With
Cellino’s threat to boycott this match if it is not played at home, it’s
difficult to write a preview for a game that could potentially not be played.
Yet I feel for Cagliari, they absolutely deserve to play this one at home.
Their plight over the past year or more has been downplayed by the league
officials. Not surprising, then, that it is the league officials who are
determining where their matches will be played. So I have two wishes for this
magical match. One, that the match is actually played. And two, that Cagliari
somehow magically get to play it at home. When it comes to a football team that
is based on an island, there is no place like home.
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| Tassotti was right at home at the San Siro in September |
Just to put this out there…. Allegri was the coach of Cagliari. Now Cagliari have all of these stadium problems. Allegri is now the coach of Milan. And we’ve had 22 players leave our club in 6 months. Coincidence? I think not. Maybe he should coach Inter next, and use his destructive powers for good. Heaven knows our September match up in our house was a 2-0 victory thanks to Allegri being banned and Tassotti taking the reins.
All
jokes aside, Cagliari are coming off of a 4-2 trouncing of Roma in Rome. That
loss sealed Zeman’s fate, but must have also really given Cagliari a nice
psychological boost midseason. However, they will have to do without Nainggolan
and Danilo Avelar due to suspension for this one, if it is played. Lorenzo
Ariaudo could make a comeback after being out injured for a month now, but
other than that, Pulga should have the rest of his squad available.
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| Only one of Cagliari's Twitter warriors will be available for Sunday. |
Against
Roma, he fielded Agazzi; Conti, Avelar, Pisano, Rossettini; Nainggolan, Astori,
Ekdal; T. Ribiero, Ibarbo, and Sau. He will obviously have to replace
Nainggolan and Avelar, but that is probably a lot less worrisome at this point
than whether or not the game will even be played, and where it will be played.
Incidentally, Cellino must have been due for another outburst at the league. He
insisted that the Cagliari-Roma match be played at Is Arenas in September. That
game was never played, and Roma were awarded a 3-0 win for Cellino’s attempt to
stand up to the league. So we will see if he has learned his lesson.
As
for Milan, after a week of world-ending parking tickets, the club misspelling
his name on their official website, and being called a little servant boy by
the club vice president, I am going to take a wild guess that all Balotelli
wants to do is get on the pitch and play. Despite a couple of cuts sustained to
his leg in the Italy match midweek, he should be mended enough already to warrant a
start. And with Pazzini out injured, he should get his wish, if the game is in
fact played.
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| Milan's Triple Threat will be a handful no matter where they play. |
Allegri
will also be missing Montolivo to suspension for accumulated yellow cards and
Bonera for a heavily bruised thigh. Salamon is also recovering from his
preexisting ankle condition and will not be available. Beyond that, I would expect
to see Abbiati in goal and Abate on the right, who had a great game for Italy
midweek. Also because De Sciglio seems to have stumbled into Allegri’s Vault
somehow. My ideal center pairing would be Mexes and Yepes, which means it will
most likely be Zaccardo and Zapata to start. At least Allegri and I agree on
Constant on the left. Not that I agree with this, but the midfield will likely
be Flamini, Ambrosini, and Boateng. Finally, our Triple Threat™ of Niang,
Balotelli, and El Shaarawy should line up in attack.
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| El Shaarawy broke the Curse of the San Siro with a brace, will he be lucky again? |
I
hope that something can be arranged for the clubs to play at Is Arenas, even if
the match is behind closed doors. In fact, it’s not just Cellino going public
about this. Nainggolan and Astori went to Twitter yesterday to
speak out about the injustice of being displaced yet again. Good for them.
Sometimes it takes getting the fans involved to make an impact. And I swear it
is not my having to wake up at 5am for this match that makes me want this game
to be played. It is not sporting to take three points without playing the game,
even if neither team is to blame for this horrible situation. I want to see
this match played, and I want to see it played in Cagliari, if possible.
Because when it comes to having the support of your fans, there’s no place like
home.
Note: Just hours after I wrote this, Cagliari's appeal to play at Is Arenas was granted. You're welcome, Cagliari.
This post inspired by the music of
The Cure
Cagliari vs. Milan
Sunday, February 10 • 15:00 CET (9am EST)
This match will be broadcast LIVE in the U.S. on BeIN Sport
(check comments for stream links on gameday)