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Atalanta and Reggina set for relegation dogfight ROME, May 28 (Reuters) - Neutral soccer fans will be torn over which side to support in the first leg of Serie A's relegation playoff between Atalanta and Reggina on Thursday.
Losing either club to Serie B is an unappealing prospect for Italy's top flight.
While Reggina are the sole southern representatives in the first division, the under-achievement of Atalanta's young team has had observers scratching their heads all season.
Despite late sprints to finish with the same points as Modena and Empoli, it is Atalanta and Reggina who must scrap it out by virtue of having worse records in head-to-head matches.
Both clubs boast good players and seem evenly balanced having drawn both previous meetings this season.
Atalanta striker Cristiano Doni featured regularly in the Italy team at last year's World Cup, while Reggina's in-form strike partnership of David Di Michele and Emiliano Bonazzoli is backed up by stylish Japanese playmaker Shunsuke Nakamura.
Inconsistency has caused their downfall.
Atalanta's miserable start to the season contrasted with a 10-game unbeaten run between the end of December and the beginning of March.
Reggina's form away from home this season, meanwhile, has been pitiful.
Prior to their 2-1 win over AS Roma last weekend, the southerners had earned just six points on the road all season.
Having won promotion last year, Reggina are now trying to avoid a repeat of their last brief adventure in Serie A, which ended in a playoff against Verona at the close of the 2000-2001 season.
For Atalanta goalkeeper Massimo Taibi, Thursday's showdown in Reggina - and the second leg in Bergamo on Sunday - will have a special significance.
Taibi played for Reggina for two seasons between 1999 and 2001.
He last appeared for the club during the playoff against Verona - a game soured by accusations that he had already agreed on a transfer to Atalanta.
'I have mixed feelings towards Reggina,' Taibi told La Gazzetta dello Sport earlier this week.
'On the one hand, there are my happy memories of the city.
'On the other, I remember the way I was treated when I left.
'They (the fans) accused me of signing for Atalanta before we'd played the playoff (against Verona). It was all lies.
'Winning this playoff would give me great satisfaction.'
Asked how he would react to a hostile reception by Reggina's fans, Taibi replied: 'It makes no difference to me. I'm an Atalanta player.
'I'll give everything for my team (on Thursday) and then we'll be in Bergamo.
