2021–22 Spezia Calcio season

Spezia
2021–22 season
Owner	Robert Platek
Chairman	Philip Platek
Manager	Thiago Motta
Stadium	Stadio Alberto Picco
Serie A	16th
Coppa Italia	Second round
Top goalscorer	League: ; Daniele Verde (8); All: ; Daniele Verde (8)
	← 2020–21 2022–23 →

The 2021–22 season was the 115th season in the existence of Spezia Calcio and the club's second consecutive season in the top flight of Italian football. In addition to the domestic league, Spezia participated in that season's edition of the Coppa Italia.

Season overview

On 5 July 2021, Thiago Motta was appointed head coach, replacing Vincenzo Italiano who had left for Fiorentina.^[1]^[2]^[3]

On 16 July, Spezia were banned from four transfer windows, starting in January 2022, after breaching FIFA rules on signing minors. The club were also fined 500,000 Swiss francs ($543,832) for the offense.^[4]

On 28 June 2022, Motta left Spezia by mutual agreement.^[5]

Players

First-team squad

As of 1 November 2021^[6]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
1	GK	NED	Jeroen Zoet
6	MF	MAR	Mehdi Bourabia (on loan from Sassuolo)
7	DF	ITA	Jacopo Sala
8	MF	UKR	Viktor Kovalenko (on loan from Atalanta)
9	FW	ALB	Rey Manaj (on loan from Barcelona)
10	FW	ITA	Daniele Verde
11	FW	GHA	Emmanuel Gyasi
13	DF	POL	Arkadiusz Reca (on loan from Atalanta)
14	DF	POL	Jakub Kiwior
15	DF	BUL	Petko Hristov
17	FW	ISR	Suf Podgoreanu
18	FW	ANG	M'Bala Nzola
19	FW	GAM	Ebrima Colley (on loan from Atalanta)
20	DF	ITA	Simone Bastoni
21	DF	ESP	Salva Ferrer
22	FW	FRA	Janis Antiste


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
25	MF	ITA	Giulio Maggiore (captain)
27	DF	FRA	Kelvin Amian
28	DF	CRO	Martin Erlić (on loan from Sassuolo)
29	FW	ITA	Eddie Salcedo (on loan from Inter)
31	MF	SWE	Aimar Sher
33	MF	COL	Kevin Agudelo (on loan from Genoa)
39	MF	FRA	Aurélien Nguiamba
40	GK	BIH	Petar Zovko
43	DF	GRE	Dimitris Nikolaou
44	FW	SVK	David Strelec
77	DF	ITA	Nicolò Bertola
80	MF	ITA	Niccolò Pietra
88	MF	BRA	Léo Sena
94	GK	ITA	Ivan Provedel
99	FW	ITA	Diego Zuppel

Out on loan

As of 3 September 2021

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	DF	ITA	Lorenzo Colombini (at Giana Erminio until 30 June 2022)
—	DF	ITA	Elio Capradossi (at SPAL until 30 June 2022)
—	DF	SWE	Emil Holm (at SønderjyskE until 30 June 2022)
—	DF	ITA	Luca Vignali (at Como until 30 June 2022)
—	MF	DEN	Emil Kornvig (at SønderjyskE until 30 June 2022)
—	MF	ITA	Matteo Figoli (at Carrarese until 30 June 2022)


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	FW	ALB	Kleis Bozhanaj (at Casa Pia until 30 June 2022)
—	FW	ISL	Mikael Egill Ellertsson (at SPAL until 30 June 2022)
—	FW	SVK	Samuel Mráz (at Slovan Bratislava until 30 June 2022)
—	FW	POR	Leandro Sanca (at Casa Pia until 30 June 2022)
—	FW	MNE	Ognjen Stijepović (at Pistoiese until 30 June 2022)

Transfers and loans

Transfers in

Entry date	Position	Player	From club	Fee	Ref.
5 July 2021	DF	Petko Hristov	Fiorentina	Free	^[7]
12 July 2021	GK	Petar Zovko	Sampdoria	Free	^[8]
22 July 2021	DF	Kelvin Amian	Toulouse	€3,200,000	^[9]

