Sassuolo were the fairytale story of last season as, in their first ever campaign in Serie A, they managed to defy the odds and stave off relegation despite playing an almost kamikaze style of attacking football under Eusebio Di Francesco. They just about managed to stay up last term and it looked as though they were in for a similar struggle after another difficult start which brought a repeat 7-0 defeat at the hands of Inter Milan which they also suffered early last year. However, that result seemed to be something of a turning point for the Neroverdi who drastically improved their results in the following months with Di Francesco never changing his attacking principles. They managed to keep hold of talented loan forwards Domenico Berardi and Simone Zaza, who both managed to bang in important goals. Berardi clearly looks the more rounded player of the two and will almost certainly go back to parent club, Juventus, soon whilst the champions have yet to make a firm decision on whether they want Zaza back. The defence was once again leaky but that seems to be an expected drawback of Di Francesco's style. However, the surprise of his side was their solid midfield with the likes of Francesco Magnanelli and Simone Missiroli forming a burgeoning partnership in the control room. All this lead to a comfortable mid-table finish for Sassulo and none of the heroics of the last campaign were needed in the end. Di Francesco avoided "second season syndrome" and will know hope to fully establish Sassuolo as a top flight club.
