Collecchio, 23 May 2026 – Carlos Cuesta spoke ahead of Parma’s clash against Sassuolo on matchday 38 of the Serie A Enilive season. This is what he had to say from the Press Conference Room at the Mutti Training Center in Collecchio:
WE WANT TWELFTH PLACE, FOCUS ON SASSUOLO
“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 our 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.
“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.”
EVEN MORE MOTIVATION THAN AT THE START OF THE SEASON
“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.'
PRIMAVERA
“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.
“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.”
BEING A TEAM, PHRASE THAT SUMS UP THE SEASON
“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 to express ourselves or do certain things on the pitch. Above all, it’s about total commitment and the willingness to do it.”
