The 2019–20 Serie B (known as Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons) was the 88th season since its establishment in 1929.www.legab.it. Lega B. Retrieved: 30 April 2019. The 20-team format returned after 16 years, the last time being in the 2002–03 season. The season was scheduled to run from 23 August 2019 to 14 May 2020, though on 9 March 2020, the Italian government halted the league until 3 April 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy. Serie B did not resume play on this date. On 18 May, it was announced that Italian football would be suspended until 14 June. On 28 May, it was announced that Serie B would resume starting from 20 June.
Teams After one season with 19 clubs, Serie B was played in a 20-team format for the first time since the 2002–03 season.
Relegated from 2018–19 Serie A Empoli Frosinone Chievo Verona
Promoted from 2018–19 Serie C Virtus Entella (Group A champions) Pordenone (Group B champions) Juve Stabia (Group C champions) Pisa (playoff winners) Trapani (playoff winners)
Among the five promoted teams, Pordenone is the only one to have never played Serie B before. Among the relegated teams, two of them (Empoli and Frosinone) have returned to Serie B after only one season in the top flight.
On 4 July 2019, the Co.Vi.Soc. recommended the exclusion of Palermo from the league due to financial irregularities. The club's exclusion was confirmed and ratified on 12 July, with Venezia being readmitted in place of the Rosanero.
Stadiums and locations
Team Home city Stadium Capacity 2018–19 season Ascoli Ascoli Piceno Stadio Cino e Lillo Del Duca 13th in Serie B Benevento Benevento Stadio Ciro Vigorito 3rd in Serie B Chievo Verona Stadio Marc'Antonio Bentegodi 20th in Serie A Cittadella Cittadella (Padua) Stadio Pier Cesare Tombolato 7th in Serie B Cosenza Cosenza Stadio San Vito-Gigi Marulla 10th in Serie B Cremonese Cremona Stadio Giovanni Zini 9th in Serie B Crotone Crotone Stadio Ezio Scida 12th in Serie B Empoli Empoli (Florence) Stadio Carlo Castellani 18th in Serie A Frosinone Frosinone Stadio Benito Stirpe 19th in Serie A Juve Stabia Castellammare di Stabia (Naples) Romeo Menti Serie C/C Champions Livorno Livorno Stadio Armando Picchi 14th in Serie B Perugia Perugia Stadio Renato Curi 8th in Serie B Pescara Pescara Stadio Adriatico – Giovanni Cornacchia 4th in Serie B Pisa Pisa Arena Garibaldi – Romeo Anconetani 3rd in Serie C/A, play-off winner Pordenone Pordenone Dacia Arena (Udine)Stadio Nereo Rocco (Trieste) Serie C/B Champions Salernitana Salerno Stadio Arechi 16th in Serie B Spezia La Spezia Stadio Alberto Picco 6th in Serie B Trapani Trapani Polisportivo Provinciale (Erice) 2nd in Serie C/C, play-off winner Venezia Venice Stadio Pier Luigi Penzo 15th in Serie B Virtus Entella Chiavari (Genoa) Comunale Aldo Gastaldi Serie C/A Champions
Personnel and kits TeamPresidentManagerCaptainKit manufacturerShirt sponsor (front)Shirt sponsor (back)Shirt sponsor (sleeve)*Shorts sponsor Ascoli Giuliano Tosti Davide Dionigi Riccardo Brosco Nike Fainplast, Moretti Design/BricoferGreen Network Energy/BricoferFacile RistrutturareAIR fire/Sky Network Benevento Oreste Vigorito Filippo Inzaghi Christian Maggio Kappa IVPC, Rillo CostruzioniNoneFacile RistrutturareNone Chievo Luca Campedelli Alfredo Aglietti Boštjan Cesar Givova Paluani/Nico Abbigliamento e Calzature/Nobis/Brec Viaggi/Vicentini Carni/Lollo's Group/Tecnoest/Opel Autozai Verona/Noleggiare/Mitsubishi Motors, Coati SalumiNobis/Autoteam 9Facile RistrutturareAvelia Cittadella Andrea Gabrielli Roberto Venturato Manuel Iori Mizuno Sirmax, Gruppo GabrielliGavinoxFacile RistrutturareMetalservice Cosenza Eugenio Guarascio Roberto Occhiuzzi (caretaker) Angelo Corsi Legea Quattropuntozero, Gruppo Chiappetta/Renault Gruppo ChiappettaNoneFacile