Mattia Liberali Doubtful for Sassuolo Match as Como Faces Attack Challenges
The roar of a 4-1 Champions League win over Manchester United should have carried Como through the week. Instead, it may have left them without one of their brightest young sparks.
Mattia Liberali, the 19-year-old Italian talent who has just begun to stamp his name on Serie A, is unlikely to feature in Saturday’s home game against Sassuolo after feeling muscle discomfort during the warm-up on Tuesday night.
He never made it off the bench. Not because of tactics, but caution.
According to Gazzetta, Liberali reported the issue while going through pre-match routines ahead of the European clash. The technical staff and medical team chose not to risk him, shelving any plan to use him as a substitute despite the scale of the occasion and the eventual dominance over United.
Tests are scheduled for today, but the early indications are not encouraging. The same report states that Liberali is highly unlikely to be part of the squad for the weekend, a blow for a Como side already stretched in attack.
It comes at the worst possible time for the youngster. Only days ago in Florence, under the lights of the Stadio Artemio Franchi, Liberali opened his Serie A account. In Como’s 3-1 win away to Fiorentina, he marked his first league start for the club with a goal, celebrating like a player who knew this could be the beginning of something significant.
That momentum now hits an abrupt pause.
Como, already without Moise Kean and Assane Diao through injury, face Sassuolo with their forward options thinning by the week. Kean’s absence removes a reference point in attack. Diao’s injury strips away another line-breaking runner. Liberali, with his ability to glide between the lines and carry the ball at speed – as he showed in pre-season at Anfield against Liverpool – had quickly become a valuable alternative.
The timing is cruel, the stakes clear.
Como sit fifth in the Serie A table on 14 points, built on four wins, two draws and a single defeat. It’s a start that has turned early-season curiosity into genuine intrigue. A newly ambitious club, punching in Europe and holding firm in the league, now has to navigate a key fixture with a patched-up frontline.
Sassuolo arrive knowing exactly where to aim their pressure. Como’s structure and spirit have carried them this far, but the absence of three attacking pieces tests the depth of a squad still learning to live at this level.
For Liberali, the next 24 hours will bring clarity from the medical room. For Como, the question is more brutal: can a team that has flown out of the blocks keep its place among the early pacesetters while so much of its attacking talent watches from the sidelines?
