Cagliari finished one place and 4 points better off than last season. On paper it looks like another year of steady progress but in reality it was something of an anti-climax given the way the form they were in during the first half of the season.
It looked quite bleak when the Serie A campaign started with back-to-back home defeats for the Islanders but Rolando Maran's men suddenly found form. A 13 match unbeaten run (W8 D5) until just before Christmas contained some memorable performances. Wins at Napoli and Atalanta plus a fearsome thrashing of Fiorentina left many of the supporters dreaming of potential Champions League qualification. Indeed they were in the top 4 when a drastic swing in fortunes occurred.
The turning point was a home loss to Lazio which ended their undefeated streak but it was more the manner of the defeat. Cagliari were 1-0 ahead going into the third minute of stoppage-time but still somehow managed to end the game empty handed. It was a huge psychological blow and they went the next 11 league games without a victory, losing 8 of them. A 4-3 home defeat to Roma brought an end to Maran's tenure. Perhaps a slightly harsh decision given what he'd achieved in the early season but the club felt they had to stop the rot.
Walter Zenga came in but didn't have a chance to get going as the Coronavirus pandemic struck immediately after his appointment. When football returned, Zenga failed to really revive any momentum and Cagliari won just 3 of their remaining 13 league games which could've left them in trouble if not for the points they accrued earlier in the campaign. The highlight of Zenga's reign was a win over Juventus but they'd already been crowned champions and lacked motivation.
Despite the second half of the season being a damp squib, it doesn't completely overshadow a team who were very exciting to watch at times. Cagliari scored 16 more goals in Serie A than last season, made even more incredible by the fact that they missed Leonardo Pavoletti for basically the whole season through injury, having relied on him so heavily last term. That was mainly down to the partnership of Joao Pedro and Giovanni Simeone who bagged a total of 30 league goals between them. They couldn't have done it without an excellent supporting cast in midfield. Marko Rog and Nahitan Nández were excellent summer recruits but it was a return which took the headlines. Radja Nainggolan came back to Sardinia on loan after a 5 year absence and it was as if he'd never been away. The Belgian produced some bustling box-to-box displays in the middle of the park and was at the heart of everything for his team. He provided 7 assists and 6 goals, more often than not long range screamers. If not for a few niggling injuries, he may well have led Cagliari to a better finish.
Unsurprisingly Zenga wasn't kept on as manager and former Sassuolo and Roma boss Eusebio Di Francesco has now been named the new man. He is known for playing an exciting brand of football and it might very well be a good fit for the Islanders.
