The 2021–22 season was Associazione Calcio Monzas 40th season—and second in a row—in the Serie B, the second level of Italian football. The club ended the Serie B campaign in fourth place, and participated in the promotion play-offs. After defeating Pisa after extra time in the final, Monza were promoted to the Serie A for the first time in their history. They also participated in the Coppa Italia, the Italian domestic cup, and were eliminated in the round of 64.

Pre-season and friendlies On 15 July 2021, Monza played their first pre-season friendly against Real Vicenza in Ronzone; the match ended in a 14–0 win. They then followed with a 5–0 win against Eccellenza side Anaune Val di Non five days later. Monza finished their training camp in Ronzone on 24 July, by beating newly-promoted Serie C club Pro Sesto 3–0.

On 31 July, Monza played Juventus in their first Trofeo Luigi Berlusconi game; Juventus won 2–1. Monza played their last two pre-season friendlies on 4 and 8 August, drawing 1–1 to Pro Patria, and winning 3–0 at home against Giana Erminio.

Results list Monza's goal tally first. DateOpponentVenueResultScorers15 July 2021Real VicenzaNeutral14–0Marić (5), Colpani (3), Gytkjær (2), Machín (2), Armellino, D'Alessandro20 July 2021Anaune Val di NonNeutral5–0Carlos, Marić (3), Siatounis24 July 2021Pro SestoNeutral3–0Gytkjær (2) 23' (pen.), 43', Carlos 30'31 July 2021JuventusHome2–1D'Alessandro 87'4 August 2021Pro PatriaAway1–1Donati 89'8 August 2021Giana ErminioHome3–0Brescianini 60', Marić (2) 72', 80'4 September 2021Sangiuliano CityHome1–0Machín

Serie B

Overview

Monza began the season under Giovanni Stroppa, who was appointed in place of Cristian Brocchi. They played their first game on 21 August 2021, drawing 0–0 to Reggina away from home. Monza's first three points came on 29 August, in their first game at home, in a 1–0 win against Cremonese; Christian Gytkjær scored Monza's first league goal of the season, assisted by Pedro Pereira. In September, Monza opened with two 1–1 draws, to SPAL and Ternana respectively, before losing their first league game on 21 September, in a 2–1 defeat to Pisa. They ended the month in 11th place, with a 3–1 win over Pordenone from a comeback. On 1 October, Monza suffered a heavy defeat away to Lecce, with the 3–0 result moving Monza to 13th place.

Between 17 October and 11 December, Monza went through a 10-game unbeaten streak; they alternated away draws (to Parma, Vicenza, Crotone and Ascoli) to home wins (against Cittadella, Alessandria, Como and Cosenza), finishing with wins against Brescia and Frosinone in December. Key moments included Marco D'Alessandro's stoppage-time goal to help Monza beat Cittadella 1–0, José Machín's 30-meter goal in the 88th-minute which helped his side win 3–2 against Como, Dany Mota's consecutive braces at home against Como and Cosenza, and Monza's first away win of the season, a 2–0 victory over Brescia on 5 December. Thanks to their unbeaten streak, Monza climbed eight places and headed into 2022 in joint-third place.

Monza began the new year poorly, losing 3–1 away to Benevento; a 2–2 home draw to Perugia via a Patrick Ciurria stoppage-time penalty goal meant that Monza finished the first leg in sixth place. Their last game of the month was a 1–0 home win against Reggina. In February, after wins against SPAL and Ternana, Monza lost their first home game of the season after 11 matches, in a 2–1 defeat against Pisa. After a 4–1 away win to Pordenone thanks to a Mattia Valoti brace, Monza lost at home once again (1–0 to Lecce), closing February in sixth place. Monza went unbeaten in March, drawing once and winning four times; they climbed three positions, ending the month in third position. Most of their points came via last-minute goals, in the draw against Parma, and wins against Cittadella and Crotone.

After losing to rivals Como in April, Monza won against Ascoli and Cosenza 2–0, with Valoti and Gytkjær scoring a goal each in both games. With the two wins, Monza climbed to second place for the first time in the season, in a spot for direct promotion. Despite losing crucial points to Brescia and Frosinone, other results went in Monza's favour, who only dropped one position. They defeated fourth placed Benevento 3–0 at home via a Mota brace, and surpassed Cremonese in second place. Monza headed into the final matchday in May against Perugia needing a win for automatic Serie A promotion; Perugia won 1–0 and Monza finished the season in fourth place, qualifying to the promotion play-offs.

Matches Results list Monza's goal tally first.

