# 2018–19 SPAL season

The 2018–19 season was SPAL's second season in the top-flight of Italian football since 1968. After being promoted as champions of Serie B in the 2016–17 season, SPAL finished just above the relegation places in 17th during the 2017–18 season.
The season was coach Leonardo Semplici's fifth in charge of the club, after taking over in December 2014. On 3 July Semplici extended his contract with SPAL to 2020, with the option for a further year.

## Players
### Squad information

    As of 26 May 2019
| No. | Name | Position(s) | Date of birth (Age) | Signed from | Signed in | Contract ends | Apps. | Goals | Notes |
| Goalkeepers |||||||||||
| 1 | Alfred Gomis | GK | (1993-09-05)5 September 1993 (aged 25) | Torino | 2017 | 2021 | 46 | 0 | |
| 2 | Emiliano Viviano | GK | (1985-12-01)1 December 1985 (aged 33) | Sporting CP | 2019 | 2019 | 17 | 0 | |
| 17 | Giacomo Poluzzi | GK | (1988-02-25)25 February 1988 (aged 31) | Fidelis Andria | 2017 | 2019 | 1 | 0 | |
| 32 | Vanja Milinković-Savić | GK | (1997-02-20)20 February 1997 (aged 22) | Torino | 2018 | 2019 | 2 | 0 | Loan |
| Defenders |||||||||||
| 4 | Thiago Cionek | CB | (1986-04-21)21 April 1986 (aged 33) | Palermo | 2018 | 2020 | 46 | 1 | |
| 5 | Lorenco Šimić | CB | (1996-07-15)15 July 1996 (aged 22) | Sampdoria | 2018 | 2019 | 14 | 1 | Loan |
| 13 | Vasco Regini | LB / CB | (1990-09-09)9 September 1990 (aged 28) | Sampdoria | 2019 | 2019 | 4 | 0 | |
| 14 | Kevin Bonifazi | CB | (1996-05-19)19 May 1996 (aged 23) | Torino | 2018 | 2019 | 26 | 2 | Loan |
| 23 | Francesco Vicari | CB | (1994-08-03)3 August 1994 (aged 24) | Novara | 2016 | 2022 | 96 | 3 | |
| 24 | Lorenzo Dickmann | RB / RWB | (1996-09-24)24 September 1996 (aged 22) | Novara | 2018 | 2019 | 6 | 0 | Loan |
| 27 | Felipe | CB | (1984-07-31)31 July 1984 (aged 34) | Udinese | 2017 | 2020 | 60 | 4 | |
| 33 | Filippo Costa | LB / LM | (1995-05-21)21 May 1995 (aged 24) | Chievo | 2017 | 2021 | 47 | 2 | |
| Midfielders |||||||||||
| 6 | Simone Missiroli | CM | (1986-05-23)23 May 1986 (aged 33) | Sassuolo | 2018 | 2021 | 34 | 0 | |
| 8 | Mattia Valoti | CM / AM | (1993-09-06)6 September 1993 (aged 25) | Hellas Verona | 2018 | 2019 | 24 | 2 | Loan |
| 11 | Alessandro Murgia | CM / AM | (1996-08-09)9 August 1996 (aged 22) | Lazio | 2019 | 2019 | 15 | 0 | Loan |
