The Divine Comedy Of Claudio Ranierinew Dante Alighieri accompanied to hell by Eusebio Virgilio Di Francescoled through purgatory by a never tamed public until he arrives in paradise where waiting for him towards salvation is Leonardo Beatrice Pavoletti. Cagliari-Frosinonand it was a journey from the flames to the light, from the darkness to the shining sun of a historic comeback that could symbolize the turning point in Sir Claudio’s men’s championship.
Inferno
“In the middle of the journey of our life I found myself in a dark forest because the straight path was lost”. Three goals, each the result of defensive errors, each a boulder on the self-esteem that had appeared rediscovered after the 2-2 draw in Salerno. The lost straight path, a Cagliari on a journey through the circles of hell and sins of all kinds. The positive approach, the missed goals, Dossena who makes a mistake and Soulé who punishes, Mancosu and the woodwork and again the Argentine striker of Frosinone to hit the rossoblù’s shortcomings. A team emerges from the locker room and immediately tries to relaunch itself, but the streets of hell are paved with good intentions which, inevitably, become further sporting pain. Brescianini’s surgical diagonal squashes any ambition to climb up the mountain of purgatory. A Liveranian Cagliari, if we can say so, who is in charge, who deserves a much higher score than the one determined by the pitch, but who becomes a victim of his own frailties. Di Francesco’s gang, formerly with the poisonous tooth, doesn’t have to struggle too much. Still waiting, a cat ready to attack its prey at the slightest wrong movement that inevitably arrives. Ranieri also enters the dock, the game of turning point which in intention hits the wall of choices that are not acceptable, Jankto supporting Luvumbo together with Mancosu, the absence of a leading striker, the push forward which becomes a very short blanket behind the newfound verve from midfield upwards. Long balls that cannot be prey to a Luvumbo caught in the grip of the Romagnoli-Monterisi duo, Dossena who forgets what it is to be a scoring defender and lends his side to a possessed Soulé, Prati in the limbo of the midfield neither filter nor construction, and so Street. Of course, there is a lot of bad luck, a race that seems haunted, but as we know, bad luck travels alongside those who are not bold, a reversal of the well-known proverb about Lady Luck.
Paradiso
“Let the people not be too sure to judge, just like those who estimate the grains in the field before they are ripe”. Hope is the last to die, as the history of Cagliari has taught us, a team capable of making sudden comebacks over the years as soon as the abyss was one centimeter away. The fall one step away, then the strength to push the heart over the obstacle. A sudden comeback, in the name above all of the freshness of Gaetano Oristanio from Vallo della Lucania, 21 years of freshness, head held high and shooting around to relaunch his teammates and the public. In the name of changes that confirm unhappy choices, because the rossoblù have certainly taught one thing in the first part of the 2023-24 Serie A: only with intensity, strength and tenacity can victories be achieved, speculating is not a suitable attitude because much, before or then, the opponents’ goal arrives. And then there’s him, the almost lost hero of Bari who returns, first the classic blow of the house, then the blow that in some ways recalls that of Saint Nicholas. Pavoletti from Livorno, the attacker who emerges in times of extreme need, Ranieri’s Altafini – Sir Claudio dixit – to be used sparingly to preserve him and himself. Cagliari thus transformed a dishonorable defeat first into an incredible draw, then into their first victory of the season pushed by an infernal bedlam into the paradise of comebacks. A point would have been a boost, but certainly not enough. Yet another missed opportunity, yet another start of the championship postponed to a later date. Pavoletti’s breakthrough has an importance that goes beyond the three points, which goes beyond the last place left to Salernitana, which goes beyond a season that from today will have to take on a very different flavour. The ghosts of bad luck and mistakes have abandoned Unipol Domus, but now comes the most complicated part. That of understanding where and how we made a mistake, that of correcting it without resting on the laurels of a victory that was deserved, but which cannot make us forget the first 70 minutes.
Doubts and confirmations
Many courses and appeals despite the uniqueness of a 0-3 completely reversed from minute 72 onwards, something that has never happened not only in Sardinia but in the history of the entire Serie A. One above all must be a lesson, those three points taken with the nails in December 2019 against Sampdoria when from 1-3 they went to 4-3 signed by Cerri with time now up. Because then that was the keystone of a heroic season that suddenly became cursed. The belief that you have no problems, the three points that erase errors and shortcomings which, inevitably, can return if you only look at the positive, forgetting the negative that preceded it. After that comeback against the Blucerchiati, Cagliari entered an endless vortex, the match against Lazio as the wrong symbol of the beginning of the vertical collapse, because Maran’s rossoblù had already shown signs of lack of consistency from Lecce first and then Sassuolo. And it is here that Ranieri will have to work, on the head of the enthusiasm that he can carry, but also hide the dust under the carpet. Viola, Pavoletti, Oristanio have taught what the path to follow is, that of a cohesive group in which whoever enters the race can make a significant contribution, in which there are no prima donnas but only honest craftsmen whose main quality must be the desire to help each other and to overcome difficulties together. You can make wrong choices, you can make wrong plays, you can make wrong matches but you can’t make a wrong attitude. And, above all, we must not forget where we started from, from that hell to keep in mind so as not to lose the paradise achieved with pride and effort. A squad with problems yes, but also with quality, A squad that is finally large, in which Mancosu can miss a penalty, take the woodwork, forget about cynicism, but which finds in Viola a more than worthy replacement, indeed, better than whoever has him preceded. With a Pavoletti who silently awaits his turn, even if only for a few minutes like in Bari or a half like against Frosinone. Of a Makoumbou with frills to be removed, but with a calm that in times of storm helps other sailors not to lose their compass. With a Dossena cross that becomes a delight, the rook serves the number 30 for the decisive strike. And with the bench that incites, exhorts, pushes and which has its symbol in Lapadula. “Discontent among those who play less? Too bad for them” Ranieri’s message before the match against the Ciociari. The message arrived loud and clear, waiting for those who remained watching – Petagna above all – to be able to give a signal and increase the arrows on Sir Claudio’s bow.
Matteo Zizola
2023-10-30 08:50:00
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