DateOpponentVenueResultScorersAttendancePosition22 August 2021RegginaAway0–05,82512th29 August 2021CremoneseHome1–0Gytkjær 65'2,5018th11 September 2021SPALAway1–1Carlos 54'3,7259th18 September 2021TernanaHome1–1Mota 5'2,33210th21 September 2021PisaAway1–2Mota 64'4,63514th25 September 2021PordenoneHome3–1Machín 13', Sampirisi 72', Vignato 90'2,00111th1 October 2021LecceAway0–38,44213th17 October 2021ParmaAway0–07,55513th23 October 2021CittadellaHome1–0D'Alessandro 90+1'2,52111th27 October 2021VicenzaAway1–1Mazzitelli 34'4,31210th1 November 2021AlessandriaHome1–0Colpani 6'3,1459th7 November 2021CrotoneAway1–1Colpani 17'2,22611th21 November 2021ComoHome3–2Mota (2) 16', 29', Machín 88'5,6258th27 November 2021AscoliAway1–1Valoti 33'3,9428th30 November 2021CosenzaHome4–1Colpani 11', Mota (2) 13', 22', Gytkjær 90+4'3,4505th5 December 2021BresciaAway2–0Gytkjær 40', Machín 55'5,0805th11 December 2021FrosinoneHome3–2Carlos 70', Ciurria 87', Mazzitelli 90+2' (pen.)2,6605th13 January 2021BeneventoAway1–3Valoti 47' (pen.)5,5026th16 January 2021PerugiaHome2–2Valoti 45' (pen.), Ciurria 90+5'2,4936th22 January 2021RegginaHome1–0Mota 52'3,3876th6 February 2022CremoneseAway2–3D'Alessandro 54', Ciurria 84'4,0627th12 February 2022SPALHome4–0Mota 45', Sampirisi 52', Ramírez 77', Colpani 89'3,2125th15 February 2022TernanaAway1–0Valoti 38' (pen.)1,7135th19 February 2022PisaHome1–2Valoti 8'4,5725th22 February 2022PordenoneAway4–1Valoti (2) 19', 64', Colpani 24', Gytkjær 67'6185th27 February 2022LecceHome0–16,8586th2 March 2022ParmaHome1–1Gytkjær 87'3,7896th5 March 2022CittadellaAway2–1Valoti 13', Ciurria 90+3'1,6575th12 March 2022VicenzaHome4–0Sampirisi 9', Barberis 84', Pasini 90' (o.g.), Mancuso 90+1'3,5245th15 March 2022AlessandriaAway3–0Di Gennaro 41' (o.g.), Ciurria 62', Gytkjær 90'2,0504th19 March 2022CrotoneHome1–0Barberis 90+5'3,6013rd3 April 2022ComoAway0–24,9044th6 April 2022AscoliHome2–0Valoti 16', Gytkjær 28' (pen.)4,6333rd10 April 2022CosenzaAway2–0Valoti 16' (pen.), Gytkjær 64' (pen.)2,5922nd18 April 2022BresciaHome1–1Machín 49'7,5043rd25 April 2022FrosinoneAway1–4Mota 13'6,6313rd30 April 2022BeneventoHome3–0Mota (2) 48', 88', Gytkjær 53' (pen.)8,4022nd6 May 2022PerugiaAway0–16,8284th

League table

Serie B promotion play-offs

Overview

Having finished the regular season in fourth place, Monza gained direct access to the semi-finals of the promotion play-offs. They played against Brescia, winning both legs 2–1. On 26 May 2022, Monza played the first leg of the play-off final against Pisa; after leading 2–0, Monza conceded in stoppage time, with the match finishing 2–1.

Three days later, on 29 May, the two sides played the second leg in Pisa. After only nine minutes, the home side were leading 2–0. Machín's 20th-minute goal shortened the distance. In the second half, Gytkjær's 79th-minute equalizer meant that Monza were only 11 minutes from Serie A promotion. However, a last-minute goal by Pisa's Giuseppe Mastinu forced the game into extra time. Goals by Luca Marrone and Gytkjær gave Monza the win, and their first promotion to the Serie A. Gytkjær finished the play-offs with five goals in four games, and was nominated MVP of the play-offs.

Matches Results list Monza's goal tally first. DateRoundOpponentVenueResultScorersAttendance18 May 2022Semi-finalBresciaAway2–1Gytkjær (2) 44', 56' (pen.)13,60022 May 2022Semi-finalBresciaHome2–1Mancuso 70', D'Alessandro 90+4'8,55926 May 2022FinalPisaHome2–1Mota 9', Gytkjær 74'9,64929 May 2022FinalPisaAway4–3 (a.e.t.)Gytkjær (2) 79', 101', Machín 20', Marrone 96'9,942

Bracket

Coppa Italia

Monza were drawn in the round of 64 with Cittadella on 14 August 2021. Cittadella took the early lead in the eighth minute through Orji Okwonkwo, with Carlos Augusto equalizing for Monza 18 minutes later; five minutes before the end of the first half, Cittadella regained the lead with a Mamadou Tounkara goal. The match ended 2–1, and Monza were eliminated from the cup.