| 16 | Mirko Valdifiori | DM | (1986-04-21)21 April 1986 (aged 33) | Torino | 2018 | 2020 | 15 | 0 | |
| 19 | Jasmin Kurtić | CM | (1989-01-10)10 January 1989 (aged 30) | Atalanta | 2018 | 2021 | 46 | 7 | |
| 28 | Pasquale Schiattarella | CM | (1987-05-30)30 May 1987 (aged 32) | Latina | 2016 | 2020 | 95 | 4 | |
| 29 | Manuel Lazzari | RM / RWB | (1993-11-29)29 November 1993 (aged 25) | Giacomense | 2013 | 2023 | 198 | 3 | |
| 93 | Mohamed Fares | LM / LWB / LW | (1996-02-15)15 February 1996 (aged 23) | Hellas Verona | 2018 | 2019 | 35 | 3 | Loan |
| Forwards |||||||||||
| 7 | Mirco Antenucci | ST / SS | (1984-09-08)8 September 1984 (aged 34) | Leeds United | 2016 | 2020 | 105 | 34 | Captain |
| 10 | Sergio Floccari | ST | (1981-11-12)12 November 1981 (aged 37) | Bologna | 2017 | 2019 | 59 | 13 | |
| 37 | Andrea Petagna | ST | (1995-06-30)30 June 1995 (aged 24) | Atalanta | 2018 | 2019 | 36 | 16 | Loan |
| 43 | Alberto Paloschi | ST | (1990-01-04)4 January 1990 (aged 29) | Atalanta | 2017 | 2021 | 59 | 9 | |
| 45 | Lazar Nikolić | LW | (1999-08-01)1 August 1999 (aged 19) | Partizan | 2018 | 2019 | 0 | 0 | |
| 95 | Marko Janković | LW | (1995-07-09)9 July 1995 (aged 23) | Partizan | 2019 | 2022 | 4 | 0 | |
| Players transferred during the season |||||||||||
| 3 | Johan Djourou | CB | (1987-01-18)18 January 1987 (aged 32) | Antalyaspor | 2018 | 2019 | 5 | 0 | |
| 11 | Gabriele Moncini | ST | (1996-04-26)26 April 1996 (aged 23) | Cesena | 2018 | 2022 | 1 | 0 | |
| 15 | Sauli Väisänen | CB | (1994-06-05)5 June 1994 (aged 25) | AIK | 2017 | 2020 | 7 | 0 | Out on loan |
| 21 | Salvatore Esposito | CM | (2000-10-07)7 October 2000 (aged 18) | Youth Sector | 2018 | – | 0 | 0 | |
| 22 | Demba Thiam | GK | (1998-03-09)9 March 1998 (aged 21) | Youth Sector | 2017 | 2020 | 0 | 0 | |
| 25 | Everton Luiz | DM | (1988-05-24)24 May 1988 (aged 31) | Partizan | 2018 | 2020 | 21 | 0 | |
| 77 | Federico Viviani | DM | (1992-03-24)24 March 1992 (aged 27) | Hellas Verona | 2017 | 2022 | 29 | 3 | |
| 90 | Jacopo Murano | ST | (1991-02-14)14 February 1991 (aged 28) | Savona | 2017 | 2019 | 0 | 0 | |
| 97 | Mattia Vitale | CM | (1997-10-01)1 October 1997 (aged 21) | Juventus | 2017 | 2020 | 2 | 0 | |

