2018–19 Serie B

The 2018–19 Serie B (known as Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons)[18] was the 87th season of Serie B in Italy since its establishment in 1929.

Serie B

Season	2018–19
Dates	24 August 2018 – 9 June 2019
Champions	Brescia (4th title)
Promoted	Brescia Lecce Hellas Verona
Relegated	Palermo (to Serie D) Foggia (to Serie D) Padova Carpi
Matches played	352
Goals scored	911 (2.59 per match)
Top goalscorer	Alfredo Donnarumma (25 goals)[1]
Biggest home win	Lecce 7–0 Ascoli (23 March 2019)
Biggest away win	Pescara 1–5 Brescia (3 February 2019)
Highest scoring	Brescia 4–4 Spezia (27 January 2019)
Longest winning run	3 games Benevento[2] Brescia[3] Cittadella[4] Cosenza[5] Cremonese[6] Foggia[7] Hellas Verona[8] Lecce[9] Palermo[10] Perugia[10]
Longest unbeaten run	13 games Brescia[11] Palermo[12]
Longest winless run	11 games Crotone[13]
Longest losing run	5 games Padova[14] Salernitana[15]
Highest attendance	28,351 Palermo 2–2 Cittadella (11 May 2019)[16]
Lowest attendance	1,500 Carpi 0–1 Cittadella (1 September 2018)[16]
Total attendance	2,634,506[16][17]
Average attendance	7,506[16][17]
← 2017–18 2019–20 →

A total of 19 teams contested in the 2018–19 season, instead of the usual 22 teams, due to the exclusion of Bari, Cesena and Avellino. There are 12 teams returning from the 2017–18 Serie B season, 4 promoted from 2017–18 Serie C (Livorno, Padova, Lecce, Cosenza) and 3 relegated from 2017–18 Serie A (Crotone, Hellas Verona, Benevento).

Teams

The list of teams for the season was originally expected to feature 15 teams from the 2017–18 Serie B, as well as three teams who were relegated from the 2017–18 Serie A (Crotone, Verona and Benevento) and four promoted from the 2017–18 Serie C: league winners Livorno, Padova and Lecce, plus national playoff winners Cosenza.

Later in July, Bari and Cesena renounced on their participation to the league due to serious financial issues, whereas Avellino was excluded due to financial irregularities. Foggia was admitted, but it had eight points deducted.

Following these event, the Serie B league assembly voted in favour of reducing the number of teams from 22 to 20;[19] this move was promptly revoked by the Italian Football Federation due to bureaucratic issues who would not allow to change the league format for the current season.[20][21]

On 7 August, Avellino was finally excluded from the Serie B after losing on their appeal verdict to be readmitted in the league.[22]

Although it was expected that the three vacancies were to be filled by Catania, Novara and Siena, however Pro Vercelli and Ternana disagreed,[23] and on 10 August, the Lega B announced the 2018–19 season would go ahead with 19 teams instead of the regular 22.[24] The Italian Football Federation formalized the change of format for the Serie B from 22 to 19 teams later on 13 August.[25]

Stadiums and locations

Ascoli

Benevento

Brescia

Carpi

Cittadella

Cosenza

Cremonese

Crotone

Foggia

Lecce

Livorno

Padova

Palermo

Perugia

Pescara

Salernitana

Spezia

Verona

Venezia

Location of teams in 2018–19 Serie B

Team	Home city	Stadium	Capacity	2017–18 season
Ascoli	Ascoli Piceno	Stadio Cino e Lillo Del Duca	10,887	18th in Serie B
Benevento	Benevento	Stadio Ciro Vigorito	17,554	20th in Serie A
Brescia	Brescia	Stadio Mario Rigamonti	16,743	16th in Serie B
Carpi	Carpi	Stadio Sandro Cabassi	5,510	11th in Serie B
Cittadella	Cittadella	Stadio Pier Cesare Tombolato	7,623	6th in Serie B
Cosenza	Cosenza	Stadio San Vito-Gigi Marulla	20,987	5th Serie C/C, play-off winner
Cremonese	Cremona	Stadio Giovanni Zini	20,641	14th in Serie B
Crotone	Crotone	Stadio Ezio Scida	16,547	18th in Serie A
Foggia	Foggia	Stadio Pino Zaccheria	16,798	9th in Serie B
Hellas Verona	Verona	Stadio Marc'Antonio Bentegodi	38,402	19th in Serie A
Lecce	Lecce	Stadio Via del Mare	40,670	Serie C/C Champions
Livorno	Livorno	Stadio Armando Picchi	19,238	Serie C/A Champions
Padova	Padua	Stadio Euganeo	19,740	Serie C/B Champions
Palermo	Palermo	Stadio Renzo Barbera	36,349	4th in Serie B
Perugia	Perugia	Stadio Renato Curi	23,125	8th in Serie B
Pescara	Pescara	Stadio Adriatico-Giovanni Cornacchia	20,515	17th in Serie B
Salernitana	Salerno	Stadio Arechi	31,300	12th in Serie B
Spezia	La Spezia	Stadio Alberto Picco	10,290	10th in Serie B
Venezia	Venice	Stadio Pierluigi Penzo	7,450	5th in Serie B

