Como’s official line-up told a clear story before a ball was kicked: after a busy run of results, Cesc Fabregas chose to reshuffle his side and hand Samuele Ricci his first Serie A start for the club against Sassuolo. In a match that arrived just days after Como’s 4-1 win over Manchester United in the Champions League and three days after their 3-1 victory at Fiorentina, the selection was as interesting as the fixture itself.
The bigger point was not just Ricci’s inclusion. It was what his first league start suggested about Como’s approach at home, where they entered the game in strong form and with eight points of momentum behind them. Against a Sassuolo side that had only one point from their last three games, the lineup hinted at a team trying to keep control of its rhythm rather than simply lean on recent confidence.
Official line-ups and kickoff details
The match between Como and Sassuolo kicked off at 15:00 CET, which was 14:00 BST, at the Stadio Giuseppe Sinigaglia. The confirmed starting XI also confirmed that Nico Paz was left out of Como’s starting line-up, while Samuele Ricci was the notable inclusion in midfield.
For Sassuolo, the context was far less comfortable. Their Round 4 win over Juventus had briefly raised the temperature around the team, but that was followed by a heavy defeat at Frosinone last weekend. This was not a side arriving with much margin for error, especially away from home against a Como team that had been collecting results and rotating with purpose.
The line-ups mattered because they framed the match as more than a simple form check. Como were the sharper team on paper and in recent results, but the decision to start Ricci and omit Nico Paz showed that Fabregas was still balancing output with structure. That is often the real sign of a team growing: not just winning, but choosing how it wants to win.
