Monza host Sassuolo at 8:45 PM at the Brianteo stadium on September 18, 2026, with Ivan Juric still waiting for his first Serie A victory as coach and Noel Tornqvist set for a first start in goal. Monza are eighteenth in Serie A with one point and are still chasing their first league win of the season, so this is no routine fixture for a side already under pressure to stop the slide.
The search around Monza Vs Sassuolo is driven by the same two questions every time Juric speaks now: can Monza turn their performances into points, and who does he trust to start in goal? Juric said Monza are “fourth in the expected rankings,” and insisted the team are playing well, but that has not kept the table from telling a harsher story. One point leaves them eighteenth, and the gap between what he believes he is seeing and what the standings show is the reason this match matters today.
Juric also pointed directly to where the damage has been done. Monza have conceded 11 goals in 17 shots, a figure that explains why the coach keeps returning to defending rather than attack. His view is not that the team are collapsing across the pitch, but that they are paying for too many moments where one chance becomes one goal. He said the week has not been turbulent and that he feels calm, yet the calm sits beside a simple reality: results are missing, and the back line has to improve if that changes.
That is why Tornqvist matters in a way a routine selection never would. Juric said Demba Thiam has done some good things and some less good things, and added that Tornqvist will have a chance. The expectation is that Tornqvist replaces Thiam for the first time, giving Monza a fresh option behind a likely 3-4-2-1 shape. Mangas has recovered from the injury he suffered in Salento and is in line to start, while Bakoune is ready if he cannot go. Colpani and Zeballos are competing for the other attacking midfield spot, with Robinson and Varela also expected in the XI.
The match also comes against a Sassuolo side arriving with confidence after a strong performance against Juventus, which only sharpens the pressure on Monza to deliver something tangible before the international break. Juric has not spoken like a coach expecting the work to unravel; he has spoken like one who believes the work has been good enough and the finishing of chances and defending of them has not. If Monza want their season to change, this is the sort of night that has to start it.
The next thing readers should watch for is whether Juric follows through on Tornqvist from the opening whistle and whether Monza finally turn their underlying promise into their first Serie A win of the season.
