Genoa and Sampdoria give wounded city a brief window of escape | Paolo Bandini

For one evening the Stadio Luigi Ferraris was a world unto itself in a city still recovering from the Morandi bridge disaster

The noise rolling down from the stands of the Stadio Luigi Ferraris was cacophonous, but TV microphones still picked up Ivan Juric’s final lament. “You have no souls!” protested the Genoa manager as officials ushered him out of the home dugout. “This is the derby!”

Note his use of the definite article. The Derby della Lanterna might not have the international profile of big-city rivalries from Milan or Rome, but it is felt every bit as keenly. Or perhaps even more so. Sampdoria have claimed a single Serie A title in their history. Genoa have nine, but none since 1924. When major trophies feel like a distant goal, local bragging rights carry greater weight.

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