Pre-season and friendlies

Win Draw Loss Fixtures

Spezia announced a squad of 24 players to take part in pre-season training, beginning on 12 July 2021.^[10]

24 July 2021 Friendly	Spezia	Cancelled	Lecce	Arco di Trento, Italy
17:00 CEST (UTC+2)				Stadium: Stadio Comunale di Arco

30 July 2021 Friendly	Sampdoria	Cancelled	Spezia	Cles, Italy
17:00 CEST (UTC+2)				Stadium: Campo Sportivo Cles

31 July 2021 Friendly	Spezia	Cancelled	Montebelluna	Ronzone, Italy
17:00 CEST (UTC+2)				Stadium: Campo sportivo Ronzone

3 August 2021 Friendly	Spezia	Cancelled	Trento	Ronzone, Italy
17:00 CEST (UTC+2)				Stadium: Campo sportivo Ronzone

6 August 2021 Friendly	Spezia	Cancelled	Cremonese	Cles, Italy
17:00 CEST (UTC+2)				Stadium: Campo Sportivo Cles

Competitions

Overall record

Competition	First match	Last match	Starting round	Final position	Record
Competition	First match	Last match	Starting round	Final position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Win %
Serie A	22 August 2021	22 May 2022	Matchday 1	16th	38	10	6	22	41	71	−30	026.32
Coppa Italia	13 August 2021	16 December 2021	First round	Second round	2	1	0	1	3	3	+0	050.00
Total					40	11	6	23	44	74	−30	027.50

Source: Soccerway

Serie A

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
14	Empoli	38	10	11	17	50	70	−20	41
15	Sampdoria	38	10	6	22	46	63	−17	36
16	Spezia	38	10	6	22	41	71	−30	36
17	Salernitana	38	7	10	21	33	78	−45	31
18	Cagliari (R)	38	6	12	20	34	68	−34	30	Relegation to Serie B

Source: Serie A
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head points; 3) Head-to-head goal difference; 4) Goal difference; 5) Goals scored; 6) Draw. (Note: Head-to-head record is used only after all the matches between the teams in question have been played)
(R) Relegated

Results summary


Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
38	10	6	22	41	71	−30	36	5	3	11	21	30	−9	5	3	11	20	41	−21

Source: Serie A

Results by round

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
Ground	A	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	H
Result	D	L	L	W	L	L	L	W	L	D	L	W	L	L	L	D	L	D	W	L	W	W	W	D	L	L	L	L	W	L	W	D	L	L	L	L	W	L
Position	12	15	18	13	17	17	19	16	17	17	18	16	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	16	14	14	15	15	15	16	16	15	16	15	15	15	15	16	16	16	16

Updated to match(es) played on 22 May 2022. Source: Serie A
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Matches

The league fixtures were announced on 14 July 2021.^[11]

23 August 2021 1	Cagliari	2–2	Spezia	Cagliari
18:30 CEST (UTC+2)	João Pedro 62', 66' (pen.) Zappa 79' Strootman 82'	Report	Gyasi 7', 66' Bastoni 14', 58' Nikolaou 45+1'	Stadium: Sardegna Arena Attendance: 5,387 Referee: Francesco Fourneau

28 August 2021 2	Lazio	6–1	Spezia	Rome
18:30 CEST (UTC+2)	Immobile 5', 15', 45+2', 45+1' Felipe Anderson 47' Hysaj 70' Luis Alberto 85'	Report	Verde 4' Erlić 45+1' Gyasi 49' Amian 54'	Stadium: Stadio Olimpico Attendance: 22,000 Referee: Federico Dionisi

12 September 2021 3	Spezia	0–1	Udinese	La Spezia
15:00 CEST (UTC+2)	Nikolaou 14'	Report	Pussetto 13' Arslan 14' Samardžić 89'	Stadium: Stadio Alberto Picco Attendance: 5,162 Referee: Marco Guida