Number of teams by regions

No. of teams	Region	Team(s)
4	Veneto	Cittadella, Hellas Verona, Padova and Venezia
2	Apulia	Foggia and Lecce
Calabria	Cosenza and Crotone
Campania	Benevento and Salernitana
Lombardy	Brescia and Cremonese
1	Abruzzo	Pescara
	Emilia-Romagna	Carpi
	Liguria	Spezia
	Marche	Ascoli
	Sicily	Palermo
	Tuscany	Livorno
	Umbria	Perugia

Personnel and kits

Team	President	Manager	Kit manufacturer	Sponsors
Ascoli	Giuliano Tosti	Vincenzo Vivarini	Nike
Benevento	Oreste Vigorito	Cristian Bucchi	FG Sport
Brescia	Massimo Cellino	David Suazo (till 18 Sep 2018) Eugenio Corini (from 18 Sep 2018)	Acerbis
Carpi	Claudio Caliumi	Marcello Chezzi (till 18 Sep 2018) Fabrizio Castori (from 18 Sep 2018)	Givova
Cittadella	Andrea Gabrielli	Roberto Venturato	Boxeur Des Rues
Cosenza	Eugenio Guarascio	Piero Braglia	Legea
Cremonese	Paolo Rossi	Andrea Mandorlini (till 4 Nov 2018) Massimo Rastelli (from 5 Nov 2018)	Garman
Crotone	Gianni Vrenna	Giovanni Stroppa (till 29 Oct 2018) Ivan Moschella (caretaker, 29 Oct–1 Nov 2018) Massimo Oddo (1 Nov–28 Dec 2018) Giovanni Stroppa (from 28 Dec 2018)	Zeus
Foggia	Lucio Fares	Gianluca Grassadonia (till 11 Dec 2018) Gaetano Pavone (caretaker, 11–18 Dec 2018) Pasquale Padalino (18 Dec 2018–10 Mar 2019) Gianluca Grassadonia (from 11 Mar 2019)	Nike
Hellas Verona	Maurizio Setti	Fabio Grosso (till 1 May 2019) Alfredo Aglietti (from 1 May 2019)	Macron
Lecce	Saverio Sticchi Damiani	Fabio Liverani	M908	MOBY, Maffei
Livorno	Aldo Spinelli	Cristiano Lucarelli (till 6 Nov 2018) Roberto Breda (from 7 Nov 2018)	Legea
Padova	Roberto Bonetto	Pierpaolo Bisoli (till 6 Nov 2018) Claudio Foscarini (6 Nov–28 Dec 2018) Pierpaolo Bisoli (28 Dec 2018–18 Mar 2019) Matteo Centurioni (from 18 Mar 2019)	Kappa
Palermo	Clive Richardson (29 Dec 2018–4 Feb 2019[26][27]) Rino Foschi (from 14 Feb 2019)[28]	Bruno Tedino (till 26 Sep 2018) Roberto Stellone (26 Sep 2018–23 Apr 2019) Delio Rossi (from 24 Apr 2019)	Legea	Unieuro[29]
Perugia	Massimiliano Santopadre	Alessandro Nesta	FG Sport
Pescara	Daniele Sebastiani	Giuseppe Pillon	Erreà
Salernitana	Marco Mezzaroma Claudio Lotito	Stefano Colantuono (till 18 Dec 2018) Angelo Gregucci (from 20 Dec 2018)	Givova
Spezia	Andrea Corradino	Pasquale Marino	Acerbis
Venezia	Joe Tacopina	Stefano Vecchi (till 11 Oct 2018) Walter Zenga (11 Oct 2018–5 Mar 2019) Serse Cosmi (from 5 Mar 2019)	Nike

