Plucky Parma back from brink to take Serie A by storm

ROME - Already the first Italian club to earn three straight promotions, Parma is now in position to add another chapter to its fairytale resurgence from the brink of extinction.

Three years after being declared bankrupt and being forced to restart in Serie D, the squad nicknamed the "Crusaders" is sixth in Serie A and occupies one of the Italian league's Europa League places.

"It seems like I'm still dreaming," Parma president Pietro Pizzarotti said. "Thinking about everything that has happened from 2015 to today I have a hard time finding an explanation.