Former Leeds United owner Massimo Cellino saw his Brescia side escape relegation to Italy's third tier with a final day victory.

The Serie B club preserved their divisional status on Tuesday evening courtesy of a late 2-1 win over Reggiana.

Brescia's victory in turn condemned historic Italian side Sampdoria to relegation to Serie C for the first time in the club's history.

The two teams came into the final round of fixtures level on 40 points from 37 matches. Brescia's win lifted them onto 43, two clear of Sampdoria who finished on 41 after a 0-0 draw with Juve Stabia.

Similar to Brescia, Sampdoria share a recent ownership link with Leeds. Two summers ago outgoing Whites chairman Andrea Radrizzani took control of the Genovese side, along with London-based Italian finance executive Matteo Manfredi. In May 2023, Radrizzani made headlines as he unsuccessfully attempted to use Elland Road as collateral for a bank loan intended to help his purchase of and subsequent cash injection for Sampdoria.

A month later, Radrizzani's Leeds stake was bought out by present owners 49ers Enterprises for a sum of £170 million.

With the assistance of business partner Manfredi's firm Gestio Capital, Radrizzani saved Samp from bankruptcy but more recently divested his shares to the group which owns 99.96% of the club, as a second relegation in three years became a real possibility, and was realised on Tuesday night.

What is Radrizzani’s link to Cellino?

Cellino's Elland Road tenure ended in 2017 after Radrizzani bought out his fellow Italian businessman, initially purchasing a 50 per cent holding in the club during January, before adding the remaining half in May of the same year.

Cellino's relationship with Radrizzani has reportedly been fraught since the latter bought out the former's Leeds shares. The elder of the two businessmen has claimed Radrizzani still owes him money for the Leeds sale, while a frosty text message exchange is alleged to have taken place shortly after the buyout.

Brescia's win over Reggiana helped the club move up to 15th in the Serie B table, crucially one place above the 16th-versus-17th relegation play-off. Sampdoria, on the other hand, finish the campaign in 18th and are automatically relegated to the regionally-divided third tier.