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Replaced by	Date of appointment
Ascoli	Serse Cosmi	Sacked	Pre-season	Pre-season	Vincenzo Vivarini	Pre-season
Benevento	Roberto De Zerbi	End of contract			Christian Bucchi
Brescia	Ivo Pulga	End of contract			David Suazo
Carpi	Antonio Calabro	End of contract			Marcello Chezzi
Crotone	Walter Zenga	Mutual consent			Giovanni Stroppa
Foggia	Giovanni Stroppa	Signed by Crotone			Gianluca Grassadonia
Livorno	Andrea Sottil	Mutual consent			Cristiano Lucarelli
Palermo	Roberto Stellone	Mutual consent			Bruno Tedino
Spezia	Fabio Gallo	End of contract			Pasquale Marino
Hellas Verona	Fabio Pecchia	End of contract			Fabio Grosso
Venezia	Filippo Inzaghi	End of contract			Stefano Vecchi
Brescia	David Suazo	Sacked	18 September 2018[30]	15th	Eugenio Corini	18 September 2018[31]
Carpi	Marcello Chezzi	Mutual consent	18 September 2018[32]	18th	Fabrizio Castori	18 September 2018[33]
Palermo	Bruno Tedino	Sacked	26 September 2018[34]	7th	Roberto Stellone	26 September 2018[34]
Venezia	Stefano Vecchi	Sacked	11 October 2018[35]	16th	Walter Zenga	11 October 2018[35]
Crotone	Giovanni Stroppa	Sacked	29 October 2018[36]	11th	Ivan Moschella (caretaker)	29 October 2018
	Ivan Moschella	End of caretaker spell	1 November 2018	12th	Massimo Oddo	1 November 2018[36]
Cremonese	Andrea Mandorlini	Sacked	4 November 2018[37]	12th	Massimo Rastelli	5 November 2018[38]
Padova	Pierpaolo Bisoli	Sacked	6 November 2018[39]	16th	Claudio Foscarini	6 November 2018[39]
Livorno	Cristiano Lucarelli	Sacked	6 November 2018[40]	19th	Roberto Breda	7 November 2018[41]
Foggia	Gianluca Grassadonia	Sacked	11 December 2018[42]	18th	Gaetano Pavone (caretaker)	11 December 2018[43]
	Gaetano Pavone	End of caretaker spell	18 December 2018[44]	17th	Pasquale Padalino	18 December 2018[44]
Salernitana	Stefano Colantuono	Resigned	18 December 2018[45]	10th	Angelo Gregucci	20 December 2018[46]
Crotone	Massimo Oddo	Resigned	28 December 2018[47]	14th	Giovanni Stroppa	28 December 2018[47]
Padova	Claudio Foscarini	Sacked	28 December 2018[48]	19th	Pierpaolo Bisoli	28 December 2018[48]
Venezia	Walter Zenga	Sacked	5 March 2019[49]	16th	Serse Cosmi	5 March 2019[49]
Foggia	Pasquale Padalino	Sacked	10 March 2019[50]	17th	Gianluca Grassadonia	11 March 2019[51]
Padova	Pierpaolo Bisoli	Sacked	18 March 2019[52]	18th	Matteo Centurioni	18 March 2019[52]
Palermo	Roberto Stellone	Sacked	23 April 2019[53]	3rd	Delio Rossi	24 April 2019[54]
Hellas Verona	Fabio Grosso	Sacked	1 May 2019[55]	6th	Alfredo Aglietti	1 May 2019[55]

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion, qualification or relegation
1	Brescia (C, P)	36	18	13	5	69	42	+27	67	Promotion to Serie A
2	Lecce (P)	36	19	9	8	66	45	+21	66
3	Benevento	36	17	9	10	61	45	+16	60	Qualification to promotion play-offs semi-finals
4	Pescara	36	14	13	9	50	46	+4	55
5	Hellas Verona (O, P)	36	13	13	10	49	46	+3	52	Qualification to promotion play-offs preliminary round
6	Spezia	36	14	9	13	53	46	+7	51[lower-alpha 1]
7	Cittadella	36	12	15	9	49	38	+11	51[lower-alpha 1]
8	Perugia	36	14	8	14	49	49	0	50
9	Cremonese	36	12	13	11	37	33	+4	49
10	Cosenza	36	11	13	12	34	42	−8	46
11	Palermo[lower-alpha 2] (E, R, R)	36	16	15	5	57	38	+19	43[lower-alpha 3]	Relegation to Serie D
12	Crotone	36	11	10	15	40	42	−2	43[lower-alpha 3]
13	Ascoli	36	10	13	13	40	56	−16	43[lower-alpha 3]
14	Livorno	36	9	12	15	38	51	−13	39
15	Venezia[lower-alpha 4] (T)	36	8	14	14	35	46	−11	38[lower-alpha 5]	Qualification to relegation play-out
16	Salernitana	36	10	8	18	41	57	−16	38[lower-alpha 5]
17	Foggia[lower-alpha 6] (R, E, R)	36	10	13	13	44	49	−5	37	Relegation to Serie D
18	Padova (R)	36	5	16	15	36	49	−13	31	Relegation to Serie C
19	Carpi (R)	36	7	8	21	39	67	−28	29

Source: Lega Serie B
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head points; 3) Head-to-head goal difference; 4) Goal difference; 5) Goals scored; 6) Draw.[56]
(C) Champion; (E) Eliminated; (O) Play-off winner; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated; (T) Qualified, but not yet to the particular phase indicated.
Notes:

1. Spezia finished ahead of Cittadella on head-to-head points: Spezia 1–0 Cittadella, Cittadella 0–1 Spezia.
2. Palermo were initially deducted twenty points for financial irregularities, they were excluded from the 2019–20 Serie B on 12th July 2019.
3. Positions determined by head-to-head points: Palermo: 9 pts; Crotone: 6 pts; Ascoli 3 pts.
4. Venezia was readmitted to 2019-20 Serie B after Palermo's exclusion.
5. Venezia finished ahead of Salernitana on head-to-head points: Venezia 1–0 Salernitana, Salernitana 1–1 Venezia.
6. Foggia were initially deducted six points for administral irregularities and relegated to 2019-20 Serie C, they were excluded from the 2019–20 Serie C on 12th July 2019.

