Sassuolo boss Fabio Grosso reflected on his side’s “amazing journey” after their latest victory – and one more small step is all that is needed to complete the Serie B march they have been on since last summer.

Their immediate return to the top flight has already been confirmed but, after seeing off Carrarese on Thursday, a point against Cremonese will confirm them as champions.

They also have their sights on Benevento’s records for most points and wins. With three games left they are one victory and five points short of the mark set by the Sorcerers back in 2020.

On a personal level, striker Armand Lauriente leads the top-scorer race with 17 for the season but Pietro Iemmello (16), Francesco Esposito (15) and Andrea Adorante (14) are refusing to let him disappear over the horizon.

Lauriente played 45 minutes against Carrarese where Simone Verdi and Daniel Boloca sealed the Neroverdi’s 25th victory of the campaign. Verdi scored early on and Boloca sealed the win in the closing stages after the visitors had Marco Imperiale sent off.

Grosso said: “We suffered in some moments of the match but we came back and completed the victory. It was deserved. It brings us even closer to another of our objectives, which is to try to stay at the top of this championship, because these guys have had an amazing journey and we will try in every way to claim first position.”

For fourth-placed Cremonese, the aim is also crystal clear.

With a six-point gap to Spezia in third and a four-point buffer to fifth-placed Juve Stabia, holding their position is key ahead of the play-offs.

Ahead of this one, they can take heart from the reverse fixture earlier in the season. Back in August Cremonese enjoyed a 4-1 triumph – one of only four league defeats for Sassuolo in 2024-25.

Thursday’s goalless draw at Sampdoria stretched the Grigiorossi’s unbeaten run to eight games but it was the first time they have drawn a blank since going down 1-0 at Salernitana at the start of February, and only the second time they have failed to score this year.

Manager Giovanni Stroppa, who has slight fitness concerns over defenders Tommaso Barbieri and Luca Ravanelli after the trip to Genoa, refused to be too down about not getting on the scoresheet.

He said: “We didn’t shoot as much as usual but we were up against a strong team looking for results. Sampdoria are a difficult opponent.”

Looking beyond Sassuolo, he added: “We are ready for the play-offs.”

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