Soccer-Carpi send a tremor through Serie B

By Emanuele Giulianelli MILAN, Dec 12 (Reuters) - Saturday's match between Serie B leaders Carpi and big city rivals Modena will be more than just another Italian soccer derby. There will be the usual rivalries typical of any clash between local sides but nobody at the start of the season would have expected Carpi to be riding so high in the second tier while Modena are struggling in 17th. The pecking order, in a region struck by a major earthquake in 2012, has changed. "There's something different in the air, we can smell it clearly," said Carpi defender Simone Romagnoli. Modena is the thriving capital of the eponymous province, a city of 185,000 inhabitants and a ceaseless engine rumble as background music in the home of Ferrari, Maserati and Lamborghini. The great Enzo Ferrari, founder of the most famous Italian brand in the world, was born in Modena -- as was the late opera singer Luciano Pavarotti. If you drive north for about 20km on the Romana highway, you reach Carpi -- a 70,000-strong town where cycle bells tinkle in the main Piazza dei Martiri, street names point to a Socialist tradition and the scent of tortellini wafts from open windows. While Modena FC have played 27 years in Serie A, winning the Anglo-Italian Cup twice, Carpi spent 32 years in the lowest Italian divisions. The old AC Carpi, founded in 1909, were relegated to the amateur divisions and went bankrupt at the end of 1999/2000. The current club, now Carpi FC 1909, were formed in 2009 from the merger of newborn Calcio Carpi and the old Dorando Pietri club. Modena will be the underdogs on Saturday against a young and talented side on the rise thanks to the investment of Stefano Bonacini, owner of the Gaudi fashion brand. Their total wage bill is 3 million euros ($3.7 million), halved from the last year, and the average age of the team is about 23 years. The statistics stand out too: 33 points from 17 matches, four more than second-placed Frosinone and six more than Bologna, the most important team of the region. Carpi have scored 31 goals, with Nigerian striker Jerry Mbakogu accounting for nine of them. They have alternated four goalkeepers during the first part of season, with Brazilian Milan Gabriel now the first choice. "I'm very proud to have Carpi at the top of Serie B, the team from the city I manage," said 37-year-old local mayor Alberto Bellelli. "Never forget that in 2012 we have been struck by a 5.8 magnitude earthquake and all of us, 70,000 people together, have overcome it. Someone defined Carpi football club a miracle." The Modena derby is an important step but Carpi fans are already dreaming of a bigger one -- against nearby Sassuolo, the 2012-2013 Serie B champions, in Serie A next season. ($1 = 0.8035 Euros) (Editing by Alan Baldwin)