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.

Team ╲ Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38
Brescia	6	15	15	14	8	10	9	10	6	8	8	6	8	5	4	2	3	2	2	2	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Lecce	4	8	14	9	6	6	3	6	8	5	7	5	3	2	2	3	2	4	5	4	3	3	4	4	6	4	6	4	4	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2
Benevento	3	12	9	5	3	3	8	4	3	6	6	8	5	6	7	7	7	6	6	6	6	5	3	3	4	2	4	6	6	6	6	4	4	4	4	4	4	3
Pescara	12	3	7	4	2	2	1	1	1	1	1	2	2	4	3	4	6	5	3	3	4	4	5	5	3	5	3	5	5	5	5	6	5	5	5	5	5	4
Hellas Verona	9	14	2	1	1	1	2	2	2	3	3	7	7	9	6	6	5	3	4	5	5	6	7	6	5	6	5	3	3	4	4	5	6	6	6	6	9	5
Spezia	16	6	13	8	11	8	4	7	9	9	11	12	9	12	9	9	10	9	7	7	9	7	6	7	7	7	8	9	8	9	8	9	7	7	7	7	6	6
Cittadella	1	1	1	2	5	5	7	8	5	7	5	4	4	3	5	5	4	7	8	8	7	8	8	10	8	10	9	7	9	8	9	7	8	8	8	9	7	7
Perugia	11	2	8	12	14	13	11	13	13	13	10	9	10	8	8	8	8	8	9	10	8	9	9	8	9	8	7	8	7	7	7	8	9	9	9	10	10	8
Cremonese	8	9	5	6	4	4	6	9	10	11	12	10	12	11	11	13	13	13	12	12	11	11	11	11	13	13	13	13	13	13	11	11	12	12	10	8	8	9
Cosenza	7	13	16	16	17	17	18	14	14	15	15	16	15	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	12	11	11	11	11	11	11	13	12	11	11	12	11	11	10
Palermo	13	10	6	3	7	9	5	3	4	2	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	2	2	2	3	2	2	2	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	11
Crotone	18	5	3	7	9	11	12	11	11	12	14	14	14	15	15	15	16	17	18	19	16	16	17	17	18	17	17	16	16	14	14	14	14	14	14	13	13	12
Ascoli	5	16	10	13	12	12	13	12	12	10	9	11	11	10	12	10	11	11	10	11	13	13	13	14	12	12	12	12	12	12	10	10	10	10	11	12	12	13
Livorno	15	17	17	17	18	18	19	19	19	18	19	19	19	19	19	19	18	16	16	17	18	18	16	16	15	16	15	14	14	15	15	17	17	16	16	15	15	14
Venezia	2	7	12	15	16	15	16	16	16	14	13	13	13	13	13	11	12	12	13	13	12	12	12	13	14	14	16	15	15	16	16	16	15	15	15	16	17	15
Salernitana	14	11	4	10	10	7	10	5	7	4	4	3	6	7	10	12	9	10	11	9	10	10	10	9	10	9	10	10	10	10	12	13	13	13	13	14	14	16
Foggia	19	19	19	19	19	19	17	18	17	17	17	17	18	18	18	17	17	18	17	16	15	15	15	15	16	15	14	17	17	17	17	15	16	17	17	17	16	17
Padova	10	4	11	11	13	14	14	15	15	16	16	15	16	16	16	18	19	19	19	18	19	19	19	18	19	19	19	18	18	18	18	19	19	19	19	19	18	18
Carpi	17	18	18	18	15	16	15	17	18	19	18	18	17	17	17	16	15	15	15	15	17	17	18	19	17	18	18	19	19	19	19	18	18	18	18	18	19	19

	Champions, promotion to Serie A
	Promotion to Serie A
	Play-off semifinals
	Play-off preliminary round
	Play-out
	Relegation to Serie C

