Sassuolo, who’s back on the island? A challenge against former players Angelozzi and Pavoletti.
by Stefano FoglianiSASSUOLOThey are waiting at the pass for the Sassuolo, ‘Guidone’ and ‘the hawk’. Ready to spring a trap against Sassuolo, on which they have left far from faint traces in the past, which, if it is triggered, is worth Cagliari three points and the overtaking of Fabio Grosso’s team, who are one point above the black-greens in the standings.
‘Guidone’ is Guido Angelozzi, a long-serving Catania-born manager who arrived on the island this summer, on the back of a solid two-year contract—but in the good old days—from 2015 to 2018, sporting director of Sassuolo before he moved to Europe. He’s the man who brought Pellegrini and Politano, Duncan and Sensi, Frattesi and Scamacca to Sassuolo, to name just a few of his most important signings, as well as Babacar. He maintained an excellent relationship with Sassuolo both after moving to Spezia (he bought Erlic for the Ligurian club, later selling him back to the Neroverdi, and led the Ligurian club to Serie A) and to Frosinone, where he also won a Serie B championship with Grosso on the bench in 2022/23.
He built Cagliari 2025/26, and in building it he did not want to deprive himself of what has become a symbol in Cagliari, that is ‘the sparrowhawk’, in the century Leonardo Pavletti, a 1998-born center forward who has brought Sassuolo as many successes as a Neroverde as he has suffered heartache as a former player. Recovering from injury, Pavoletti returned—just a few moments—two weeks ago, was a key player—with an assist—in the Rossoblu’s draw in Verona, and we imagine he’s already set his sights on Sassuolo, a club he’s associated with for so long. Sassuolo bought him from the Armando Picchi amateurs way back in 2008, sent him out on loan everywhere, capitalizing on his goalscoring streak (11 goals in 33 appearances) the year of their first promotion to Serie A. Pavoletti made his debut, wearing the Neroverde jersey, in 2014/15 before moving to Genoa for €4 million (it cost him nothing, a capital gain of yesteryear). Once he had established himself in Serie A, Sassuolo has crossed paths with him several times as a former player.
Thirteen times, to be precise, and he’s scored five goals. Two for Genoa, and three for Cagliari: the last, painful one, in the 99th minute of the last Cagliari-Sassuolo match, in December two years ago. Sassuolo was leading 1-0, Cagliari equalized in stoppage time, and the one who scored the winner in the last minute of a seemingly endless injury time was none other than Pavoletti, who had been on the pitch just under half an hour. So, watch out for those two…
