3 : 2
Cremona is worth visiting anyway: a small but friendly town with a charming old town and a cathedral and baptistery in its centre.
Cremonese is one of Italy’s meteoric clubs, fluctuating between Serie A and the lower leagues. Its historic first promotion to the Italian top flight was achieved in 1984 – it is worth mentioning that our famous defender Władysław Żmuda joined the team at that time, having previously spent two seasons at Hellas Verona (1982-84) and a brief spell at boutique club Cosmos New York.
In the meantime, the club experienced a typical rollercoaster ride: from relegation to Serie C2, through promotion to Serie B in 2017, to promotion to Serie A: first in 2022 and most recently in 2025. As you can see, the club, founded in 1903, has been through a lot, and the fans, by their very nature, have to be with it through the good, the bad and even the worst.
On Saturday evening, they turned up in large numbers at the venerable Stadio Giovanni Zinni. It is not easy for newbies like us (I went to the match with my wife) to find the sector indicated on the ticket, because for some unknown reason the signage in the stands is poor, and the stewards’ advice turned out to be imprecise, to put it mildly.
For the first 20 minutes, practically nothing happened on the pitch. A more enthusiastic commentator would probably call it a “chess match”, but I would simply call it boring. So I started looking for some “highlights”, not worrying at all that I might miss something interesting on the pitch. I found two interesting facts, both in the visiting team. The first was Polish right-back Sebastian Walukiewicz, known for his previous appearances for Torino. The second was European football legend Nemanja Matić, one of Jose Mourinho’s favourites, who has played for giants such as Chelsea and Manchester United (he spent five seasons at the latter). He joined Sassuolo from Lyon at the last minute, being confirmed for the game three days before the match in Cremona. While the Pole played very conservatively, not to say ‘passively’, the Serb impressed with his experience and activity, despite being 37 years old.
The hosts managed to score two goals ‘out of nowhere’ before the break. In the second half, Sassuolo came out onto the pitch determined to improve, which resulted in two goals and a real chance to even win away. However, Cremonese’s determination and successful substitutions gave the hosts three points – the winning goal came in added time from a penalty, and the lucky scorer was a substitute who had won the penalty himself.
And so, after two rounds of Serie A, the team from Cremona finds itself at the top of the table, which without a shadow of a doubt – is quite sensational.