Source: Serie BKT

Results

Home \ Away	ASC	BEN	BRE	CAR	CIT	COS	CRE	CRO	FOG	VER	LEC	LIV	PAD	PAL	PER	PES	SAL	SPE	VEN
Ascoli	—	2–2	1–1	1–0	1–1	1–1	0–0	3–2	2–2	1–0	1–0	1–1	2–3	1–2	0–3	2–1	2–4	3–1	1–0
Benevento	1–2	—	1–1	3–1	1–0	4–2	2–1	3–0	1–3	0–1	3–3	1–0	3–3	1–2	2–1	2–1	4–0	2–3	3–0
Brescia	1–0	2–3	—	3–1	0–1	1–0	3–2	2–0	2–1	4–2	2–1	2–0	4–1	2–1	1–1	1–1	3–0	4–4	2–0
Carpi	1–1	2–2	1–1	—	0–1	1–1	1–2	1–2	0–2	1–1	0–1	1–4	2–1	0–3	0–1	0–0	3–2	3–2	2–3
Cittadella	2–2	0–1	2–2	3–1	—	2–0	1–3	3–0	1–1	3–0	4–1	4–0	1–1	0–1	2–2	4–1	3–1	0–1	3–2
Cosenza	0–0	0–0	2–3	1–0	2–0	—	2–0	1–0	2–0	0–3[57]	2–3	1–1	2–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	0–0	1–0	1–1
Cremonese	0–1	1–0	0–0	1–2	0–0	2–0	—	1–0	1–0	1–1	2–0	1–0	0–0	2–0	4–0	1–1	0–0	2–0	0–1
Crotone	3–0	1–0	2–2	1–1	0–0	0–1	0–0	—	4–1	1–2	2–2	1–1	2–1	3–0	2–0	0–2	1–1	0–3	1–1
Foggia	3–2	1–1	2–2	4–2	1–1	1–0	3–1	0–2	—	2–2	2–2	2–2	2–1	1–2	1–0	1–1	3–1	1–0	1–1
Hellas Verona	1–1	0–3	2–2	4–1	4–0	2–2	1–1	1–1	2–1	—	0–2	2–3	1–1	1–1	2–1	3–1	1–0	2–1	1–0
Lecce	7–0	1–1	1–0	4–1	1–1	3–1	2–0	1–0	1–0	2–1	—	3–2	3–2	1–2	0–0	2–0	2–2	2–1	2–1
Livorno	1–0	2–1	0–1	1–0	0–0	2–0	1–3	0–1	3–1	0–0	0–3	—	1–1	2–2	2–3	0–0	1–0	1–3	1–0
Padova	1–2	0–1	1–1	0–1	0–0	0–0	1–1	0–0	1–1	3–0	2–1	1–1	—	1–3	0–1	2–2	0–0	0–0	1–0
Palermo	3–0	0–0	1–1	4–1	2–2	2–1	2–2	1–0	0–0	1–0	2–1	1–1	1–1	—	4–1	3–0	1–2	2–2	1–1
Perugia	2–0	2–4	0–2	0–1	0–0	0–1	3–1	2–1	3–0	1–2	1–2	3–1	3–2	1–2	—	2–1	3–1	1–1	1–0
Pescara	1–1	2–1	1–5	2–0	0–1	1–1	0–0	2–1	1–0	1–1	4–2	2–1	2–0	3–2	1–1	—	2–0	2–0	1–0
Salernitana	1–1	0–1	1–3	2–5	4–2	1–2	2–0	0–2	1–0	1–0	1–2	3–1	3–0	0–0	2–1	2–4	—	1–0	1–1
Spezia	3–2	3–1	3–2	2–1	1–0	4–0	2–0	2–0	0–0	1–2	1–1	3–0	0–2	1–1	1–1	1–3	2–1	—	1–1
Venezia	1–0	2–3	2–1	1–1	1–1	0–1	1–1	1–4	1–0	1–1	1–1	1–1	2–1	1–1	2–3	2–2	1–0	1–0	—

Source: Serie BKT
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

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.

	Preliminary round					Semi-finals							Finals
						7	Cittadella	1	3	4
	6	Spezia	1			3	Benevento	2	0	2
	7	Cittadella	2										7	Cittadella	2	0	2
													5	Hellas Verona	0	3	3
						5	Hellas Verona	0	1	1
	5	Hellas Verona (a.e.t.)	4			4	Pescara	0	0	0
	8	Perugia	1

Preliminary round

17 May 2019	Spezia	1–2	Cittadella	La Spezia
21:00 CEST (UTC+2)	Maggiore  52'	Report	Moncini  22', 66'	Stadium: Stadio Alberto Picco Attendance: 7,442[16] Referee: Francesco Fourneau

18 May 2019	Hellas Verona	4–1 (a.e.t.)	Perugia	Verona
21:00 CEST (UTC+2)	Di Carmine  41' Empereur  101' Pazzini  118', 120+1'	Report	Vido  89' (pen.)	Stadium: Stadio Marc'Antonio Bentegodi Attendance: 10,234[16] Referee: Ivano Pezzuto