19 September 2021 4	Venezia	1–2	Spezia	Ferrara
15:00 CEST (UTC+2)	Mazzocchi 26' Vacca 57' Ceccaroni 59' Busio 69' Heymans 84'	Report	Bastoni 13' Ferrer 47' Bourabia 90+4'	Stadium: Stadio Paolo Mazza Attendance: 3,688 Referee: Rosario Abisso

22 September 2021 5	Spezia	2–3	Juventus	La Spezia
18:30 CEST (UTC+2)	Gyasi 33' Antiste 49' Nikolaou 85' Nzola 90+4'	Report	Kean 28' Chiesa 66' De Ligt 72' Morata 90+1'	Stadium: Stadio Alberto Picco Attendance: 5,700 Referee: Gianluca Aureliano

25 September 2021 6	Spezia	1–2	Milan	La Spezia
15:00 CEST (UTC+2)	Sala 25' Verde 80' Nikolaou 89'	Report	Maldini 48', 58' Brahim 87' Hernandez 90'	Stadium: Stadio Alberto Picco Attendance: 3,618 Referee: Gianluca Manganiello

3 October 2021 7	Hellas Verona	4–0	Spezia	Verona
15:00 CEST (UTC+2)	Simeone 4' Faraoni 15' Caprari 28', 42' Bessa 71'	Report	Ferrer 40' Bastoni 82'	Stadium: Stadio Marcantonio Bentegodi Attendance: 8,398 Referee: Giacomo Camplone

16 October 2021 8	Spezia	2–1	Salernitana	La Spezia
15:00 CEST (UTC+2)	Strelec 51' Gyasi 62' Kovalenko 76' Manaj 90'	Report	Simy 39' Obi 53' Coulibaly 60' Ranieri 80'	Stadium: Stadio Alberto Picco Attendance: 6,023 Referee: Davide Massa

22 October 2021 9	Sampdoria	2–1	Spezia	Genoa
20:45 CEST (UTC+2)	Gyasi 15' (o.g.) Candreva 36', 57' Bereszyński 44' Colley 45+2'	Report	Hristov 14' Verde 90+5'	Stadium: Stadio Luigi Ferraris Attendance: 7,493 Referee: Michael Fabbri

26 October 2021 10	Spezia	1–1	Genoa	La Spezia
18:30 CEST (UTC+2)	Bastoni 55' Sirigu 66' (o.g.) Provedel 85'	Report	Biraschi 60' Kallon 65' Caicedo 79' Criscito 86' (pen.) Masiello 89'	Stadium: Stadio Alberto Picco Attendance: 7,283 Referee: Simone Sozza

31 October 2021 11	Fiorentina	3–0	Spezia	Florence
15:00 CET (UTC+1)	Martínez Quarta 36' Vlahović 44' (pen.), 62', 74', 75' Venuti 55' Maleh 82'	Report	Ferrer 21' Gyasi 43' Colley 58'	Stadium: Stadio Artemio Franchi Attendance: 19,511 Referee: Antonio Giua

6 November 2021 12	Spezia	1–0	Torino	La Spezia
15:00 CET (UTC+1)	Sala 58' Amian 65' Nikolaou 76' Kovalenko 89'	Report	Rincón 38' Linetty 53' Sanabria 76'	Stadium: Stadio Alberto Picco Attendance: 6,953 Referee: Daniele Orsato

20 November 2021 13	Atalanta	5–2	Spezia	Bergamo
15:00 CET (UTC+1)	Koopmeiners 10' Pašalić 18', 41', 71' Zapata 38' (pen.) Muriel 83' Malinovskyi 89'	Report	Gyasi 5' Nzola 11', 90+1' Sala 36' Hristov 49'	Stadium: Gewiss Stadium Attendance: 10,744 Referee: Rosario Abisso

