Cagliari-Inter

By: Jeremy | April 25th, 2008

On the surface, Cagliari looks to be in great shape. They are five points clear of the relegation zone, coming off two huge wins, and with only four games left to play, their relegation rivals are running out of time to make up the points. Its this weeks game that should give you an indication why I was so excited about the wins the past two weeks and constantly declaring them as must wins.

Simply put, Inter is the class of Serie A and to go into the San Siro when they are very close to winning the Scudetto is not a time to be expecting any points. Parma is the only other club left to see them later so all the other relegation teams have taken their lumps, but if the Scudetto is already clinched, Inter wont be playing their top players that final week and their winning against Parma wont be so clear. This is the week Cagliari takes their Inter beating and with the cushion Cagliari has built, a loss in this game does not seem as damaging as it might have if Cagliari had lost to Livorno or Empoli.

Relegation clubs achieve survival, by how they do against each other, not against big clubs like Inter. Yes upsets occasionally happen, but if you need points coming into a match against Inter, especially on the road, you must already be a strong candidate for relegation. Yes Cagliari got a draw against Roma recently, but remember Roma played horrible, was thinking about Manchester United in the CL in two days time, missed multiple chances, gave Cagliari their goal, and even in a match played in Sardinia, that only equates to a draw. That should tell you how Cagliari will do against an Inter team that is ready to clinch the league title.

Inter showed its class by winning its last three games after being bounced from the Champions League. They played horrible on the road and still beat Torino. Simply put there is such a difference between clubs like Cagliari/Torino and Inter that any objective person has to count on Inter getting the three points this week.

Reality aside, Cagliari has to have the attitude they can get points in this game. They are as high as they have ever been, Storari is dominating in goal, and Acquafresca feels like he can single handedly win this game. There is no doubt any player wants to impress a club that owns some or all of his rights so Acquafresca could notch a hat trick for all we know. The fact Acquafresca seems so focused and happy to be a Cagliari player makes me smile. Cagliaris only hope is that Inter may be looking ahead to the next weeks match with Milan. I am sure they would love to clinch the title in that game so maybe Cagliari gets a pass. Somehow I doubt it.

Inter will be without Figo and Ibrahimovic in addition to the other stars who have been out forever so that helps a bit. Cagliari will be without Foggia, Fini, and Pisano who have yellow card suspensions. If a Cagliari player is going to be suspended, this is the week.

Instead of trying to figure out what Cagliari can do to get points in Milan, I think any wise Cagliari fan would be looking at what the other relegation candidates will do this weekend and who is likely to pick up points on them. Lets do that right now.

Torino is on the road to Roma. No points for Torino
Catania is on the road to Udinese. No points for Catania
Parma is on the road to Reggina. Lets hope for a draw, but if they pick up
three points, they are on 34 and Reggina stays 5 points behind Cagliari
and will be close to locking up one of the relegation slots.
Reggina gets Parma at home. If Reggina wins, they are on 33 points and
Parma is in deep doodoo with 31 points.
Empoli is on the road to Genoa. I think a draw is possible, but you have to
bet on Genoa to win(not that I bet on soccer games)
Livrono plays Milan at home. No points for Livorno.

As negative as I may sound about Cagliaris chances against Inter, I think Cagliari even after a loss is still four points clear of safety considering the likely results of the other games. We can then forget about this game and move on to next week. Now if Cagliari could get some points this week, well…..putting the crack pipe down again.

If you havent figured it out, here is my prediction:

Inter 3-1 Cagliari