First leg

21 May 2019	Cittadella	1–2	Benevento	Cittadella
21:00 CEST (UTC+2)	Proia  10'	Report	Insigne  76' Coda  83'	Stadium: Stadio Pier Cesare Tombolato Attendance: 6,250[16] Referee: Davide Ghersini

22 May 2019	Hellas Verona	0–0	Pescara	Verona
21:00 CEST (UTC+2)		Report		Stadium: Stadio Marc'Antonio Bentegodi Attendance: 11,308[16] Referee: Livio Marinelli

Second leg

25 May 2019	Benevento	0–3 (2–4 agg.)	Cittadella	Benevento
21:00 CEST (UTC+2)		Report	Diaw  36' Panico  44' Moncini  54'	Stadium: Stadio Ciro Vigorito Attendance: 10,669[16] Referee: Juan Luca Sacchi

26 May 2019	Pescara	0–1 (0–1 agg.)	Hellas Verona	Pescara
21:00 CEST (UTC+2)		Report	Di Carmine  74' (pen.)	Stadium: Stadio Adriatico Attendance: 11,165[16] Referee: Eugenio Abbattista

First leg

30 May 2019	Cittadella	2–0	Hellas Verona	Cittadella
21:00 CEST (UTC+2)	Diaw  6', 80'	Report		Stadium: Stadio Pier Cesare Tombolato Attendance: 7,623[16] Referee: Antonio Giua

Second leg

2 June 2019	Hellas Verona	3–0 (3–2 agg.)	Cittadella	Verona
21:15 CEST (UTC+2)	Zaccagni  27' Di Carmine  69' Laribi  83'	Report		Stadium: Stadio Marc'Antonio Bentegodi Attendance: 25,248[16] Referee: Marco Piccinini

Relegation play-out

The relegation play-out was originally scheduled to be played between the 15th and the 16th placed teams in the table — Venezia and Salernitana. However, following the relegation of Palermo to the bottom of the table due to administrative offense (financial irregularities),[58] the Lega B announced no relegation play-off would be held, thus effectively relegating Foggia directly.[59]

However, on 23 May 2019, the Regional Administrative Tribunal (TAR) of Lazio declared void the procedure followed by the Lega B, provisionally reintroducing the play-out, this time between Salernitana (15th) and Foggia (16th), in accordance with the new standings after Palermo were subsequently placed at the bottom of the league table due to financial irregularities.[60] The decision was upheld by the Guarantee College of Sports (Collegio di garanzia dello sport) on 27 May.

Finally, on 29 May, the Court of Appeal of the Italian Football Federation (Corte d'Appello della FIGC) annulled the relegation of Palermo, who were sanctioned with 20 points of penalization instead, and hence changed the composition of the matches, causing the immediate relegation of Foggia, and the re-admission to the play-out of Venezia. Nevertheless, the players of both teams threatened to boycott the challenge, regarding it as late in the calendar (25 days after the last match), problematic for holidays and recesses of players, and conflicting with the FIFA International Calendar and a resolution of Lega B, according to which Serie B matches could not be held during the national team period (3–11 June).[61]

Matches

The higher-placed team played at home for the second leg. If tied on aggregate, extra time and a penalty shoot-out would be played because both teams ended up with the same number of points in the table. The losers would be relegated to Serie C for the following season.

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Salernitana	2–2 (4–2 p)	Venezia	2–1	0–1 (a.e.t.)

First leg

5 June 2019	Salernitana	2–1	Venezia	Salerno
20:45 CEST (UTC+2)	Đurić  14' Jallow  25'	Report	Zigoni  90+1'	Stadium: Stadio Arechi Attendance: 12,722[16] Referee: Aleandro Di Paolo

Second leg

9 June 2019	Venezia	1–0 (a.e.t.) (2–4 p)	Salernitana	Venice
18:00 CEST (UTC+2)	Modolo  41'	Report		Stadium: Stadio Pierluigi Penzo Attendance: 4,414[16] Referee: Gianluca Aureliano
	Penalties
	Domizzi Suciu Bentivoglio Coppolaro		Casasola Calaiò Pucino Di Tacchio

On 12 July, the FIGC retired the professional license of Palermo. According to the new regulations enacted by the FIGC in January 2019, the relegation play-out was consequently considered null and void, and both Venezia and Salernitana were allowed to remain in Serie B.

Season statistics

Top goalscorers Rank Player Club Goals[1] 1 Alfredo Donnarumma Brescia 25 2 Massimo Coda^1 Benevento 22 3 Leonardo Mancuso Pescara 19 4 Andrea La Mantia Lecce 17 5 Gabriele Moncini^3 Cittadella 15 6 Ilija Nestorovski Palermo 14 Simy Crotone 8 Marco Mancosu Lecce 13 9 Giampaolo Pazzini^2 Hellas Verona 12 Ernesto Torregrossa Brescia Valerio Verre Perugia Note ^1Player scored 1 goal in the play-offs. ^2Player scored 2 goals in the play-offs. ^3Player scored 3 goals in the play-offs.