28 November 2021 14	Spezia	0–1	Bologna	La Spezia
15:00 CET (UTC+1)	Reca 38' Salcedo 71' Nzola 82'	Report	Arnautović 83' (pen.), 88'	Stadium: Stadio Alberto Picco Attendance: 6,265 Referee: Luca Massimi

1 December 2021 15	Internazionale	2–0	Spezia	Milan
18:30 CET (UTC+1)	Gagliardini 36' Martínez 44', 58' (pen.)	Report	Manaj 31' Kiwior 57'	Stadium: San Siro Attendance: 30,076 Referee: Davide Ghersini

5 December 2021 16	Spezia	2–2	Sassuolo	La Spezia
15:00 CET (UTC+1)	Reca 1' Maggiore 4' Sala 26' Manaj 35' Gyasi 48' Hristov 90'	Report	Frattesi 44' Raspadori 66', 79' Kyriakopoulos 74' Berardi 85'	Stadium: Stadio Alberto Picco Attendance: 4,987 Referee: Fabio Maresca

13 December 2021 17	Roma	2–0	Spezia	Rome
20:45 CET (UTC+1)	Smalling 6' Viña 54' Ibañez 56' Kumbulla 65' Afena-Gyan 70' 90+3'	Report	Gyasi 90+2'	Stadium: Stadio Olimpico Attendance: 44,844 Referee: Alessandro Prontera

19 December 2021 18	Spezia	1–1	Empoli	La Spezia
15:00 CET (UTC+1)	Maggiore 21' Marchizza 50' (o.g.) Amian 88' Kovalenko 90'	Report	Tonelli 38' Bandinelli 60' Nikolaou 71' (o.g.)	Stadium: Stadio Alberto Picco Attendance: 5,414 Referee: Lorenzo Maggioni

22 December 2021 19	Napoli	0–1	Spezia	Naples
20:45 CET (UTC+1)	Mário Rui 45+1' Petagna 75'	Report	Maggiore 19' Juan Jesus 37' (o.g.) Kiwior 48' Manaj 51'	Stadium: Stadio Diego Armando Maradona Attendance: 25,000 Referee: Luca Massimi

6 January 2022 20	Spezia	1–2	Hellas Verona	La Spezia
14:30 CET (UTC+1)	Verde 75' Agudelo 78', 87' Erlić 85'	Report	Veloso 29' Casale 45' Caprari 59', 70'	Stadium: Stadio Alberto Picco Attendance: 3,250 Referee: Maurizio Mariani

9 January 2022 21	Genoa	0–1	Spezia	Genoa
18:30 CET (UTC+1)	Ekuban 5' Destro 16' Vásquez 54'	Report	Bastoni 14' Manaj 55' Maggiore 82' Amian 90+4'	Stadium: Stadio Luigi Ferraris Attendance: 8,000 Referee: Marco Guida

17 January 2022 22	Milan	1–2	Spezia	Milan
18:30 CET (UTC+1)	Kalulu 22' Hernandez 45' Leão 45+1' Gabbia 62'	Report	Gyasi 19', 90+6' Kiwior 32' Provedel 45' Agudelo 64' Maggiore 65' Nikolaou 90+3'	Stadium: San Siro Attendance: 5,000 Referee: Marco Serra

23 January 2022 23	Spezia	1–0	Sampdoria	La Spezia
15:00 CET (UTC+1)	Erlić 30' Verde 69', 71'	Report	Thorsby 37' Ekdal 47' 73' Rincón 52'	Stadium: Stadio Alberto Picco Attendance: 5,000 Referee: Gianluca Manganiello

7 February 2022 24	Salernitana	2–2	Spezia	Salerno
20:45 CET (UTC+1)	Verdi 3', 16' Mousset 30' Fazio 53' Radovanović 90+1'	Report	Manaj 12' (pen.) Amian 15' Verde 30' (pen.) Kiwior 88' Nguiamba 90+4'	Stadium: Stadio Arechi Attendance: 10,668 Referee: Paolo Valeri

