Cagliari will make the trip to San Siro to close out the 2025-26 season with nothing to play for, which is exactly how they wanted it.
Going into the final round of the campaign, the Sardinians are sat in 16th place but are crucially six points above the relegation place, which means that they have secured their Serie A status for another year.
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While there might not be a lot to play for in terms of objectives, Cagliari will surely be looking to make life difficult for Milan and to play the role of party spoilers, as they did in 2021.
Opposition insight on Cagliari
➤ Manager: Fabio Pisacane
➤ Form (all comps): L-W-D-L-W (most recent)
➤ Top scorer (Serie A): Sebastiano Esposito – 7
➤ Most assists (Serie A): Sebastiano Esposito – 5
➤ Injuries & suspensions: Felici, Idrissi, Liteta, Pavoletti, Mazzitelli, Folorunsho.
Forced to operate on a tight budget, Cagliari headed into the season desperate to avoid relegation. Except for several low-profile additions, including Gianluca Gaetano and Michel Adopo, the Sardinians failed to strengthen the squad that finished 15th last season.
However, 40-year-old manager Fabio Pisacane, who saved Cagliari from the drop last term, has pieced together another miraculous campaign. Last weekend’s 2-1 home victory over mid-table Torino saw the Unipol Domus outfit mathematically secure survival.
Unable to drop any lower than their current 16th place, Cagliari have nothing but pride left to play for on the final day. Still, with two points separating them from 12th-placed Parma, the visitors could potentially clinch their best top-flight finish since the 2016-17 season, when they ended in 11th place.
It would be a remarkable success for a team that spent the majority of the season flirting with the bottom three. Yet, it could be easier said than done. Not only would Cagliari have to beat Milan against the odds at San Siro of all places, but they would also need Parma, Genoa, and Fiorentina all to falter.
Needless to say, such a prospect looks far-fetched, even though the Islanders can draw confidence from their recent resurgence. Pisacane’s charges have emerged victorious from two of their last four Serie A outings, as many wins as in their 11 previous league matches combined.
As a result, they could win back-to-back games for the first time since a run of three consecutive victories in January. Fresh off sparking Cagliari’s comeback against Torino, former Inter Milan starlet Sebastiano Esposito will lead the charge on familiar turf, looking to add to his seven-goal Serie A tally this term.
It’s likely to be up to the 23-year-old to address Cagliari’s scoring issues, with the visitors staring down the barrel of a three-game scoring drought in Serie A away games for the first time since 2021. Despite going three straight league appearances without scoring, prodigious centre-forward Paul Mendy remains the likeliest candidate to partner up with Esposito on Sunday.
Elsewhere, heavily linked with a big-money summer move to Inter Milan, Marco Palestra could be another genuine threat in what shapes up to be his farewell game in the Islanders’ colors. The highly rated teenager will return to his parent club, Atalanta, at the end of the season, and there’s little doubt that he’ll be keen to bow out in style.
Predicted Cagliari XI (4-3-2-1): Caprile; Zappa, Mina, Dossena, Palestra; Obert, Adopo, Deiola; Gaetano, Esposito; Mendy.
Predicted bench: Ciocci, Sherri, Sulemana, Albarracin, Borrelli, Rodriguez, Folorunsho, Kilicsoy, Belotti.
