It was April 24th, and the Bari was already in rather bad waters, so much so that the playouts seemed to be the only possible objective to stay in Serie B, not even a year later from the Serie A miss. In a press conference, Captain Valerio Di Cesare he even burst into tears, speaking like this a few days later: “Because of Bari I don’t sleep at night, I even have to take pills. […] The collapse of the other day is also due to the fact that these are my last matches as a player, it’s true that I’m 41 years old, but on a mental level it’s still a blow.”
From that moment on, the season did not straighten out, but at least direct relegation was avoided. Bari ended the season in fourth-last place, and therefore reached the playouts, which would have been played in a double match with Ternana. Who, thanks to the best placing, would have enjoyed two results out of three and a return home; the first leg, the one on 16 May, will therefore be played at ‘San Nicola’, the last home match for the player, who among other things against Parma and Brescia had scored heavy goals to hit his first goal at the end of the season.
In the play-off, things look good for the Galletti, who take the lead, but in the 82nd minute the crash: a shot from Pereiro is involuntarily deflected by Di Cesare, who displaces Pissardo and scores the own goal which earns the draw for the Umbrians. Di Cesare is still celebrated, he goes around the pitch with a standing ovation from the 30 thousand present who thank the captain anyway, but it is a 1-1 which, for Ternana, puts everything downhill.
But as they say, don’t say cat if you don’t have it in the bag. The very recent story is known to everyone: Bari was a pirate yesterday at the ‘Liberati’, where, also thanks to a harakiri from the home team, he achieved salvation. 0-3 the final, with Ricci and Sibilli putting the final seal, but who is to open the dance? He, Caesar’s captain, who on his birthday gives himself away and gives the city a salvation that seemed unexpected; him, Captain Di Cesare who no longer slept at night at the mere thought of leaving Bari in Serie C; him, Captain Di Cesare who wanted to recover after the own goal; him, Captain Di Cesare who didn’t want it to end like this, neither for him nor for his Bari.
Be careful though. Is it really over? In yesterday’s post-match, the ’83 class spoke as follows: “No one expected a year like this, winning this match and saving Bari was the main thing. I’m very happy, we absolutely couldn’t be relegated. What if I go on? I’m not I know, now I want to break away. I’ll talk to the club later, we’ll see if he’ll be more useful on the pitch or off. I have the desire, but even at 41, we’ll see.” And who knows…