Unione Sportiva Sassuolo Calcio, commonly known asSassuolo (Italian pronunciation:[sasˈswɔːlo]), is a professionalfootball club based inSassuolo,Emilia-Romagna, Italy. The team's colours areblack andgreen, which have earned them the nicknameNeroverdi ("black and greens"). Sassuolo competes inSerie A, the highest division in theItalian football league system.
The club made its debut in Serie A during the2013–14 season, becoming one of the few teams to compete in the top division without representing aprovincial capital.[a] Sassuolo remained in Serie A until the2023–24 season, when they were relegated to Serie B. They returned to the top flight after one season.
The club was founded in 1920[5] and played in the Emilian amateur divisions for most of its history until its first promotion to Serie D in 1968.[6] In this era, the club merged with other local football teams to eventually form US Sassuolo Calcio in 1974. In 1984, the club gained promotion toSerie C2, the lowest level of professional football in Italy. However, they were relegated in 1990 and subsequently spent most of the 1990s in Serie D. In 1998, a second-place finish ensured promotion back to Serie C2.
Sassuolo reachedSerie C1 for the first time in 2006 after winning the Serie C2 promotion play-offs by beatingSansovino in the final. In the following years, Sassuolo proved to be a serious contender for promotion toSerie B. WithGian Marco Remondina as head coach, they narrowly missed it in 2007, as they lost immediate promotion toGrosseto in the final days of the season, finishing in second-place; and then were defeated by fifth-placedMonza in the play-off semi-finals. Remondina then left Sassuolo to join Serie B'sPiacenza, and former Serie A playerMassimiliano Allegri was chosen as new head coach.
Under Allegri, Sassuolo quickly revived their hopes to obtain promotion to Serie B; this ultimately materialized on 27 April 2008, when they won the Serie C1/A title, thus ensuring a historical promotion to Serie B, the first in the club's history.[7]
Following Sassuolo's promotion to the Italian second tier, Allegri left Sassuolo to fill the head coaching position at Serie A teamCagliari. In July 2008, the club appointed formerAtalanta andSiena bossAndrea Mandorlini for the 2008–09 season.
Sassuolo had a surprisingly good start to the 2008–09 campaign and held a promotion playoff place for a very long time. They only won two points in their last five matches to eventually finish in seventh place. Despite a successful season, Mandorlini left Sassuolo by mutual consent in June 2009, whereupon the team then appointed former Piacenza coachStefano Pioli on 11 June 2009.
Sassuolo successively qualified to the Serie B promotion playoffs in2009–10 by placing fourth, and2011–12 in third, being eliminated at the semi-finals in both seasons.
In the 2012–13 season, however, under the guidance of new head coachEusebio Di Francesco, Sassuolo played a majority of the season in first place in the table, and eventually secured direct promotion with a 1–0 victory overLivorno on 18 May 2013. At the conclusion of the season, Sassuolo had won the Serie B title and had ensured a first top-flight campaign ever for the2013–14 season. The club had reached the highest level of theItalian football league system only seven years after playing inSerie C2. The key role that was played in this achievement by 18-year-old academy productDomenico Berardi saw the player win the league'sPlayer of the Year award.
During pre-season training in July 2013, Sassuolo won theTIM Trophy after beatingJuventus on penalties then beatingAC Milan 2–1, marking the first time a team other than Milan,Inter Milan orJuventus have won the Cup.
Eusebio Di Francesco, manager of the historic promotion to Serie A for theNeroverdi in 2013
On 25 August 2013, Sassuolo played their first-ever Serie A match, a 2–0 loss away atTorino.[8] The team's second match was their first at home, againstLivorno, where strikerSimone Zaza scored Sassuolo's first top-flight goal as they lost 4–1.[9] On 22 September 2013, Sassuolo endured a heavy 7–0 defeat at home to Inter. The team earned their first point in their fifth match, on 25 September away toNapoli. Zaza equalised as the game finished 1–1, ending the hosts' perfect start to the season.[10] This was followed by a first home point on 29 September, a 2–2 draw withLazio.[11] On 20 October 2013, Sassuolo won their first Serie A game, defeatingBologna 2–1 at home with goals from Domenico Berardi andAntonio Floro Flores, moving the club off bottom place.[12] Sassuolo won away for the first time in Serie A on 3 November againstSampdoria, with Berardi scoring their first top-flight hat-trick to win 4–3.[13] Since the following match, a 1–1 draw atRoma on 10 November, the club has been outside the relegation zone.[14] On 12 January 2014, Berardi was the only player in the season to score four goals in a game, as Sassuolo came from 2–0 down to win 4–3 against Milan.[15] Towards the end of January 2014, Sassuolo were in bottom place and so manager Di Francesco was relieved of his duties andAlberto Malesani was brought in. The managerial change did not have the desired effects and so in early March, Sassuolo re-entrusted the side to the management of Di Francesco. Sassuolo won its away match againstFiorentina 4–3 on 6 May 2014, and after winning 4–2 againstGenoa on 11 May, Sassuolo guaranteed its place in Serie A for the 2014–15 season. Berardi finished in equal 7th place in the Serie A top scorers list, with 16 goals for the season.
