Fabio Grosso may understandably try to deny it, but Sassuolo’s return ticket to Serie A is all but punched.

Their 2-0 win over Brescia on Saturday coupled with Pisa’s draw against Cesena 24 hours later left the Neroverdi seven points clear of the Tuscans with 12 matches left in the Serie B season.

When Grosso led Frosinone to Serie A two seasons ago, his side went top of the table after 10 matches and never looked back, finishing seven points clear of Genoa.

The parallels with the current campaign are obvious, but the 2006 World Cup winner warned his team against looking too far ahead.

“We have a long way to go, and we’ll be up against some very strong teams,” he said after the 2-0 win over Brescia on Saturday.

“Everyone is fighting for a spot at the top. Our priority right now is to keep improving and be ready for whatever challenges come our way.”

Cautious as Grosso may be, the finish line is in sight for Sassuolo and it should come as no surprise to see them live up to their tag of promotion favourites.

Such is the quality and depth of their squad, the Neroverdi – as rival managers have often remarked this season – are effectively a Serie A side temporarily plying their trade one step further down calcio‘s pyramid.

But the fact Sassuolo were expected to return to Serie A at the first time of asking, doesn’t diminish the impressive nature of their current campaign.

With 61 points in 26 games at an average of 2.35 points per match, Grosso’s men are statistically the best team across the second tier of the top five big European leagues.

In England, Championship leaders Leeds have amassed 72 points but across 33 matches, seven more than Sassuolo, at an average of 2.18 points per game, while Lorient are top of Ligue 2 in France with 49 points after 23 rounds at a clip of 2.13 points per 90 minutes.

The pace drops considerably in Germany and Spain. Cologne top the Bundesliga 2 with 40 points after 22 matches at an average of 1.82 points per game, while Mirandes and Racing Santander share the lead in the Segunda División with 48 points after 27 games, at an average of 1.78 points per match.

Sassuolo’s relentless pace is reflected by their gap over their closest rivals Pisa which, at seven points, is the widest out of any division across the second tier of the top five big European leagues.

Two points separate Leeds and Sheffield United in the Championship, while Lorient have a five-point gap over second-placed Metz. The race for promotion, meanwhile, is anyone’s guess in Germany and Spain, with five points separating first and seventh in the Bundesliga 2 and four points between first and seventh in the Segunda.

When it comes to goals scored, Leeds predictably lead the way with 68 but Sassuolo’s tally of 58 is the second-best across the five leagues, ahead of Racing’s 42 and Lorient and Koln, who have scored 40 and 36 goals respectively.

Leeds also lead the way from a defensive standpoint with just 20 goals conceded, ahead of Lorient and Mirandes with 21 and 22 respectively and Koln’s 28. With 25 goals conceded this season, meanwhile, Sassuolo have the third-best defensive record in Serie B behind Spezia and Pisa, their two closest rivals in the race for Serie A.

The Neroverdi, however, set the pace across Europe’s five big leagues – including the first divisions too – when it comes to goals scored by substitutes, with a staggering 16 goals coming from players who have come off the bench.

With such an embarrassment of riches at Grosso’s disposal, it is little surprise to see Sassuolo on the verge of returning to Serie A.