He finished third in the Panchina d’Oro behind Conte and Gasp, dominated Atalanta without beating them, and watched his star player miss a penalty kick. But from up there, someone is watching…

Yesterday, the Technical Department of the Italian Football Federation awarded Cesc Fabregas, coach of the “miracle” Como team, third place on the Panchina d’Oro podium, behind Antonio Conte, who won the Scudetto with Napoli, and Gian Piero Gasperini, who led Atalanta back to the Champions League. A great source of satisfaction for a coach still at the dawn of his career, but one that perhaps came at the wrong moment—on a day when his instinct was to curse his profession. Just a few hours earlier, he’d been pummeling Atalanta, racking up a barrage of about twenty shots like Saint Sebastian, only to watch his best player (Nico Paz) miss a penalty in stoppage time—and instead of the five-plus goals the stats predicted, he’d scored none. And against Milan, things had gone even worse.

If, high above Coverciano, he had sensed the god of soccer, Cesc would probably have asked him: “Why, Lord? Yet I play well, just as you like. I don’t sit back; I push forward.” And the god of soccer, parting the Florentine clouds, would probably have replied: “Just think how boring soccer would be if only those who deserved it ever won… I have given the game its most precious gift: freedom. The freedom of a fluke, of a bad bounce, of a missed penalty—the freedom to win even when playing poorly. But you’re on the right path, Cesc—the best one, the one that leads far, into the light. Persevere without doubt, and comfort that young man who plays like an angel. A missed penalty weighs less than a feather. Truly I tell you: in a year, you’ll still be here, holding a Golden Bench award.”