Top assists Rank Player Club Assists[1] 1 Ledian Memushaj Pescara 10 David Okereke Spezia 3 Aleksandar Trajkovski Palermo 9 4 Jaime Báez Cosenza 8 Nicolas Haas Palermo Ernesto Torregrossa Brescia 7 Alessandro Diamanti Livorno 7 Alfredo Donnarumma Brescia Filippo Falco Lecce Manuel Marras Pescara Luca Mora Spezia Nikola Ninković Ascoli

Hat-tricks

Player	Club	Against	Result	Date
Giampaolo Pazzini	Hellas Verona	Carpi	4–1 (H)	16 September 2018
Alfredo Donnarumma	Brescia	Padova	4–1 (H)	7 October 2018
Mattia Finotto	Cittadella	Venezia	3-2 (H)	11 November 2018
Alfredo Donnarumma	Brescia	Salernitana	3-1 (A)	10 December 2018
Giampaolo Pazzini	Hellas Verona	Cittadella	4-0 (H)	27 December 2018
Leonardo Mancuso	Pescara	Salernitana	4-2 (A)	30 December 2018
Alfredo Donnarumma	Brescia	Spezia	4-4 (H)	27 January 2019
Gabriele Moncini	Cittadella	Lecce	4-1 (H)	23 February 2019
Milan Đurić	Salernitana	Cittadella	4-2 (H)	13 April 2019
Massimo Coda	Benevento	Hellas Verona	3-0 (A)	22 April 2019
Gianmarco Zigoni	Venezia	Carpi	3-2 (A)	11 May 2019

Note

(H) – Home (A) – Away

Clean sheets

Rank	Player	Club	Clean sheets	Weeks
1	Alberto Paleari^2	Cittadella	14	1-3, 9, 11, 13, 15, 20, 27, 32, 36-37
2	Pietro Perina	Cosenza	12	13, 16-18, 20, 22, 24-26, 32-34
3	Alex Cordaz	Crotone	10	3, 20-21, 26-28, 31, 33, 36, 38
	Vincenzo Fiorillo^1	Pescara		4, 18, 20-21, 24-25, 27, 34, 38
	Mauro Vigorito	Lecce		5, 7, 10, 13-15, 28, 22[lower-alpha 1], 30, 35
6	Alessandro Micai	Salernitana	9	1, 3, 6-7, 12, 17-18, 22, 26
	Nicola Ravaglia	Cremonese		5, 12, 14–15, 19–21, 23, 33
8	Gabriel	Perugia	8	2, 7, 15, 18, 21, 24, 29, 36
	Eugenio Lamanna	Spezia		9, 13, 15, 18, 22-23, 26, 37
	Lorenzo Montipò	Benevento		14, 16-18, 22-24, 34
	Marco Silvestri^3	Hellas Verona		15, 17-18, 25, 27

1. Played between weeks 29 and 30.

Note

¹Player had 1 clean sheet in the play-offs.
²Player had 2 clean sheets in the play-offs.
³Player had 3 clean sheets in the play-offs.

Attendance data of regular season

Pos	Team	Total	High	Low	Average	Change
1	Lecce	218,079	25,135	8,198	12,116	+20.6%^C
2	Benevento	192,039	13,622	9,505	10,669	−12.1%^A
3	Verona	190,336	14,517	8,258	10,574	−39.0%^A
4	Foggia	183,913	12,537	8,836	10,217	−7.6%^†
5	Palermo	169,084	28,351	4,513	9,394	+4.0%^†
6	Salernitana	153,237	12,979	5,705	8,513	−2.4%^†
7	Brescia	148,154	14,000	5,502	8,231	+19.9%^†
8	Perugia	141,516	9,501	6,883	7,862	−9.3%^†
9	Padova	135,782	9,338	6,405	7,543	+43.2%^C
10	Cremonese	130,218	11,840	5,416	7,234	+0.4%^†
11	Cosenza	128,868	12,375	4,794	7,580	+243.6%^C
12	Pescara	126,486	9,939	5,516	7,027	−7.2%^†
13	Crotone	115,610	10,565	4,879	6,423	−39.3%^A
14	Ascoli	109,108	8,416	4,789	6,062	+12.9%^†
15	Livorno	105,831	6,594	4,986	5,880	+0.9%^C
16	Spezia	97,856	6,508	4,845	5,436	−3.6%^†
17	Cittadella	75,974	6,605	2,892	4,221	+19.3%^†
18	Venezia	64,485	5,630	2,181	3,583	−14.7%^†
19	Carpi	40,855	3,812	1,500	2,270	+4.1%^†
	League total	2,527,431	28,351	1,500	7,412	+7.0%^†

Source: Stadia Postcards
Notes:
^A Team played last season in Serie A.
^C Team played last season in Serie C.

