On 15 September 2016, the small town of Sassuolo in the north west of Italy geared up for something special. With a population of 41,000, the town in the Province of Modena is not accustomed to major sporting events. But last month they welcomed Athletic Bilbao to the Stadio Città del Tricolore for Sassuolo’s first ever European outing – something the town could never have imagined a decade ago.
The story of the club’s transformation will make you believe in miracles. They were playing in the fourth tier of Italian football in 2006 with little or no ambition of making it this far, this quickly. But on that fine evening last month, reality hit and the 7,000 fans who gathered in the stadium created an atmosphere that will not be forgotten in a hurry. As the town mayor Claudio Pistoni put it: “The image that Sassuolo Calcio is giving to the town is huge. It is a matter of pride for all, even for those who do not love football.”
Sassuolo won 3-0 and announced their arrival on the European stage in fine fashion. Having wandered between Serie C2 and Serie D in the 1980s and 1990s, the club’s dramatic upswing had grown men in tears that night.
Sassuolo were in Serie C2 – Italy’s fourth tier – as recently as 2006. They earned promotion to Serie C1 that summer and, after a season of consolidation, they brought in current Juventus boss Max Allegri to take them further. Allegri joined the club in August 2007 and left the following April with promotion already secured. By taking Sassuolo to Serie B for the first time, he had made enough of an impact for Serie A club Cagliari to appoint him as their head coach. He would later win Scudetti with Milan and Juventus – and help Sassuolo achieve their European dream.
Sassuolo adapted to Serie B quickly. After finishing in seventh in the 2008-09 season, they improved again and made the promotion playoffs the following season under the guidance of former Juventus and Fiorentina centre-half Stefano Pioli, only to lose out in the semi-finals to Torino over two legs.
The club suffered similar disappointment in the 2011-12 season, when they finished third in the league and lost in the playoff semi-finals, this time to eventual promotion winners Sampdoria. The side were consistent and determined but they couldn’t find the right leader to take them to the promised land of Serie A. The club’s owner, Giorgio Squinzi, an avid Milan supporter and CEO of Mapei Industries, made a move and appointed former Roma and Italy midfielder Eusebio Di Francesco.
Di Francesco is often compared to Jürgen Klopp for his enthusiasm for the game and exuberant dress sense. He turns up for matches in hipster glasses and finely tailored suits. Named after the legendary Portuguese footballer Eusébio, Di Francesco’s skill and talent as a manager reflect his name. He has inherited some qualities from his old Roma manager and mentor Zdenek Zeman, such as the effective use of the Dutch-inspired 4-3-3 formation. A pragmatist, optimist and disciplinarian, Di Francesco made Squinzi certain that he was the right man to take the club forward.
Di Francesco brought a blistering style of football to Sassuolo in the 2012-13 campaign. With players such as Domenico Berardi (who became the club’s all-time top-scorer at the age of 21), midfielder Simone Missiroli and the evergreen Francesco Magnanelli, the Neroverdi dominated the second division and were on top of the table for most of the season. While Sassuolo were making waves on the pitch, Di Francesco was being talked up in boardrooms across Italy, with Milan and Fiorentina reportedly interested.
On the final day of the season Sassuolo needed to beat Livorno to seal their promotion to Serie A. Simone Missiroli scored in the sixth minute of stoppage time to take them up as champions. The goal prompted jubilant celebrations from the staff and fans. What had seemed impossible just a couple of years before had just been achieved with maximum drama. The very next day, almost every Sassuolo native was present at the Garibaldi Square to celebrate their heroes. Mayor Claudio Pistoni proudly declared Sassuolo as “a Serie A town”, sending the cheering crowd wild.
With the club now in Serie A, they wanted a secure home. In December 2013, the club acquired full rights to the nearby Mapei Stadium in Reggio-Emilia after owner Giorgio Squinzi bought it at a public auction. They became the first of three Serie A clubs, along with Juventus and Udinese, to have complete control of their own arena. Many of the fans were unhappy about having to travel to games but the purchase was a statement of intent from the owner. Squinzi also showed his willingness to spend when he signed a €22m-a-season shirt sponsorship deal with Mapei.
Visiting the most historic clubs and stadiums in the country became the norn for Sassuolo fans in the 2013-14 season but the results were unfamiliar. In Sassuolo’s first season in the top flight, they lost to the traditional powerhouses of Italian football; Lazio, Roma, Juventus and Inter all overcame the Sassuolo challenge, with the latter coming to Modena and trouncing them 7-0. However, there was one memorable win over Milan in a game that finished 4-3, with the ever-present Domenico Berardi scoring all four Sassuolo goals. The result was a bittersweet pill to swallow for their Milan-supporting owner.
