It’s a good feeling to win, but it’s not the best. It’s so much better to watch your opponents crash and burn. Well, at least that’s the conclusion you’d come to after taking a stroll through the streets of Genoa.Saturday, 18.15: (2.45) Genoa (3.35) Bologna (2.90)Like many others in Italy, this city in the northwest region of Liguria has more than one well-supported football club. Sampdoria and Genoa are like roommates who don’t get along but are forced to share a cramped dorm room. Both teams play at the beautiful Luigi Ferraris Stadium, but their fans love nothing more than seeing the other team fail. And boy, are Samp fans pleased these days!Funeral for the “Chickens” (©Getty Images)Genoa C.F.C. have been relegated to Serie B for the first time in 15 years after yet another defeat at Napoli on Saturday. This was a sad and stressful event for the Rossoblu fans, but at the same time, it prompted waves of pure joy and ridicule from those who love Sampdoria.Samp thumped Fiorentina in the final home league game of the season, but that wasn’t the highlight of their faithful’s day. The most passionate supporters put up a cardboard cross with Genoa’s club badge on it, albeit slightly modified. They replaced the club’s symbol, the mythical creature Griffin – with a chicken!Serie A 🇮🇹Funeral procession by Sampdoria fans for Genoa’s relegation to Serie B after their match against Fiorentina.🎥 @louis_seba 16/05 pic.twitter.com/hviQkYhYFj— 𝕊𝕋𝔸ℕ𝔻 𝕐𝕆𝕌ℝ 𝔾ℝ𝕆𝕌ℕ𝔻 👊 (@Ultramaniatics_) May 17, 2022 The real party was afterwards, in the streets of Genoa. There was a funeral staged for Italy’s fourth-most successful club. “The Griffin is dead”, sang Sampdoria fans gleefully as they walked the streets in a makeshift procession. A cardboard casket in the colours of their rivals, a guy dressed up like the Pope, and a bunch of people pretending to be priests, friars and cardinals – they all buried the Serie B-bound Genoa. Many red and blue cardboard B’s were being carried around to remind their rivals of their plight.Sunday, 19.00: (1.13) Inter (9.50) Sampdoria (16.0)After the procession was over, Sampdoria fans gathered in one of the city’s squares and partied deep into the night to celebrate their survival in Serie A and, even more, the demise of Rossoblu.If you’re wondering why the Samp supporters were so keen to make the “funeral” so big, the answer is, of course, simple: revenge. Genoa’s supporters took the time to enjoy the relegation of their neighbours. A five-minute silence had been held by supporters during their last game of the 2010/11 season to mark Samp’s passing, and afterwards, a 30,000-strong procession carried a coffin draped in Sampdoria’s colours through the city. Sampdoria fans have been waiting for their chance for over a decade – and they took it wholeheartedly.Genoa’s relegation to Serie B has been confirmed with the defeat at Napoli (©Gettty Images)Revenge is a dish best served cold – and Samp ultras have certainly made a meal out of it.