Domenico Berardi began his club career with Sassuolo in 2012, helping the team win theSerie B title and earn promotion to Serie A in his debut season. He is Sassuolo's all-time top scorer, with over 100 goals in all competitions.
The Neroverdi had a much better2014–15 Serie A season, finishing comfortably beyond relegation in 12th place. Berardi was once more the club's top goalscorer with 15 league goals.
Sassuolo improved again in the2015–16 Serie A season, finishing ahead of the likes of Milan and Lazio in sixth place. The season included an opening day win over Napoli,[16] a Round 10 1–0 victory over Juventus atMapei Stadium[17] and a 1–0 victory over Inter at theSan Siro.[18]
On 21 May 2016, Sassuolo achieved their first everEuropa League qualification after finishing sixth in 2015–16 courtesy of a JuventusCoppa Italia win over Milan as Milan would have gone to Europe instead if they had won the final.[19] On 25 August 2016, Sassuolo qualified for theEuropa League group stage after beatingRed Star Belgrade 4–1 on aggregate in the playoff round.[20]
Over the following three seasons, the Neroverdi returned to mid-table, ending the2016–17 season in 12th position, and then the club followed this up with consecutive 11th-place finishes in 2018 and 2019, as well being knocked out in the round of 16 in three successiveCoppa Italia campaigns. In the home match against Lazio on 25 February 2018, club captainFrancesco Magnanelli made his 400th appearance for Sassuolo since joining the club's in its most recent spell in Serie C2 in 2005, having led the Neroverdi through three promotions and also playing in European competition in that time.[citation needed] On 13 June 2018,Roberto De Zerbi was appointed as manager, after impressing with his possession-based tactics at relegatedBenevento in the previous season.[21]
The2019–20 season oversaw an improvement in Sassuolo's fortunes. The club concluded the season in 8th position, just outside the final qualifying position for theUEFA Europa League, marking only the second top-half Serie A finish in its history. A primary reason for Sassuolo's growth was due to De Zerbi's innovative, attack-minded style of play, which began to flourish and led to a record-breaking Serie A goal return of 69, the most prolific the club has been since promotion in 2013.[22] The transfer ofFrancesco Caputo fromEmpoli in the preceding off-season was particularly crucial to this, as the striker ended the campaign with 21 league goals, and wingersJérémie Boga and Domenico Berardi also achieved double-figure goal tallies.[23]
The club continued its development as a top 10 team in Serie A in the following season, in which the record of 61 points in 2015–16 was broken with another 8th-place finish on 62 points. After eight matches, Sassuolo was placed second in the table, which in part was the result of the excellent form of the likes of Berardi,Manuel Locatelli,Filip Đuričić, amongst others. An impressive 2–0 away win against Napoli on matchday six was perhaps the best reflection of this impressive early-season form.[24] Although the club's form declined slightly in the mid-stage of the season, a 2–0 victory over Lazio on the final matchday meant that Sassuolo reached the same points total as Roma in 7th place, but narrowly missed out on European qualification on goal difference.[25] Berardi, in his eighth professional season with the club, enjoyed the best year of his career with 17 league goals and his double in a 3–1 against Fiorentina on 17 April 2021 meant that he had reached 100 goals in all competitions for the Neroverdi.[26] De Zerbi announced he would leave the club at the end of the season to take up the vacant head coach position atShakhtar Donetsk.[27] On 11 July 2021, Sassuolo's Manuel Locatelli, Domenico Berardi andGiacomo Raspadori were part of theItaly national squad that defeatedEngland in theUEFA Euro 2020 final.[28]
In the2023–24 season, Sassuolo finished 19th on the table and were relegated to Serie B ending their 11-year stay in the top flight.[29] They immediately won the Serie B in 2025 and were promoted back to Serie A.[30]
Starting from the 2013–14 season, the first Serie A campaign for the club, Sassuolo plays inReggio Emilia at the renovatedMapei Stadium – Città del Tricolore (formerly Stadio Giglio) in a venue-sharing agreement with Serie B clubReggiana.[33] The stadium was also bought by the parent company of Sassuolo, Mapei.[34]
The club first woreyellow andred, the colours of the coat of arms of the city ofSassuolo. Sassuolo begin wearing its present colours of green and black during the1970–71 Serie D [it] season.[citation needed] Some media reports saying the club has worn green and black since the 1920s as a result of an English touring team called 'Lancaster Rovers' are erroneous.[35]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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