Parma berhasil mengalahkan Sassuolo dengan skor 1-0 dalam laga pamungkas pekan ke-38 Serie A musim 2025/2026 di Stadion Ennio Tardini pada Minggu, 24 Mei 2026. Gol tunggal kemenangan tuan rumah dicetak melalui sundulan Mateo Pellegrino pada babak kedua memanfaatkan umpan silang Pontus Almqvist.
Hasil ini membuat Parma memutus tren buruk tiga kekalahan beruntun dan menutup musim di peringkat ke-13 dengan 42 poin dari 38 laga, sementara Sassuolo tertahan di posisi ke-11 dengan raihan 49 poin. Tim tamu asuhan Fabio Grosso juga gagal menembus posisi 10 besar karena tetap tertinggal satu angka dari Udinese.
Pertandingan berjalan ketat sejak awal laga dengan babak pertama berakhir imbang tanpa gol setelah sepakan Ismaël Koné mengenai tiang gawang Parma dan penyelamatan gemilang Edoardo Corvi terhadap peluang Domenico Berardi. Memasuki babak kedua, bek Sassuolo Jay Idzes ditarik keluar akibat cedera yang kemudian digantikan oleh Pedro Felipe sebelum Parma memecah kebuntuan.
Krisis pemain melanda kedua tim sebelum laga dimulai, di mana Parma kehilangan sembilan pilar akibat cedera, sehingga pelatih Carlos Cuesta mendaftarkan enam pemain Primavera dan memainkan Daniel Mikolajewski sejak menit awal. Di kubu Sassuolo, Jay Idzes sebenarnya sempat memaksakan tampil sejak awal setelah absen tiga pekan akibat cedera tumit, menyusul absennya Daniel Boloca, Filippo Romagna, dan Sebastian Walukiewicz.
Sebelum pertandingan berlangsung, manajer Parma Carlos Cuesta menegaskan komitmen skuadnya untuk memberikan performa terbaik demi meraih poin penuh di hadapan para pendukung lokal.
"We want to finish the season in the best possible way. Everything that is within our control must be focused on the match, and we need to put all energy into getting the win and delivering a strong performance. It would be great to finish on a high with the fans. Personally, I’ve learned a lot this season – it’s been a huge life experience, and I’ve been fortunate to work alongside some incredible people. I’ve felt the warmth of the fans in every sense and the support of the club when needed. The players have shown a very high level of commitment, desire and quality – otherwise, you don’t get these results. And the same goes for the staff, who have all pulled in the same direction." kata Carlos Cuesta, Pelatih Parma.
Pelatih asal Spanyol tersebut juga mengonfirmasi penunjukan Edoardo Corvi sebagai penjaga gawang utama untuk menggantikan posisi Zion Suzuki yang berhalangan tampil akibat cedera.
"Tomorrow’s line-up? Corvi will start, along with ten others. And that’s already a lot, because I’m naming one player when I’ve never named anyone before. It’s been a week with a very clear focus: we want to reach 45 points and finish as high as possible, even if it’s not fully in our hands. Twelfth place is the highest we can achieve, and we’ll go after it with everything we’ve got. Today is all about Sassuolo – anything regarding the future or next season belongs to 2026/27. The focus is to finish this season as well as possible. It’s been a positive campaign with ups and downs, and tomorrow will bring difficulties because we have several absentees. Rinaldi, Cremaschi, Frigan, Delprato, Strefezza, Estévez, Bernabé, Oristanio, Ondrejka and Elphege are all unavailable. That obviously creates challenges, but the team has overcome difficulties throughout the 37 matchdays. No excuses – we go in with the right mentality, aiming to put in a strong performance in front of our fans and take the game where we want it to go." ujar Carlos Cuesta, Pelatih Parma.
Meskipun menghadapi badai cedera, Cuesta menyatakan motivasi timnya justru meningkat demi melampaui target poin internal yang telah ditetapkan klub.
"We have even more motivation now than we did at the start of the season. We have the chance to finish the campaign with a win, on 45 points, and we hope to end it in the best possible way. It’s been a season with ups and downs and some difficulties, but we managed to achieve our objective. At the same time, we want to grow and improve – we’re not satisfied. The only thing that takes you to the next level is improving. I couldn’t be more motivated, both now and beyond the Sassuolo game. I love this profession, I love this game – my mentality is always the same. I want to always be the best version of myself to help the players as much as possible." tutur Carlos Cuesta, Pelatih Parma.
Sebagai solusi keterbatasan personel, Cuesta mempromosikan enam penggawa dari tim muda Primavera untuk mengisi bangku cadangan dan memperkuat kedalaman tim senior.
"Six Primavera players will definitely be in the squad: Mazzocchi, Mena Martínez, Plicco, Tigani, Cardinali and Mikolajewski. Cardinali was close to making his debut last week, if it had not been for circumstances beyond his control, with Elphege picking up an injury. He had a very good week of training with us, despite knowing that the Primavera have an important match on Monday. But that also reflects the alignment within the club; people like Coach Corrent and Mattia Notari have done an excellent job in helping us be as competitive as possible tomorrow." ucap Carlos Cuesta, Pelatih Parma.
Salah satu talenta muda, Mikolajewski, dinilai memiliki kesiapan matang untuk memberikan kontribusi positif setelah mendapatkan kesempatan bermain di kompetisi tertinggi.
"Mikolajewski could feature. He’s training very well and has already made two appearances. He’s making a positive impact and could have a great opportunity tomorrow. They’re exceptional lads, with a great desire to work, and they’re at a good level both when they train with us and when they get the chance to feature in matches. That’s part of coaching – there are certain dynamics at play. Sometimes, you want to improve or push players, so you talk to them and try to correct things. We do that with both Primavera players and the first team, because everything belongs to Parma. Our aim is to help the club grow and improve." tutur Carlos Cuesta, Pelatih Parma.
Carlos Cuesta menambahkan bahwa fokus utama skuadnya adalah menjaga kolektivitas kerja sama tim sepanjang pertandingan tanpa terpengaruh oleh faktor cuaca maupun kondisi kebugaran.
"As always, we approach games with an objective and the desire to win. Then you deal with all kinds of situations – heat, injuries – but there are no excuses. There is only the right approach, mentally, physically and tactically, and we try to prepare as best we can to reach that target. Is it entirely in our hands? No, it also depends on our opponents. They’re a very strong side who have had a fantastic season, but we want to focus less on that, and more on achieving our objective. The phrase that sums up the season? Being a team. The most important thing is being aware of what is needed at certain moments" sebut Carlos Cuesta, Pelatih Parma.
Pertandingan ini juga diwarnai dengan pemberian kartu kuning kepada beberapa pemain seperti Tommaso Macchioni dan Kristian Thorstvedt dari Sassuolo, serta Lautaro Valenti dan Sascha Britschgi dari kubu tuan rumah. Dengan selesainya laga di Stadion Ennio Tardini, kedua klub resmi mengakhiri kampanye mereka di Serie A Italia musim 2025/2026 dan bersiap menuju bursa transfer musim panas mendatang.