14 February 2022 25	Spezia	1–2	Fiorentina	La Spezia
20:45 CET (UTC+1)	Agudelo 74' Reca 78' Amian 84'	Report	Piątek 16', 42' Castrovilli 67' Amrabat 89'	Stadium: Stadio Alberto Picco Attendance: 5,400 Referee: Matteo Marchetti

21 February 2022 26	Bologna	2–1	Spezia	Bologna
21:00 CET (UTC+1)	Binks 19' Arnautović 40', 84'	Report	Manaj 11', 22'	Stadium: Stadio Renato Dall'Ara Attendance: 12,050 Referee: Livio Marinelli

27 February 2022 27	Spezia	0–1	Roma	La Spezia
18:05 CET (UTC+1)	Agudelo 30' Amian 39' 45' Kiwior 86' Maggiore 90+7'	Report	Mancini 45+3' Kumbulla 64' Zaniolo 90+5' Abraham 90+9' (pen.)	Stadium: Stadio Alberto Picco Attendance: 8,107 Referee: Michael Fabbri

6 March 2022 28	Juventus	1–0	Spezia	Turin
18:00 CET (UTC+1)	Morata 21' Vlahović 57' Pellegrini 61' Bernardeschi 68'	Report	Erlić 54' Bourabia 90+3'	Stadium: Juventus Stadium Attendance: 26,475 Referee: Francesco Fourneau

12 March 2022 29	Spezia	2–0	Cagliari	La Spezia
15:00 CET (UTC+1)	Verde 36' Erlić 55' Manaj 74', 75'	Report	Pavoletti 30' João Pedro 45+3' Goldaniga 75' Zappa 84'	Stadium: Stadio Alberto Picco Attendance: 7,180 Referee: Daniele Orsato

18 March 2022 30	Sassuolo	4–1	Spezia	Reggio Emilia
18:45 CET (UTC+1)	Berardi 17' (pen.), 48', 44' Matheus Henrique 20' Ayhan 78' Scamacca 81'	Report	Kovalenko 15' Verde 36' Maggiore 55' Erlić 80'	Stadium: Mapei Stadium – Città del Tricolore Attendance: 6,130 Referee: Manuel Volpi

2 April 2022 31	Spezia	1–0	Venezia	La Spezia
15:00 CEST (UTC+2)	Maggiore 79' Manaj 85' Gyasi 90+4', 90+6'	Report	Okereke 90+3'	Stadium: Stadio Alberto Picco Attendance: 7,993 Referee: Daniele Doveri

9 April 2022 32	Empoli	0–0	Spezia	Empoli
15:00 CEST (UTC+2)	Di Francesco 11' Żurkowski 20'	Report	Gyasi 27' Amian 29'	Stadium: Stadio Carlo Castellani Attendance: 5,265 Referee: Giovanni Ayroldi

15 April 2022 33	Spezia	1–3	Internazionale	La Spezia
19:00 CEST (UTC+2)	Bastoni 10' Nikolaou 86' Maggiore 88'	Report	Brozović 31' Martínez 73' Sánchez 90+4'	Stadium: Stadio Alberto Picco Attendance: 11,382 Referee: Fabio Maresca

23 April 2022 34	Torino	2–1	Spezia	Turin
15:00 CEST (UTC+2)	Lukić 4' (pen.), 69' Bremer 62'	Report	Erlić 3' Nikolaou 24' Manaj 90+6' (pen.)	Stadium: Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino Attendance: 8,333 Referee: Davide Ghersini

30 April 2022 35	Spezia	3–4	Lazio	La Spezia
20:45 CEST (UTC+2)	Amian 9', 64' Agudelo 35' Hristov 56' Manaj 64' Kovalenko 90+2'	Report	Immobile 33' (pen.) Zaccagni 37' Provedel 54' (o.g.) Milinković-Savić 68' Acerbi 90'	Stadium: Stadio Alberto Picco Attendance: 8,750 Referee: Luca Pairetto

