Sampdoria and their coach Andrea Pirlo fell ill with food poisoning following a celebratory fish dinner ahead of their derby match with Spezia.

As reported by Il Secolo XIX newspaper, the team had lunch at a local seafood restaurant, but something evidently went awry. Pirlo admitted in a press conference that he, along with several staff members and notably the players, were grappling with severe stomach issues.

Fabio Depaoli suffered the most and was supposed to start the Serie B match against Spezia but could only make it to the bench. The newspaper even noted that his time on the bench wasn’t entirely comfortable, as he had to rush to the locker room to be sick during the second half.

Some players couldn’t even make it to the stadium due to their symptoms, such as Gerard Yepes, Daniele Ghilardi, Antonio Barreca, and Andrea Conti, which the newspaper labeled as ‘dysentery.’

Despite being severely affected by tainted seafood, Sampdoria still managed to secure a 0-0 draw against Spezia.

Sampdoria performance and stats

Sampdoria is currently 8th in the Serie B with 45 points.

In the last 34 games, it has won 13 times, drawn 8 times, and lost 13 times. In its last match, Sampdoria drawn 0-0 against Spezia.​​

It has a negative goal difference after scoring 47 goals and conceding 48.​