Coppa Italia, Primavera on the field at 14pm. At the 'Ricci' there is Lecce. The semi-final is up for grabs

There is the landing at the Coppa Italia Primavera semi-final up for grabs, today at 14pm at Ricci. The Sassuolo by Emiliano Bigica in fact addresses the Lecce, who eliminated – somewhat surprisingly – Roma in the round of 16, after which the Neroverdi went on to beat Verona on penalties.

Should this obstacle also pass, Sassuolo will find the winner of the derby that is also played today, at 18 pm, between Milan and Inter, but it is not worth looking too far ahead, but rather on a less easy commitment than one might expect. If the standings - Sassuolo is third at 46 points, Lecce twelfth, 16 points below - and the last precedent in the championship - the black-greens won the match played in Salento 3-1 - give Bigica's boys the favorites, it is true however that it is a one-off match (in case of a draw at 90' penalties are taken), with all that follows and derives from it in terms of unknowns and possibilities.

The black-green coach knows this well, and on the eve of the match he defined it as "open to any result: we have the advantage of playing at home, and we will have to make the most of it, but - warns the Sassuolo coach - it will be very important to be focused in the defensive phase and to assert our qualities in attack, because Lecce is a very well-organized team, which is worth much more than its current ranking". The last championship match saw the black-greens defeat Udine and Lecce lose at home, but today the context, protagonists and competition change. "In Udine - says Bigica - I saw the boys face the match in the right way, and I got the answers I was waiting for from my players". Bigica expects more answers today. Lecce, of course, permitting.

Stefano Fogliani