Falcone, Gaspar, and Ramadani: Lecce's "workaholics"

Goalkeeper and captain Wladimiro Falcone and central defender Kialonda Gaspar have been Lecce's workhorses in the first eleven matchdays of the 2025/2026 Serie A season. Both have made 11 appearances and have been on the pitch from the first to the last minute of every match, totaling 1,064 minutes, including injury time. Both are key players in the Salento team's defense and enjoy the full confidence of coach Eusebio Di Francesco, just as they did in 2024/2025, first from Luca Gotti and then from Marco Giampaolo.

Given that extra time will always be taken into account in the calculation, Ylber Ramadani is second in the league table with 1,029 minutes of playing time. Last season, the midfielder was partially forgotten, only to be revived in the decisive matches against Torino and Lazio, which sealed his historic third consecutive appearance. But the Albanian has relaunched himself strongly in the current tournament, putting in some solid performances, reflecting his unique characteristics.

All other players have played under 1,000 minutes. Left-back Antonino Gallo, a true "pendulum" in his lane, has played 990 minutes. Central defender Tiago Gabriel, a revelation in this first part of the season, worthy of being followed by several top Italian clubs and a couple of foreign clubs, has played 984 minutes. Midfielder Lassana Coulibaly, one of Lecce's most consistent players both last season and this year, has played 879 minutes, while right-back Danilo Veiga has been on the pitch for 825 minutes. The Portuguese, signed by the club from Via Colonel Costadura in January 2025, in the transfer window, found little playing time under Giampaolo, who could count on Frederick Guilbert, and started out with many difficulties under Di Francesco, but in recent days he seems to have found his niche and is now considered a regular in his position.

Winger Tete Morente, who sacrifices heavily even when not in possession and is able to contribute whether deployed on the right or left, has played 729 minutes. Center forward Nikola Stulic, who is struggling to adapt to a completely different environment from the football he's used to and has yet to score, has played 691 minutes. Medon Berisha, who has improved significantly since being deployed as an attacking midfielder, scored a goal in Udine and the away win against Fiorentina, has played 689 minutes. Santiago Pierotti, who has been in a bit of a decline recently but has put in some solid performances, has played 639 minutes.

These are the eleven players who can be considered coach Di Francesco's "most loyal" players in the past few league games, the players who, at this stage, form the backbone of the Giallorossi team.

But, just on the eve of the final match against Verona, the Pescara-born coach had the opportunity to emphasize that he expects all his players to remain on top of their game, as they will have the opportunity to lend a hand and try to prove they deserve more playing time or even a starting spot.

In this sense, winger Lameck Banda (396') is gradually gaining increasing use. Highly regarded are centre-forward Francesco Camarda (383'), who could soon displace Stulic as he seems more comfortable with the team's mechanisms, and winger Riccardo Sottil (280'), who in Parma and against Verona showed the flashes of brilliance down the flank that Lecce desperately need to increase their attacking effectiveness.

These are the minutes of the other players thrown into the fray so far: 239' Owen Kouassi, 180' Konan N'Dri, 176' Mohamed Kaba, 115' Alex Sala, 91' Thorir Helgason, 84' Corrie Ndaba, 80' Jamil Siebert, 58' Youssef Maleh (who was however reinserted into the list during the match) and 39' Balthazar Pierret.

Looking at appearances, the situation largely mirrors that of minutes played, meaning that those who have played longer have more minutes, but with some unique characteristics. In addition to Falcone and Gaspar, Ramadani, Gallo, and Tiago Gabriel also have 11 minutes each, ranking among the top players in terms of playing time. This group also includes 17-year-old Camarda, who has nevertheless been fielded, especially during the match, on every matchday.

Coulibaly, Pierotti, Morente and Stulic follow with 10, Berisha and Veiga with 9, N'Dri and Banda with 8, Sottil and Kaba with 6, Kouassi with 4, Ndaba, Sala, Helgason, Pierret and Maleh with 3, Siebert with 1.

In this first half of the season, Lecce has used 23 of its 26 senior squad members. The only players who have never played in the league are second-choice goalkeeper Christian Fruchtl, third-choice goalkeeper Jasper Samooja, and central defender Matias Perez.