## Transfers
### In

| Date | Pos. | Player | Age | Moving from | Fee | Notes |
| 18 June 2018 | MF | Federico Viviani | 26 | Hellas Verona | Undisclosed | Option to buy exercised |
| 20 June 2018 | GK | Alfred Gomis | 24 | Torino | Undisclosed | Option to buy exercised |
| 20 June 2018 | MF | Jasmin Kurtić | 29 | Atalanta | Undisclosed | Option to buy exercised |
| 20 June 2018 | FW | Alberto Paloschi | 28 | Atalanta | Undisclosed | Option to buy exercised |
| 20 June 2018 | DF | Bartosz Salamon | 27 | Cagliari | Undisclosed | Option to buy exercised |
| 21 July 2018 | DF | Johan Djourou | 31 | Antalyaspor | Free | One-year contract with the option for a second year |
| 16 August 2018 | MF | Mirko Valdifiori | 32 | Torino | Undisclosed | |
| 17 August 2018 | MF | Simone Missiroli | 32 | Sassuolo | Undisclosed | |

#### Loans in

| Date | Pos. | Player | Age | Moving from | Fee | Notes |
| 18 June 2018 | DF | Mohamed Fares | 22 | Hellas Verona | Loan | Loan with an obligation to buy |
| 28 June 2018 | DF | Lorenzo Dickmann | 21 | Novara | Loan | Loan with an obligation to buy if SPAL avoid relegation |
| 4 July 2018 | GK | Vanja Milinković-Savić | 21 | Torino | Loan | |
| 6 July 2018 | MF | Mattia Valoti | 24 | Hellas Verona | Loan | Loan with an obligation to buy under unspecified conditions |
| 19 July 2018 | FW | Andrea Petagna | 23 | Atalanta | Loan | Loan with an obligation to buy under unspecified conditions |
| 16 August 2018 | DF | Kevin Bonifazi | 22 | Torino | Loan | Loan with an option to buy and counter-option |
| 16 August 2018 | DF | Lorenco Šimić | 25 | Sampdoria | Loan | Loan with an option to buy and counter-option |
| 30 January 2019 | MF | Alessandro Murgia | 22 | Lazio | | On loan until June 2019 |

### Out

| Date | Pos. | Player | Age | Moving to | Fee | Notes |
| 1 July 2018 | FW | Federico Bonazzoli | 21 | Sampdoria | Loan return | |
| 1 July 2018 | DF | Boukary Dramé | 32 | Unattached | Free | End of contract |
| 1 July 2018 | MF | Alberto Grassi | 23 | Napoli | Loan return | |
| 1 July 2018 | MF | Federico Mattiello | 22 | Atalanta | Loan return | |
| 1 July 2018 | GK | Alex Meret | 21 | Udinese | Loan return | |
| 1 July 2018 | MF | Eros Schiavon | 35 | Unattached | Free | End of contract |
| 1 July 2018 | DF | Lorenco Šimić | 21 | Sampdoria | Loan return | |
| 5 July 2018 | FW | Marco Borriello | 36 | Unattached | Free | Contract terminated by mutual consent |

#### Loans out

| Date | Pos. | Player | Age | Moving to | Fee | Notes | Source |
| 9 August 2018 | DF | Bartosz Salamon | 27 | Frosinone | Loan | Loan with an obligation to buy | |

## Competitions
### Serie A
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 11 | Sassuolo | 38 | 9 | 16 | 13 | 53 | 60 | −7 | 43 |
| 12 | Udinese | 38 | 11 | 10 | 17 | 39 | 53 | −14 | 43 |
| 13 | SPAL | 38 | 11 | 9 | 18 | 44 | 56 | −12 | 42 |
| 14 | Parma | 38 | 10 | 11 | 17 | 41 | 61 | −20 | 41 |
| 15 | Cagliari | 38 | 10 | 11 | 17 | 36 | 54 | −18 | 41 |
* 1 2 Positions determined by head-to-head points: Parma: 9 pts; Cagliari: 7 pts; Fiorentina: 1 pt.

#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Last updated: 26 May 2019. Source: Competitive matches

#### 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 | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H |
| Result | W | W | L | W | L | L | L | L | W | L | L | D | L | D | D | D | L | D | L | D | W | D | L | L | D | L | L | W | W | W | L | W | W | D | W | L | L | L |
| Position | 7 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 13 | 14 | 13 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 15 | 16 | 16 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 16 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 13 |

