Products You May Like
Lombardy club Monza, owned by former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, will play in Serie A for the first time next season after winning a promotion playoff at Pisa 4-3 after extra time on Sunday to secure a 6-4 aggregate victory.
Monza had beaten Pisa 2-1 in the first leg of the Serie B playoff on Thursday, but a thrilling second leg saw them fall 2-0 behind before levelling, only for a Giuseppe Mastinu goal for the hosts to send the tie into extra time at 4-4.
– ESPN+ viewers’ guide: LaLiga, Bundesliga, MLS, FA Cup, more
Luca Marrone and Christian Gytkjaer were the extra-time heroes for Monza, who held on despite having Eugenio Lamanna sent off.
“We fought for a year and we reached a historic milestone. Monza since [being founded in] 1912 had never been in Serie A. We got there today. It’s a wonderful thing for us and for all the citizens of Brianza,” Berlusconi told Sky Sport Italia.
Monza were in Serie C when Berlusconi’s Fininvest Group took over in 2018 and secured promotion from the third tier in their second season. They lost out in the Serie B playoffs last term.
Berlusconi will next season get the chance to see his team taken on Italian champions AC Milan, who the 85-year-old owned for three decades during their most successful period.
Monza will be the 69th club to play in Serie A and the 12th different side from Lombardy. Lecce and Cremonese had already secured their top flight spots in the regular season.