‘The Leicester of Italy’: Upstart Sassuolo take Europa League stage with a distinctly patriotic squad

Italy has much to be proud of in the rise of Sassuolo, writes Ian Hawkey.

Sassuolo defender Francesco Acerbi heads a ball away from Juventus' Gonzalo Higuain. Marco Bertorello / AFP

• Sassuolo v Athletic Bilbao: Thursday, 9pm, BeIN Sports

• Thursday's fixtures

Shortly before kick off on Thursday night in the Mapei Stadium in Reggio Emilia, Italy, an anthem will be played to rouse the locals. The Hymn of the Neroverdi, it is called, the hymn of the black-and-greens.

Sassuolo, the team honoured, are certainly greenhorns at the level of football they will playing. This is the club’s opening match of the group phase of the Europa League. There would also be a case for tooting out a few bars of Italian national anthem to pay tribute to what they have done for their country.

Italy has much to be proud of in the rise of Sassuolo, a club from a conurbation of just over 40,000 people, an institution that nearly sunk into the fifth tier of the national pyramid in 2003. They only played their first fixture in Serie A a little over three years ago. Last season, they finished above AC Milan in the table. Their sixth-place finish last May gave them a chance of continental competition for the first time.

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These bambinos of Italy’s elite have managed their rise in a way that is strikingly loyal to the national talent-pool, a rare thing these days for clubs from the most prestigious leagues. When Sassuolo signed Dutch defender Timo Letschert from Utrecht in the summer, they broke a habit well established throughout their rise up the divisions and during their three-year stay in the top flight. Letschert was unique for having been recruited from abroad.

In their line-up on Thursday against Athletic Bilbao, Letschert may not get a place. It is plausible that all 11 men in black-and-green stripes could be Italians. The exceptions are rare, and the other foreign players — Alfred Duncan of Ghana but owner of an Italian passport; Gregoire Defrel, who is French; and the newly arrived Spaniard Pol Lirola — all came to Sassuolo from within the Italian market. The rest are Italians, and Sassuolo are admired not only for their pluck but also for their apparent patriotism. Against the champions Juventus at the weekend, Sassuolo had 10 Italians in the starting XI.

That is a most unusual ratio in Serie A, where an average weekend will feature perhaps 90 Italians among the 220 players lining up for their clubs, and a higher proportion of foreigners at most of the clubs that tend to finish higher up the table.

As Claudio Ranieri, the seasoned Italian manager who won the Premier League with Leicester City last season, pointed out: “Sassuolo are in some ways like Udinese were a few years ago, a small club punching above their weight. But the model is very different. Udinese specialised in scouting good young players abroad. Sassuolo look in Italy.”

Ranieri added with a smile: “Sassuolo could become the Leicester of Italy.”

By which he meant their upstart rise might go even higher, and the public would warm to them.

Can a modern club, with ambition, keep raising standards, compete in Europe by restricting themselves to the local market? There are few examples, but perhaps the most inspiring is the club that visits Sassuolo on Thursday night.

Spain’s Athletic Bilbao are tied to a proud tradition of using only footballers with a strong connection to the Basque Country, the region Bilbao is the major city in. That can include the likes of France international Aymeric Laporte, born in the French Basque territory, just over the border from Spain’s Basque corner, and the only non-Spanish qualified player in their squad.

Athletic reduce their catchment area, their potential transfer targets with that dogmatic approach to squad-building. But in doing so they maintain a forceful cultural identity for the club. They have not done badly by it: the club have never been relegated from Spain’s top division, and they reached a Europa League final four years ago.

Athletic are the much worldlier club in Thursday night’s meeting of two teams, with a firm sense of their roots, and the Basques will see plenty they respect among the novice Neroverdis with the Azzurri hearts.

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