Marked for Leonardo Benedetti
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match26 Dec 2026
No end in sight to Virtus Entella's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Virtus Entella has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Stefano Di Mario and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The terraces28 Dec 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Stefano Di Mario has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Squad28 Dec 2026
200 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Niccolò Squizzato, and the manager let it.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
Marked 7.34 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Virtus Entella had the best player on the pitch.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
Something was said to Leonardo Benedetti and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words at Virtus Entella training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mattia Alborghetti is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match19 Dec 2026
4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
A performance of 8.06 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Emanuel Valdearenas and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 15. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match19 Dec 2026
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Mattia Alborghetti falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
Simone Colombi asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Manuel Paro chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 38. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match4 Nov 2026
Salernitana are out and Virtus Entella go through, 3‑1 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Marked 7.70 at 19, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Stefano Di Mario was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Match7 Nov 2026
It finished 2‑1, and it was Bernat Guiu’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Virtus Entella.
The terraces9 Nov 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Adulai Embaló has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.25, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Ninety minutes of Alessandro Pilati at his very best
Marked 8.13. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Virtus Entella.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match24 Oct 2026
No end in sight to Virtus Entella's wait for a win
7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Virtus Entella has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad26 Oct 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Virtus Entella this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad26 Oct 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Stefano Di Mario and Virtus Entella agree another 4 years.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 17. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Match24 Oct 2026
It needed Mattia Tirelli to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Catanzaro, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Words at Virtus Entella training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mattia Alborghetti is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
Simone Colombi knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Simone Colombi trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
Half-satisfied: Manuel Paro on the draw
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 1‑1, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match10 Oct 2026
5 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Nahuel Iribarren and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Match10 Oct 2026
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 15. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words at Virtus Entella training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Matteo Carbone is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad12 Oct 2026
One booking too many, and a game watched from the stand. Virtus Entella lose him for the most avoidable reason in the sport.
Looking ahead12 Oct 2026
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Ernesto Matteazzi’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Virtus Entella needing him to play as if none of it matters.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad21 Sep 2026
Luca Vignali and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Simone Colombi, and the manager let it.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.64 on the card, and the Virtus Entella support went home talking about one name.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Luca Vignali beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 14. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
Half-satisfied: Manuel Paro on the draw
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Matteo Carbone was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
Match19 Sep 2026
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Spezia? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
Looking ahead21 Sep 2026
Reggiana next, and one man in the Virtus Entella dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.