Fabregas: Sassuolo ‘put on a masterclass, we weren’t even at 10%’

Cesc Fabregas says that Fabio Grosso ‘put on a masterclass’ but warns that Como ‘weren’t even at 10%’ after his side fell to a disappointing 2-1 defeat at the hands of Sassuolo on Friday evening. 

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There was a rapid influx of goals at the end of the first half at the Mapei Stadium, as Cristian Volpato and M’Bala Nzola struck within two minutes of each other to send the hosts 2-0 up. Nico Paz halved the deficit in first-half injury time, but that was as far as the comeback went. 

Today’s result leaves Como two points behind Juventus in the Champions League positions, now having played one game more. 

You can see how the action unfolded on the Football Italia Liveblog.

Fabregas reacts to Sassuolo 2-1 Como

Speaking during his post-match interview with DAZN, Fabregas insisted that he wasn’t trying to ‘look for excuses’ and instead congratulated Sassuolo and head coach Grosso on their ‘masterclass’ performance. He later went on to add that he thought his side ‘weren’t even at 10%’ of their usual selves. 

“When you lose, you always look for excuses. We apologise to the fans and congratulate Sassuolo, the coach put on a masterclass today,” Fabregas sais. “We weren’t fluid, the ball was too slow and Lauriente was difficult to control. We look forward to the next one.” 

Fabregas feels that Grosso set up differently to how he normally does. 

“This isn’t the normal Sassuolo, who defend the whole game and then massacre you on the counterattack. There was an incredible density of players. We tried every way to get through but today wasn’t our day. We didn’t have the quality. 

“The second goal was the most disappointing thing. We’re not this sort of team. We have to accept it and continue to prepare better if we want to get to certain levels.

“Every game is different. We try to be as complete as possible. Today we weren’t even at 10%. Bad for us, but congratulations to Sassuolo. Let’s think about the next game and prepare well.”