#### Matches
### Coppa Italia
## Statistics
### Appearances and goals

| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | Serie A | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Coppa Italia |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Goalkeepers ||||||||||
| 1 | GK | SEN | Alfred Gomis | 20 | 0 | 18+1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2 | GK | ITA | Emiliano Viviano | 12 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 17 | GK | ITA | Giacomo Poluzzi | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Defenders ||||||||||
| 4 | DF | POL | Thiago Cionek | 28 | 0 | 24+2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 5 | DF | CRO | Lorenco Šimić | 7 | 0 | 2+5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 | DF | ITA | Vasco Regini | 3 | 0 | 1+2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | DF | ITA | Kevin Bonifazi | 22 | 2 | 20+1 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| 23 | DF | ITA | Francesco Vicari | 24 | 1 | 21+2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 24 | DF | ITA | Lorenzo Dickmann | 7 | 0 | 2+4 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 27 | DF | BRA | Felipe | 28 | 0 | 25+2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 33 | DF | ITA | Filippo Costa | 10 | 0 | 5+3 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 |
| 93 | DF | ALG | Mohamed Fares | 31 | 2 | 27+3 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Midfielders ||||||||||
| 6 | MF | ITA | Simone Missiroli | 30 | 0 | 29+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | MF | ITA | Mattia Valoti | 22 | 1 | 11+10 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 11 | MF | ITA | Alessandro Murgia | 10 | 0 | 5+5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | MF | ITA | Mirko Valdifiori | 16 | 0 | 8+7 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 19 | MF | SVN | Jasmin Kurtić | 26 | 5 | 24+1 | 5 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 28 | MF | ITA | Pasquale Schiattarella | 26 | 0 | 20+5 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 29 | MF | ITA | Manuel Lazzari | 28 | 0 | 27 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Forwards ||||||||||
| 7 | FW | ITA | Mirco Antenucci | 30 | 4 | 21+8 | 4 | 1 | 0 |
| 10 | FW | ITA | Sergio Floccari | 15 | 2 | 6+8 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 37 | FW | ITA | Andrea Petagna | 31 | 13 | 29+1 | 12 | 1 | 1 |
| 43 | FW | ITA | Alberto Paloschi | 23 | 2 | 8+13 | 2 | 1+1 | 0 |
| 95 | FW | MNE | Marko Janković | 1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Players transferred out during the season ||||||||||
| 3 | DF | SUI | Johan Djourou | 6 | 0 | 3+2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 11 | FW | ITA | Gabriele Moncini | 2 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 15 | DF | FIN | Sauli Väisänen | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 25 | MF | BRA | Everton Luiz | 12 | 0 | 2+8 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 32 | GK | SRB | Vanja Milinković-Savić | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 77 | MF | ITA | Federico Viviani | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 97 | MF | ITA | Mattia Vitale | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Last updated: 13 April 2019 Source: Competitions

### Goalscorers

| Rank | No. | Pos | Nat | Name | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Total |
| 1 | 37 | FW | | Andrea Petagna | 12 | 1 | 13 |
| 2 | 19 | MF | | Jasmin Kurtić | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| 3 | 7 | FW | | Mirco Antenucci | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| 4 | 10 | FW | | Sergio Floccari | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 4 | 14 | DF | | Kevin Bonifazi | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 4 | 43 | FW | | Alberto Paloschi | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 4 | 93 | DF | | Mohamed Fares | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 8 | 8 | MF | | Mattia Valoti | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 8 | 23 | DF | | Francesco Vicari | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Own goal | Own goal | Own goal | Own goal | Own goal | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | Totals | Totals | Totals | Totals | 30 | 2 | 32 |
Last updated: 13 April 2019

### Clean sheets

| Rank | No. | Pos | Nat | Name | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Total |
| 1 | 1 | GK | | Alfred Gomis | 6* | 1 | 7 |
| 2 | 2 | GK | | Emiliano Viviano | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 3 | 32 | GK | | Vanja Milinković-Savić | 1* | 0 | 1 |
| Totals | Totals | Totals | Totals | Totals | 9 | 1 | 10 |
* Includes one shared clean sheet against Roma.
Last updated: 13 April 2019

### Disciplinary record

| No. | Pos | Nat | Name | Serie A | Serie A | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Coppa Italia | Coppa Italia | Total | Total | Total |
| 32 | GK | | Vanja Milinković-Savić | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 4 | DF | | Thiago Cionek | 9 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 2 |
| 14 | DF | | Kevin Bonifazi | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 23 | DF | | Francesco Vicari | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 24 | DF | | Lorenzo Dickmann | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 27 | DF | | Felipe | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 0 |
| 93 | DF | | Mohamed Fares | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | MF | | Simone Missiroli | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | MF | | Mattia Valoti | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | MF | | Mirko Valdifiori | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 19 | MF | | Jasmin Kurtić | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 |
| 25 | MF | | Everton Luiz | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| 28 | MF | | Pasquale Schiattarella | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| 29 | MF | | Manuel Lazzari | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| 77 | MF | | Federico Viviani | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | FW | | Sergio Floccari | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 37 | FW | | Andrea Petagna | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| 43 | FW | | Alberto Paloschi | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | Totals | Totals | Totals | 95 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 100 | 1 | 2 |
Last updated: 13 April 2019