The feel-good story of the season in Serie A was surely Crotone's miraculous escape from relegation. The modest club from Calabria made their first venture into the top flight of Italian football as red hot favourites to go straight back down to Serie B. The early weeks of the season were very much following the script as they picked up just 2 points from their opening ten games, making them look woefully out of their depth at this level. There were mitigating circumstances as that sequence saw them play their home fixtures away from home at Stadio Adriatico. A return to Stadio Ezio Scida in late October brought their first victory over Chievo but it proved to be a false dawn as Davide Nicola's side only won two more games until April. They looked dead and buried going into the international break at the end of March when they were 8 points adrift of safety after a home defeat to Fiorentina but whatever Nicola worked on with his players during that hiatus produced a stunning turnaround. From the start of April to the end of the season, Crotone lost just once in nine matches and that was against champions Juventus. Despite that staggering run of form, it looked like that defeat would ultimately cost them as they went into the final day of the season a point behind Empoli who had a seemingly easy fixture against already-relegated Palermo. Crotone were tasked with a much more difficult game against Lazio who were still looking to secure 4th spot. However, against all the odds, Nicola's men pulled off the win whilst Empoli collapsed in Sicily. It is arguably the greatest escape in Serie A history and the club will now look to the example that Sassuolo have set in recent years towards establishing themselves in the top flight. Ironically, it was a player on loan from the Neroverdi who shone brightest for Crotone this season with Diego Falcinelli scoring an excellent 13 league goals, many of them vital ones.
