Do they even think about the game? Salernitana and Juventus meet amid serious problems behind the scenes

It's Salernitana against Juventus. On a normal day, this would have been billed as a classic Italian "minnows from the poor south host the rich and ruthless northern giants" kind of a game. But these are not regular days in Italian football - especially not for the two clubs that are about to meet at Stadio Arechi in Salerno.

The home team is lucky to be in the division at all. They beat the odds to get promoted last season and are prime candidates to straight back down. They are currently the bottom-placed team in the table with just eight points and over two goals conceded per match on average. You'd think that hosting Juventus was going to be a big if slightly daunting prospect. But they've got a bigger fish to fry, so to speak.

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Salernitana is a club owned by Italian businessman Claudio Lotito. The problem is that Lotito already owns another Serie A club - Lazio. Rules in Italy say that an individual cannot own two clubs competing in the same division. Ironically, Salernitana's heroic promotion to the country's top division marked the start of their problems. As soon as their promotion was confirmed on the final day of the 2020/21 season, there was a direct order from FIGC, the Italian Football Association: Lotito must sell the club or Salernitana won't be allowed to compete in the top league. FIGC President Gabriele Gravina was as strict as they come in regards to the matter.

"President Lotito has enjoyed an exemption for many years and everybody knew what would happen. The rules are clear, his ownership can’t continue and if it does, it would prevent Salernitana from taking part in Serie A next season."

Those words were spoken in May. Now is late November and Salernitana are indeed competing in Serie A with Lotito still the owner. The league gave the businessman extra time to find a buyer and has agreed to push the deadline a couple of times, with the latest being 31 December. Unless Lotito severs all his ties with the club, Salernitana's time in the league might be even shorter than a full season - they could be wiped out and moved to the bottom of the country's football pyramid. Lotito was the man who took over the club when they were down and out and invested his own money to drag them back up the leagues. And now, though many would consider him the club's saviour, the fans would love to see him go. It's either that or another stint playing in the amateur league.

Lotito has political ambitions and is expecting to become a member of the upper house of the national parliament had initially set the price to $90 million. These days, he'd be willing to accept half of that amount. But who will come in to save the club from repeating the agony of 2005, the year that the club went bankrupt and had to drop all the way down to the fifth tier.

Now, imagine being a Salernitana fan trying to enjoy your first season in Serie A after more than two decades of misfortune. It's not looking very rosy.

Juventus, on the other hand, have troubles of their own. They are filthy rich, but that didn't help them in the last week or so as they suffered a 4-0 spanking at Chelsea in the Champions League before going down at home to Atalanta in the league. To make matters worse, the club has been put under investigation for their shady transactions in the transfer market. Perhaps all that wealth they are known for isn't earned fair and square.

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According to the latest reports, there are 42 transfers that need to be checked out by the authorities. If proof is found - Juventus could even be expelled from the league. It wouldn't be the first time either. They were playing in Serie B in the 2006/07 season following a country-wide football match-fixing scandal.

Tonight, two sets of fans from two vastly different clubs will be hoping that history doesn't repeat itself.

SERIE A - Round 15

Tuesday

20.30: (1.28) Atalanta (6.50) Venezia (11.0)

20.30: (1.80) Fiorentina (3.70) Sampdoria (5.00)

22.45: (1.70) Verona (3.90) Cagliari (5.50)

22.45: (10.0) Salernitana (4.90) Juventus (1.38)

Wednesday

20.30: (3.05) Bologna (3.40) Roma (2.45)

20.30: (1.20) Inter (7.75) Spezia (16.0)

22.45: (6.00) Genoa (3.90) Milan (1.65)

22.45: (4.30) Sassuolo (3.70) Napoli (1.90)

Thursday

20.30: (1.88) Torino (3.70) Empoli (4.40)

22.45: (1.67) Lazio (3.90) Udinese (5.90)

***odds are subject to change