8 May 2022 36	Spezia	1–3	Atalanta	La Spezia
12:30 CEST (UTC+2)	Verde 30' Bastoni 41' Maggiore 44'	Report	Muriel 16', 62' Malinovskyi 53' Freuler 57' Djimsiti 73' Pašalić 87'	Stadium: Stadio Alberto Picco Attendance: 9,231 Referee: Fabio Maresca

14 May 2022 37	Udinese	2–3	Spezia	Udine
18:00 CEST (UTC+2)	Nuytinck 18' Molina 26' Pereyra 71' Marí 90+3' Arslan 90+3'	Report	Gyasi 19', 45+3' Verde 35' Maggiore 47' Kiwior 80' Manaj 90+1'	Stadium: Stadio Friuli Attendance: 20,950 Referee: Gianluca Aureliano

22 May 2022 38	Spezia	0–3	Napoli	La Spezia
12:30 CEST (UTC+2)	Manaj 45+10'	Report	Politano 4', 51' Zieliński 25' Demme 36' Ghoulam 66'	Stadium: Stadio Alberto Picco Attendance: 10,415 Referee: Matteo Marchetti

Coppa Italia

13 August 2021 First round	Pordenone	1–3	Spezia	Lignano Sabbiadoro
17:45 CEST (UTC+2)	Pellegrini 13' Folorunsho 51' (pen.) Kupisz 59' Misuraca 82'	Report	Erlić 39' Nikolaou 45+3' Mráz 70' Colley 83' (pen.)	Stadium: Stadio Guido Teghil Attendance: 600 Referee: Davide Ghersini

16 December 2021 Second round	Spezia	0–2	Lecce	La Spezia
18:00 CET (UTC+1)	Strelec 6' Nzola 30' Nguiamba 79'	Report	Dermaku 17' Barreca 35' Listkowski 43' Rodríguez 49' Calabresi 55' Blin 90+3'	Stadium: Stadio Alberto Picco Attendance: 1,838 Referee: Valerio Marini

Statistics

Appearances and goals

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		Serie A		Coppa Italia
No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Goalkeepers
1	GK	NED	Jeroen Zoet	8	0	7	0	1	0
94	GK	ITA	Ivan Provedel	1	0	1	0	0	0
Defenders
7	DF	ITA	Jacopo Sala	6	0	3+2	0	0+1	0
13	DF	POL	Arkadiusz Reca	1	0	0+1	0	0	0
15	DF	BUL	Petko Hristov	9	0	6+2	0	1	0
20	DF	ITA	Simone Bastoni	7	2	7	2	0	0
21	DF	ESP	Salva Ferrer	9	0	7+1	0	1	0
27	DF	FRA	Kelvin Amian	7	0	6	0	1	0
28	DF	CRO	Martin Erlic	4	1	3	0	1	1
35	DF	GRE	Dimitris Nikolaou	9	1	8	0	1	1
Midfielders
6	MF	MAR	Mehdi Bourabia	4	1	2+2	1	0	0
8	MF	UKR	Viktor Kovalenko	3	1	2	1	1	0
21	MF	ITA	Giulio Maggiore	8	0	7	0	1	0
31	MF	SWE	Aimar Sher	1	0	0+1	0	0	0
33	MF	COL	Kevin Agudelo	1	0	0+1	0	0	0
88	MF	BRA	Léo Sena	0	0	0	0	0	0
Forwards
9	FW	ALB	Rey Manaj	5	0	1+4	0	0	0
10	FW	ITA	Daniele Verde	9	2	5+3	2	1	0
11	FW	GHA	Emmanuel Gyasi	9	2	8	2	0+1	0
17	FW	ISR	Suf Podgoreanu	3	0	0+3	0	0	0
18	FW	ANG	M'Bala Nzola	5	0	2+3	0	0	0
19	FW	GAM	Ebrima Colley	4	1	3	0	1	1
22	FW	FRA	Janis Antiste	7	1	6+1	1	0	0
29	FW	ITA	Eddie Salcedo	3	0	1+2	0	0	0
44	FW	SVN	David Strelec	3	1	1+2	1	0	0
Players transferred out during the season