment for the neutral – their point against Milan was very much a flash in the pan. Coach Roberto De Zerbi had replaced Marco Baroni at the end of October, but such a change had seemed to make very little difference as losses to Udinese, SPAL and Genoa followed their dramatic draw.
Surprise title challenges 🏆
Stunning goals 🚀
So much happened in 2017, but nothing encapsulates the drama European football offers more than this Benevento goal.
Take it away, Alberto Brignoli 🙌
There is sometimes a moment when things seem to click into place, a time in which everything that has been worked on in training aligns to bring about a turnaround in fortunes. That moment happened for Benevento during their last match of 2017, when striker Massimo Coda fired in versus Chievo, the defence also holding firm to secure a precious 1-0 victory.
At 29-years-old, Coda had suffered some bad luck in his career. He found himself at Salernitana after having been released by a bankrupt Parma back in 2015, before ending up at Benevento where he had previously only managed a bit-part role in the side. That match versus Chievo had been his first start since September 24th, but he was not content to stop there.
Two goals and one assist from Coda versus sixth-placed Sampdoria was the key to the unlikeliest of victories as the Campanian outfit won 3-2. In the last six matches, the minnows have risen to 15th in the form table with five points earned, only one behind Inter in 16th place.
After such a nightmare start, Benevento are now just eight points from safety with 18 matches still to play. Surely they couldn’t do it, could they? Looking at last year, Crotone had occupied the relegation zone until the last minutes of the final match of 2016/17, their incredible escape brought about after they earned 17 points from a possible 24 in the last eight matches of the campaign.
“Against Samp my boys were all brilliant,” said Coach De Zerbi to Corriere dello Sport on Monday. “If we start to believe that our work to improve is done and we can begin playing in flip-flops, we still haven’t understood anything. We must continue to fight but we are no longer the joke of Italy.”
It will be interesting to see what happens next, the future of this side on a knife edge. If they do pull it off though, Benevento will have gone from “the joke of Italy” to the side that transformed their fortunes into the biggest comeback of all-time.