References

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2. Matchdays 3-5 and 22-24.
3. Matchdays 14-16 and 32-34.
4. Matchdays 1-3 and 25-28.
5. Matchdays 24-26.
6. Matchdays 34-36.
7. Matchdays 5-7.
8. Matchdays 3-5. The forfeit win over Cosenza on week 2 is not counted.
9. Matchdays 12-14, 22/30-31 and 33-35. The match on week 22 has been played between weeks 29 and 30.
10. Matchdays 10-12.
11. Matchdays 14-26.
12. Matchdays 7-19.
13. Matchdays 9-20.
14. Matchdays 13-18.
15. Matchdays 34-38.
16. "Attendance Statistics of Serie B 2018-2019". StadiaPostcards.
17. Regular season + play-offs and play-out.
18. http://www.calcioefinanza.it/2018/06/22/nuovo-title-sponsor-serie-b-bkt/
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29. http://palermocalcio.it/en/sponsor/
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38. "Serie B Cremonese, ufficiale: Rastelli è il nuovo allenatore" (in Italian). Corriere dello Sport - Stadio. 5 November 2018. Retrieved 10 November 2018.
39. "Calcio Padova, "ribaltone" a sorpresa: esonerato Bisoli, al suo posto Foscarini" (in Italian). Padova Oggi. 6 November 2018. Retrieved 11 December 2018.
40. "Livorno: Lucarelli esonerato. E gli Spinelli si dimettono" (in Italian). La Gazzetta dello Sport. 6 November 2018. Retrieved 10 November 2018.
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42. "Serie B: Foggia, esonerato Grassadonia" (in Italian). La Gazzetta dello Sport. 11 December 2018. Retrieved 11 December 2018.
43. "Foggia calcio, scocca l'ora di Gaetano Pavone: "Sono emozionato ma devo concentrarmi sulla partita"" (in Italian). Foggia Sport 24. 13 December 2018. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
44. "Padalino è il nuovo allenatore del Foggia" (in Italian). Foggia Calcio. 18 December 2018. Archived from the original on 19 December 2018. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
45. "Comunicato Stampa" (in Italian). US Salernitana 1919. 18 December 2018. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
46. "Salernitana, Gregucci nuovo allenatore. Lascia lo staff della Nazionale" (in Italian). La Gazzetta dello Sport. 20 December 2018. Retrieved 20 December 2018.
47. "ODDO SI DIMETTE. STROPPA È IL NUOVO ALLENATORE" (in Italian). FC Crotone. 28 December 2018. Retrieved 28 December 2018.
48. "Sollevato dall'incarico mister Claudio Foscarini. Guida tecnica della prima squadra affidata a mister Pierpaolo Bisoli" (in Italian). Calcio Padova. 28 December 2018. Retrieved 28 December 2018.
49. "Venezia sack Zenga for Cosmi". Football Italia. 5 March 2019. Retrieved 21 March 2019.
50. "Foggia, esonerato Padalino: torna Grassadonia" (in Italian). Sky Sports Italia. 10 March 2019. Retrieved 21 March 2019.
51. "Il Foggia richiama Grassadonia: ufficiale il suo ritorno in panchina" (in Italian). Sky Sports Italia. 10 March 2019. Retrieved 21 March 2019.
52. "Padova, Bisoli esonerato. Centurioni nuovo allenatore" (in Italian). La Gazzetta dello Sport. 18 March 2019. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
53. "COMUNICATO DELLA SOCIETÀ". U.S. Città di Palermo (in Italian).
54. "Official: Rossi returns to Palermo". Football Italia. 24 April 2019.
55. "Verona, esonerato Grosso: Setti ha scelto Aglietti". La Gazzetta dello Sport (in Italian). 1 May 2019. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
56. "Norme organizzative interne della F.I.G.C. - Art. 51.6" (PDF) (in Italian). Italian Football Federation. 14 August 2015. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
57. On September the 1st the match was postponed due to impracticability of the field, then it was won by forfeit by Hellas Verona because Cosenza didn't inform Lega B about the bad condition of the ground. Official statement n. 25, 14 Sep 2018 (Italian) Archived 22 December 2019 at the Wayback Machine
58. "BREAKING: Palermo relegated to Serie C". Football Italia. 13 May 2019.
59. "Serie B: Play-Outs cancelled". Football Italia. 13 May 2019.
60. "Serie B, Tar dà ragione al Foggia: annullato lo stop al play out" (in Italian). La Repubblica. 23 May 2019.
61. "Salernitana e Venezia, la rivolta dei calciatori: «No ai playout, ledono i nostri diritti»" (in Italian). Corriere dello Sport. 31 May 2019.

External links

• Official website