The Milan scalp was a morale-booster for the fans but, when the team followed it up with consecutive defeats to Torino and Livorno, Di Francesco was given the boot. Giorgio Squinzi phoned up his friends at Milan in the hope that he could lure Filippo Inzaghi to Sassuolo but the advances were rejected. Squinzi had to settle for Alberto Malesani, who is best known for winning the Uefa Cup with Parma in 1999 and a spectacular rant he delivered while in charge of Panathinaikos that contained more than 20 uses of the Italian curse word “cazzo”. Sample line: “I’m here 24 hours a day, 24 hours a day I’m here – EVERY SINGLE FUCKING DAY.”
His stint didn’t last long – five games, in fact, with no wins. He was out of the door, and in came Di Francesco once again, proclaiming that he had never unpacked his bags. Sassuolo were four points away from safety upon his arrival and he guided them to an impressive 17 points in the final 12 games, wrapping up survival with a match to spare. The Sassuolo story in the top division would carry on for one more season, at least.
Having ended the previous campaign in scintillating form, Sassuolo went into the 2014-15 season with great optimism. They now had a united side that was blooming with talent and aspiration. In defence they had Paolo Cannavaro, brother of the legendary Fabio, and Francesco Acerbi, who rose to become one of Italy’s most improved defenders after being diagnosed with testicular cancer and going through a course of chemotherapy. In midfield, Magnanelli, the legendary captain who has been with the club since they were in the fourth division, was still the star attraction. In front of him were Berardi and Simone Zaza, who were creating a formidable partnership in attack.
The squad was dominated by Italians, which is a rarity in Serie A, and they were ready to take on the biggest clubs in the country. With a smart boardroom and a gifted manager, Sassuolo kicked on in the 2014-15 season. Despite a poor start, which included another humiliating 7-0 thumping at the hands of Inter, Sassuolo finished 12th, an improvement of five places on the previous year. They claimed two wins over Milan as well as one over Inter in the reverse fixture, much to the delight of the owner. The side could easily have finished in the top half of the table had it not been for late goals against them in several games; Roma, Genoa and Palermo all got the better of their defence in the final minutes of games. Nevertheless, there were positives to be taken from that season.
Sassuolo strengthened further last summer by signing 22-year-old midfielder Matteo Politano from Pescara. He had grown up in the Roma youth system, before moving on to Pescara and catching the eye of the Sassuolo staff. Politano was joined in midfield by Alfred Duncan, a Ghanaian who had been part of the Inter youth team before he moved on to Sampdoria. He was an immense addition and would prove crucial as the team pushed up the table. The young full-back Sime Vrsaljko was improving and was tipped for great things by local and Croatian media, who saw the as the long-term successor to the distinguished Darijo Srna.
Unlike previous seasons, Sassuolo made a good start to the 2015-16 campaign, going unbeaten for the first six games, including a win over Napoli at home on the opening day. They lost their unbeaten status at Empoli at the start of October but recovered well, beating Lazio and then, famously, Juventus by the end of the month.
Their home was becoming a fortress and, bloated with confidence, they went on achieve further morale-boosting victories over Sampdoria, Milan and Torino as the season developed. Remarkably, they banished the sour memories of conceding seven against Inter and did the double over them.
Sassuolo finished in sixth place, in front of traditional powerhouses Milan and Lazio and just three points behind Fiorentina and an automatic place in the Europa League group stage. When Juventus (led by their former coach, Allegri) beat Milan in the Coppa Italia final, they claimed a place in the Europa League qualifiers. Sassuolo would be bringing European football to Modena.
The sales of Sime Vrsaljko to Atlético Madrid and Nicola Sansone to Villarreal over the summer gave them sizeable profits and showed that the Sassuolo plan was working. They overcame FC Luzern and Red Star Belgrade in the Europa League qualifying rounds, both by aggregate scores of 4-1, to qualify for the group stage. And, despite a relatively slow start to the Serie A season, the management remains calm.
Right now, Sassuolo are being talked up as Italy’s reply to the rise of Leicester City. Unbreakable desire in the dugout, an owner who is willing to spend money and the right blend of experience and youth on the pitch have made Sassuolo the talk of the country. The club is stable on and off the field and, if they continue in this vein, they could cause a few surprises in Europe.
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