RistrutturareNone Cremonese Paolo Rossi Pierpaolo Bisoli Claiton Acerbis ilta Inox (H)/Arinox (A), ArvediFattorie CremonaFacile RistrutturareArvedi Tubi Acciaio Crotone Gianni Vrenna Giovanni Stroppa Alex Cordaz Zeus San Vincenzo Salumif, Envì GroupFord Vumbaca GroupFacile RistrutturareNone Empoli Fabrizio Corsi Pasquale Marino Domenico Maietta Kappa Computer Gross, Sammontana (H)/Logli Massimo (A)GilettiFacile RistrutturarePiccini Chianti Frosinone Maurizio Stirpe Alessandro Nesta Mirko Gori Zeus Banca Popolare del Frusinate, Acea NoneFacile RistrutturareNone Juve Stabia Francesco Manniello Fabio Caserta Alessandro Mastalli Givova Spada Roma, AutoShoppingOptima ItaliaFacile RistrutturareNone Livorno Aldo Spinelli Antonio Filippini Andrea Luci Legea Gruppo SpinelliPediatricaFacile RistrutturareNone Perugia Massimiliano Santopadre Serse Cosmi Aleandro Rosi Frankie Garage Officine Piccini, VitakraftFortinfissiFacile RistrutturareMericat Pescara Daniele Sebastiani Andrea Sottil Vincenzo Fiorillo Erreà Lublan, SarniOroLiofilchemFacile RistrutturareMBI Gas & Luce Pisa Giuseppe Corrado Luca D'Angelo Davide Moscardelli Adidas Gruppo Paim/Andrea Bocelli Foundation/Formaggi della Famiglia Busi/Filcasa/COSPE Costruzioni/Antonini Assicurazioni/Beapp/Banca di Pisa e Fornacette/CetilarVitali/Dal Mozza GourmetFacile RistrutturareHi-Turf Solution Pordenone Mauro Lovisa Attilio Tesser Mirko Stefani Joma Omega Group, AssitecaAlea Office FurnitureFacile RistrutturareCRO Area Giovani Salernitana Marco Mezzaroma & Claudio Lotito Gian Piero Ventura Francesco Di Tacchio ZeusAssociazione Bambino Gesù del Cairo/Città di SalernoNoneFacile RistrutturareIASA Spezia Andrea Corradino Vincenzo Italiano Claudio Terzi Acerbis TEN Food & BeverageSpigasFacile RistrutturarePediatrica Trapani Giorgio Heller Fabrizio Castori Luca Pagliarulo Joma/Nike SuperConveniente/Terravision, Liberty LinesNuova SicilautoFacile RistrutturareGruppo Arena Venezia Joe Tacopina Alessio Dionisi Marco Modolo Nike Fluorsid, Lino Sonego/Campello MotorsIBSA GroupFacile RistrutturareLino Sonego Virtus Entella Antonio Gozzi Roberto Boscaglia Luca Nizzetto Adidas Duferco EnergiaNoneFacile RistrutturareKia Gecar * For this season, all the teams participating in the Serie B tournament featured the institutional sponsor Facile Ristrutturare (on the left sleeve as a patch).
Managerial changes Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in table Replaced by Date of appointment Perugia Alessandro Nesta Signed for Frosinone 21 May 2019 Pre-season Massimo Oddo 7 June 2019 Pescara Giuseppe Pillon Resigned 26 May 2019 Luciano Zauri 5 June 2019 Spezia Pasquale Marino Mutual consent 30 May 2019 Vincenzo Italiano 19 June 2019 Chievo Domenico Di Carlo Signed for Vicenza 1 June 2019 Michele Marcolini 4 July 2019 Frosinone Marco Baroni Mutual consent 2 June 2019 Alessandro Nesta 17 June 2019 Ascoli Vincenzo Vivarini Sacked 5 June 2019 Paolo Zanetti 7 June 2019 Empoli Aurelio Andreazzoli Signed for Genoa 13 June 2019 Cristian Bucchi 18 June 2019 Benevento Cristian Bucchi Signed for Empoli 18 June 2019 Filippo Inzaghi 22 June 2019 Trapani Vincenzo Italiano Signed for Spezia 19 June 2019 Francesco Baldini 11 July 2019 Salernitana Leonardo Menichini Sacked 30 June 2019 Gian Piero Ventura 30 June 2019 Venezia Serse Cosmi End of contract 30 June 2019 Alessio Dionisi 3 July 2019 Cremonese Massimo Rastelli Sacked 8 October 2019 12th Marco Baroni 8 October 2019Empoli Cristian Bucchi12 November 201910th Roberto Muzzi14 November 2019Livorno Roberto Breda9 December 201920th Paolo Tramezzani10 December 2019Trapani Francesco Baldini17 December 201919th Fabrizio Castori19 December 2019Perugia Massimo Oddo4 January 202013th Serse Cosmi4 January 2020 Cremonese Marco Baroni 8 January 2020 17th Massimo Rastelli 8 January 2020Pescara