Juve Stabia secured a late victory. © Juve Stabia

Late salvation: Juve Stabia reaches the playoff semi-finals

Juve Stabia secured a late victory over Modena on Tuesday evening, clinching their place in the Serie B playoff semifinals. Catanzaro followed suit shortly afterward.

12 May 2026

From: never

Last Friday, Juve Stabia ensured that that FC Südtirol will have to go into the relegation play-offsFour days later, the club from Castellammare di Stabia was dreaming big: Kevin Zeroli scored the only goal of the evening in the playoff qualifier against Modena, finding the net in the 86th minute at the Stadio Alberto Braglia. Juve then held on for a 1-0 victory and secured their place in the semifinals. For South Tyrolean Manuel De Luca, the season came to an early end: The 27-year-old striker played 69 minutes for Modena but was unlucky in front of goal.

With Zeroli, a hero emerged who no one had expected. The Italian midfielder had only been loaned from Milan to Juve Stabia in January. Due to some physical problems, he only played nine matches and 499 minutes before the playoffs. Against FCS, he celebrated his return to the pitch after almost three months, and against Modena, he was only substituted on in the 78th minute – and promptly stepped into the leading role.

Check out this post on Instagram

A post shared by SS Juve Stabia 1907 (@ssjuvestabia)

In the semi-finals, Juve Stabia will now face Monza. A curious fact: Zeroli was on loan to the Biancorossi between February 2025 and January 2026. Whether the youngster will once again create a special moment will be revealed on Saturday, when the first leg takes place in Castellammare (20.00 pm). The second leg will be played three days later (20.00 pm).

Catanzaro slaps Avellino down

The second semi-final will be between Palermo and Catanzaro. The latter convincingly defeated Avellino 3-0 late Tuesday evening. Simone Pontisso put the home side ahead in the 41st minute with a long-range right-footed shot. The decisive goal took a while to materialize, as Avellino posed little threat, managing only three shots on target in total.

Seven minutes before the end of regular time, Tommaso Cassandro finally made it 2-0. In the second minute of stoppage time, substitute Pietro Iemmello was brought down in the penalty area by Andréa Paul Le Borgne. The fouled substitute took responsibility himself and converted the resulting penalty to make it 3-0 (90+3). On Sunday, Catanzaro first face Palermo at home (8:00 PM), before the crucial away game three days later (8:00 PM).

Series B, Playoff Qualification – Results

Modena – Juve Stabia 0:1 (0:0)
Goal: 0:1 Zeroli (86th minute)

Catanzaro – Avellino 3:0 (1:0)
Goals: 1:0 Pontisso (41'), 2:0 Cassandro (83'), 3:0 Iemmello (90'+3/penalty)