of Mutti, who was replaced by Giampiero Ventura. Despite all, they looked to be mathematically relegated from the top division after Day 36. losing the derby against Reggina, 3–0. However, due to the Serie A scandal of 2006, Messina avoided relegation to Serie B despite finishing 18th. Messina started the 2006–07 season with Bruno Giordano as head coach; however, he was replaced on 30 January 2007, by Alberto Cavasin because of poor results. On 2 April, following a 2–0 away defeat to Cagliari, another team involved in the battle to avoid relegation, Cavasin was sacked, and Giordano was recalled to fill the coaching position. Giordano's record was even worse in his second time at Messina, with four defeats in four matches. With Messina second-last placed in the table five matchdays prior to the end of the season, Giordano was sacked again on 23 April, and replaced by Bruno Bolchi. Messina were relegated at the end of the season. After a quiet Serie B season in 2007–08, in July 2008 Messina chairman Pietro Franza announced he did not find any investor ready to take over the club and that he was consequently giving up the club's Serie B membership, declaring that he would look forward to enter the club into an amateur league. On 1 August, it was confirmed that Messina was admitted to Serie D. In November 2008, the Court of Messina declared the club to be bankrupt and appointed a trustee to start a search for potential investors. A.C. Rinascita Messina In March 2009, Rome-based entrepreneur Alfredo Di Lullo acquired Football Club Messina Peloro in a blind auction held by the Court of Messina in April 2009. The club was renamed A.C. Rinascita Messina (rinascita means "revived"). On 4 January 2011, the club was transferred to the group Martorano which on 14 August 2011, sold it to Raffaele "Lello" Manfredi. In June 2012, the club was acquired by a consortium led by prominent football manager Pietro Lo Monaco, former managing director at Serie A club Catania and one of the masterminds behind the club's rise into top flight in the 2000s. Messina finished 4th in Group I and qualified to the promotion playoffs in the 2011–12 season. It eliminated Battipagliese by a score of 3–1 in the first round but was eliminated by Cosenza by a score of 3–0 in the second round. Messina finally became champions of Group