Piacenza Calcio once again survived in Serie A, this time being on the brink of relegation, and having to beat Cagliari in Naples in a so-called spareggio to decide which team would stay up. Thanks to a 3–1 victory, Piacenza was able to hang onto their Serie A status, which was all that could be expected from new coach Bortolo Mutti. Despite losing Nicola Caccia to Napoli, Piacenza was able to count on a reliable goal scorer in Pasquale Luiso, who grabbed 14 goals in his debut season in Serie A.
Astonishingly, Piacenza lost just one match at home all season, but instead won no matches on away turf, having won just once in 51 Serie A matches outside the home ground.
Squad
Goalkeepers Massimo Taibi Sergio Marcon
Defenders Massimo Brioschi Mirko Conte Daniele Cozzi Daniele Delli Carri Settimio Lucci Stefano Maccoppi Fausto Pari Cleto Polonia Simone Corradi Alessandro Lucarelli Andrea Tagliaferri
Midfielders Eusebio Di Francesco Luca Matteassi Daniele Moretti Gabriele Pin Giuseppe Scienza Aladino Valoti Paolo Tramezzani Gianpietro Piovani Fabian Valtolina Carlo Ballotta
Attackers Pasquale Luiso Andrea Tentoni Francesco Zerbini Gabriele Ballotta
Serie A
League table
Position by round
Matches
Relegation tie-breaker
Cagliari relegated to 1997–98 Serie B.
Top scorers Pasquale Luiso 14 (3) Giuseppe Scienza 4 Eusebio Di Francesco 3 Gianpietro Piovani 2
References
Sources RSSSF - Italy Championship 1996/97