Claudio Ranieri hopes Sassuolo can become the Italian Leicester by continuing their impressive progress this season.
Ranieri led 5,000-1 outsiders Leicester City to a sensational Premier League title triumph last time around but the exploits of minnows back in his homeland also caught his eye.
Sassuolo, who played in the Serie A for the first time in 2013, stormed to a sixth-place last term having secured victories over the likes of Napoli, Lazio, AC Milan, Inter and champions Juventus.
I hope Sassuolo goes beyond the preliminaries of the Europa League, Ranieri said.
Sassuolo could become the Italian Leicester. It makes me think of Udinese a few years ago, with a basic philosophical difference.
In Udine they relied on young foreigners, while in Sassuolo the are following the Italian way and this path may give a jolt to the entire national movement.
Ranieri was linked with succeeding Chelsea-bound Antonio Conte as Italy boss ahead of the latter s swansong at Euro 2016, with the Italian Football Federation eventually plumping for the similarly experienced Giampiero Ventura.
The worst thing to do would be to compare [Ventura] to Conte, Ranieri said, after the outgoing coach earned plenty of plaudits as Italy defeated Belgium and defending champions Spain in France before bowing out on penalties against Germany in the quarter-finals.
Each coach has his own history and his moment. Ventura is a master of football, but he alone cannot work miracles. The system, in its complexity, must help him.
Conte has really overachieved. He should be thanked; he gave a soul to the Azzurri.
