With Italian football in crisis, Sassuolo offer a model of how to put things right

Max Allegri sought refuge in the dug-out at the Mapei Stadium. He bowed his head and pinched the bridge of his nose. Not Sassuolo. Not again. The team with whom he began his rise through the leagues, taking ‘Sasol’ up to Serie B for the first time in their history two decades ago, has a funny way of coming back to haunt him. A 4-3 defeat in 2014 brought an end to his first spell as coach of AC Milan. The scorer of all four of Sassuolo’s goals that day was Domenico Berardi. Now a little longer in the tooth, Berardi struck again at the weekend in a 2-0 win. Historically only Enrico Chiesa and Silvio Piola have been more prolific against Milan than Sassuolo’s No 10.Advertisement