Almost twenty years have now passed since the last time the Cagliari has overcome the obstacle of the round of 16 of Italian Cup. It was January 13, 2005, the rossoblù captained by Gianfranco Zola and con Daniele Arrigoni in the bench they showed up at the Olimpico in Rome for the return match against Lazio, strengthened by the 2-1 victory at Sant’Elia in the first leg played on 21 November 2004. It ended 3-2 after extra time, with the goal by Daniele Conti to drag the match beyond the ninetieth minute – after the momentary 2-0 scored by Antonio Filippini and Tommaso Rocchi, before a spell from the Magic Box brought the Cagliari at 2-2, with the final and useless 3-2 goal scored again by Rocchi one minute from the 120th minute.
Why not?
A team, the one with Zola as the leading man of an attack that also featured the various David Suazo, Antonio Langella and Mauro Esposito, which was capable of reaching the semi-finals of the competition. First Sampdoria overcame the obstacle in the quarterfinals, then Inter extinguished their dreams of the final as happened eleven years earlier in the UEFA Cup. A goal never reached again by the rossoblù club, which for twenty years now has not reached beyond the round of 16. Also for this reason today’s match, December 17th, against Juventus in Turin represents an opportunity to try to repeat what happened in 2004-05, with a scoreboard which, in the event of a victory against Thiago Motta’s Bianconeri, would see the men by Davide Nicola meet Empoli in the quarter-finals and then one between Bologna, Atalanta and Cesena in the eventual semi-final. Italian Cup which in recent seasons has often represented a nuisance rather than an opportunity for the rossoblù, the fight for survival as an absolute priority and the midweek commitment used more to test the second lines than to try to reach a prestigious goal. Situation similar to the current one, with the clash against Venezia upon us which comes after the defeat against Atalanta and, above all, the victories of the competitors which made Cagliari slip to third from last place. For this reason, the doubt is between trying to take advantage of a more unique than rare opportunity, that of reaching the quarter-finals by taking advantage of a Juventus team that is not at full strength, or thinking about preserving energy as much as possible in view of the survival clash against Penzo. , with everything that the Venice race brings with it to the memory. If on the one hand the 0-1 against Atalanta did not give away any points and resulted in the team falling into the red zone of the league table, on the other hand it also showed Cagliari clearly improving from a playing point of view. Trying to continue on the path of positivity regardless of the results and avoiding starting beaten against the Bianconeri can be a further key to understanding: playing well helps to play well, continuity is a value to maintain, a possible passage to the next round – or at least to try – a push for what the near future brings.
The past teaches
On the other hand, if the last few seasons have not brought joy in the Italian Cup, seen more as a commitment to be avoided than as an opportunity, having set the following matchday of the championship as the sole objective has not helped much. Last season Claudio Ranieri’s Cagliari faced Milan in the round of 16, with a heavy 4-1 defeat and a performance from the so-called second lines which was a significant negative step. And which influenced the subsequent rounds of Serie A, with the draw in Lecce immediately afterwards and the illusory victory against Bologna at the Unipol Domus, before the four consecutive defeats with the culmination of the one against Lazio at home and the now well-known resignation of Ranieri as an electric shock for the team. The previous edition of the Italian Cup with the rossoblù in Serie A dates back to 21-22, the round of 16 against Sassuolo played once again with the reserves and the 1-0 defeat at the Mapei Stadium. Immediately afterwards came the home draw against Fiorentina, before a positive period that served as a prelude to the negative vortex that culminated in relegation to Serie B. In 2020-21, the round of 16 was still an insurmountable obstacle, the 3-1 with which Atalanta he got rid of Cagliari and anticipated the home defeat against Milan, a precursor to the subsequent dismissal of Eusebio Di Francesco which arrived a few weeks later. In 2019-20, a season of European illusions, Inter were eliminated again in the round of 16 with a 4-1 at San Siro which preceded the draw in Brescia in a crisis for Rolando Maran’s team until the Trentino coach was sacked. A year earlier, a defeat in the round of 16 against Atalanta at home, before the home draw in the league against Empoli. If in 17-18 Diego Lopez’s Cagliari was sensationally eliminated in the third round by Pordenone (Serie C team), the year before Massimo Rastelli’s team went to Genoa for the third round against Sampdoria filled with reserves and young players, bringing at home a 3-0 defeat without appeal. The only precedent against Juventus in the last twenty years dates back once again to the round of 16 of the 2012-13 season and a 1-0 defeat in Turin with Sebastian Giovinco’s decisive goal sealing the elimination of the rossoblù led by the duo Lopez-Ivo Pulga. Try to get a prestigious result or think about Venice? A doubt that Nicola seems to want to ignore, with announced lineup choices aimed at a mix of starters and players looking for more playing time such as Matteo Prati, José Luis Palomino and Gianluca Lapadula, among starters or near-starters. An option that seems like an attempt to keep both feet in both shoes, that of the Italian Cup yes, but with an eye also on Venice and the stability of the squad as a whole. An almost obligatory choice, but not an obvious one. In the hope that the path traced by the latest positive performances regardless of the results will also be followed against Juventus, perhaps with a victory that can provide the momentum for an away match like the one at Penzo full of pitfalls and ghosts of the past.
Matteo Zizola