Results list Monza's goal tally first. DateRoundOpponentVenueResultScorersAttendance14 August 2021Round of 64CittadellaAway1–2Carlos 25'0

Player details

Transfers Summer +ArrivalsDatePos.NameFromTypeFee1 July 2021MF Marco BrescianiniAC MilanLoanN/AMF Antonis SiatounisSampdoriaFree transferN/A9 July 2021MF Luca MazzitelliSassuoloPermanentUndisclosed12 July 2021MF Mattia ValotiSPALLoanN/A17 July 2021DF Luca CaldirolaBeneventoPermanentUndisclosed23 July 2021DF Pedro Pereira BenficaLoanN/A31 July 2021FW Patrick CiurriaPordenonePermanentUndisclosed11 August 2021MF Samuele VignatoChievoFree transferN/A27 August 2021DF Valentin Antov CSKA SofiaLoanN/A31 August 2021FW Andrea FavilliGenoaLoanN/ADF Luca MarroneCrotonePermanentUndisclosedOther transfersDatePos.NameFromTypeFee1 July 2021GK Michele Di GregorioInter MilanLoanN/ADF Stefano NegroPerugiaReturn from loanN/AMF Alessandro Di MunnoPro SestoReturn from loanN/AMF Marco Fossati Hajduk SplitReturn from loanN/AMF Luca LombardiTeramoReturn from loanN/AMF José MachínPescaraReturn from loanN/AMF Tommaso MorosiniFeralpisalòReturn from loanN/AMF Nicola MostiAscoliReturn from loanN/AMF Andrea PalazziPalermoReturn from loanN/AMF Nicola RigoniPescaraReturn from loanN/AFW Mattia FinottoPordenoneReturn from loanN/AFW Ettore GliozziCosenzaReturn from loanN/A14 July 2021DF Lorenzo PirolaInter MilanLoanN/A

+DeparturesDatePos.NameToTypeFee1 July 2021MF Kevin-Prince BoatengReleasedN/AFW Mario BalotelliReleasedN/AMF Davide FrattesiSassuoloReturn from loanN/AFW Federico RicciSassuoloReturn from loanN/A7 July 2021MF Andrea D'ErricoReleasedN/A8 July 2021FW Davide DiawVicenzaLoanN/AFW Edoardo ColferaiVilla VallePermanentUndisclosed13 July 2021DF Filippo ScagliaComoPermanentUndisclosed17 August 2021FW Mirko MarićCrotoneLoanN/A24 August 2021MF Marco ArmellinoModenaPermanentUndisclosed27 August 2021MF Nicola RigoniCesenaLoanN/A31 August 2021MF Marco Fossati Hajduk SplitPermanentUndisclosedDF Armando AnastasioReggianaLoanN/AOther transfersDatePos.NameToTypeFee1 July 2021GK Michele Di GregorioInter MilanReturn from loanN/ADF Lorenzo PirolaInter MilanReturn from loanN/A16 July 2021MF Nicola MostiModenaLoanN/A20 July 2021MF Luca LombardiVis PesaroLoanN/A10 August 2021FW Ettore GliozziComoPermanentUndisclosed26 August 2021MF Alessandro Di MunnoLeccoPermanentUndisclosedMF Tommaso MorosiniLeccoLoanN/A31 August 2021MF Andrea PalazziAlessandriaPermanentUndisclosedDF Stefano NegroTriestinaPermanentUndisclosed

Winter +ArrivalsDatePos.NameFromTypeFee7 December 2021MF Gastón RamírezUnattachedFree transferN/A5 January 2022MF Salvatore MolinaCrotonePermanentUndisclosed20 January 2022FW Leonardo MancusoEmpoliTwo-year loanN/AOther transfersDatePos.NameFromTypeFee26 January 2022DF Armando AnastasioReggianaReturn from loanN/A

+DeparturesDatePos.NameToTypeFee4 January 2021DF Giuseppe BellusciAscoliLoanN/A12 January 2021FW Mattia FinottoSPALPermanentUndisclosed12 January 2021MF Antonino BarillàReleasedN/AOther transfersDatePos.NameToTypeFee26 January 2021DF Armando AnastasioPordenoneSix-month loanN/A

Notes

References

External links