Magnanelli has been with the club in all four divisions and now finds himself playing in Europe. Berardi was discovered playing five-a-side on a visit to see his brother, a student at Modena University. Acerbi has twice come back from testicular cancer. There is a spirit in this team that goes a long way to explaining why Claudio Ranieri name-checked Sassuolo when he was asked who he believes is the Italian Leicester.
Squinzi, incidentally, hasn't shied away from talking about winning the Scudetto. "It was a joke," Di Francesco insists. However, the aim ever since Di Francesco has been at the club has been to improve each season by 10 points. The question is: can Sassuolo really do better than last year? "If everyone took me seriously [when I said we could win the league]," Squinzi told Di Francesco last year. "Maybe I should take myself seriously too."
One person who will be taking them very seriously is Allegri. A shock defeat to Sassuolo two-and-a-half years ago got him the sack at Milan, while another defeat at the end of October last year had people believing Juventus' dominance was finally coming to an end. Juventus are now stronger than ever but, relatively speaking, so are Sassuolo. Saturday's game should be a classic.