Luciano ZauriResigned20 January 202010th Nicola Legrottaglie21 January 2020Empoli Roberto MuzziSacked26 January 202016th Pasquale Marino26 January 2020Ascoli Paolo Zanetti27 January 202012th Guillermo Abascal (caretaker)27 January 2020 Guillermo AbascalEnd of caretaker spell1 February 202013th Roberto Stellone1 February 2020Livorno Paolo TramezzaniSacked3 February 202020th Roberto Breda3 February 2020Cosenza Piero Braglia10 February 202018th Giuseppe Pillon11 February 2020Chievo Michele Marcolini1 March 20207th Alfredo Aglietti11 February 2020 Cremonese Massimo Rastelli 4 March 2020 17th Pierpaolo Bisoli 5 March 2020 Livorno Roberto Breda 8 March 2020 20th Antonio Filippini 8 March 2020Cosenza Giuseppe PillonMutual consent18 March 202018th Roberto Occhiuzzi (caretaker)18 March 2020Ascoli Roberto StelloneSacked16 April 202015th Guillermo Abascal16 April 2020 Guillermo Abascal22 June 202017th Davide Dionigi24 June 2020 Pescara Nicola Legrottaglie 5 July 202014th Andrea Sottil 7 July 2020
League table
Positions by round The table lists the positions of teams after each week of matches. In order to preserve chronological evolvements, any postponed matches are not included to the round at which they were originally scheduled, but added to the full round they were played immediately afterwards.
Results
Promotion play-offs Six teams could contest the promotion play-offs depending on the point differential between the third and fourth-placed teams. It began with a preliminary one-legged round played at the home venue of the higher placed team, involving the teams placed fifth to eight. The two winning teams advanced to play the third and fourth-placed teams in the two-legged semi-finals. Those winning teams advanced to the two-legged final, where the winner was promoted to play in Serie A the following season. In the two-legged rounds, the higher seeded team played the second game at home. If tied on aggregate, the higher seeded team advanced.
Preliminary round
Semi-finals
First leg
Second leg
Finals
First leg
Second leg
Relegation play-out The higher-placed team played at home for the second leg. After being tied on aggregated, the lower-placed team were not relegated directly, but extra time and a penalty shoot-out were played since both teams finished tied on points during regular season.
First leg
Second leg
Season statistics
Top goalscorers +RankPlayerClubGoals1 SimyCrotone202 Pietro IemmelloPerugia193 Francesco ForteJuve Stabia17 Stefano PettinariTrapani5 Davide Diaw2Cittadella15 Michele MarconiPisa7 Cristian Galano1Pescara148 Leonardo Mancuso Empoli13 Emmanuel Rivière Cosenza Marco Sau Benevento Note 1Player scored 1 goal in the play-out. 2Player scored 2 goals in the play-offs.
Hat-tricks PlayerClubAgainst ResultDate Camillo CianoFrosinoneTrapani 3–0 (H) Nicolas ViolaBeneventoTrapani 5–0 (H) Marco SauBeneventoAscoli 4–0 (H) Andrey GalabinovSpeziaChievo 3–1 (A) SimyCrotoneBenevento 3–0 (H) Note (H) – Home (A) – Away
Clean sheets RankPlayerClubCleansheetsWeeks1 Lorenzo Montipò Benevento181, 3, 7–8, 10–11, 13–17, 19, 23, 25, 28–312 Francesco Bardi2Frosinone178, 10–12, 14–16, 19, 21–26, 293 Alberto PaleariCittadella143, 6–7, 9–12, 22, 25–26, 29–31, 37 Simone Scuffet1Spezia9, 11, 13, 15–16, 18, 22–23, 27, 29, 34, 36–375 Luca LezzeriniVenezia122, 5, 8, 12, 16, 19–20, 22, 29, 31, 35–36 Adrian Šemper1Chievo3, 8, 11, 15, 20, 24–25, 28, 31, 37–387 Nikita Contini BaranovskyVirtus Entella111–3, 10, 14–16, 18, 23, 28, 37 Alex Cordaz Crotone1, 3, 5–6, 19–20, 23, 27, 30, 32, 34 Michele Di Gregorio1Pordenone2, 7, 9, 13, 15, 19, 26, 28–29, 3110 Nicola Ravaglia Cremonese105–6, 20, 24, 26, 28, 32, 34–36 Note 1Player kept 1 clean sheet in the play-offs. 2Player kept 2 clean sheets in the play-offs.
Notes
Footnotes
References
External links
Official website