After exiting Europe in midweek, Roma will aim to bounce back by continuing their fine Serie A form on Sunday, when they welcome Cagliari to Stadio Olimpico.
Despite battling bravely with 10 men, the Giallorossi lost in the Europa League's last 16; now, back in the hunt for a return to UEFA competition, coach Claudio Ranieri meets up with his former club.
Match preview
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Hampered by an early Mats Hummels red card for denial of a goalscoring opportunity, Roma were unable to retain a first-leg lead over Athletic Bilbao on Thursday evening, ultimately losing 3-1 at San Mames.
Their Europa League elimination came in spite of a 2-1 win in Rome one week earlier, as Athletic took full advantage of having an extra man to score three times before Leandro Paredes netted a late consolation.
Though defeat ended dreams of a final piece of silverware to cap off Claudio Ranieri's distinguished career, the Giallorossi still have plenty to play for in the last 10 games of his interim reign.
Unbeaten in 12 league matches, winning nine times along the way, they have picked up the most points of any Italian team this calendar year. As a result, Roma are back in the mix for a top-four finish.
Following last week's success in Empoli, the capital club have won five consecutive Serie A fixtures - the last time they achieved six wins on the spin was in 2016, under Luciano Spalletti.
Only Spalletti (59.2%) has a higher win rate as Roma boss than Ranieri (57.3%), who will reunite with another club close to his heart this weekend.
In addition to their superb recent form, Sunday's hosts are also unbeaten in nine home games against Cagliari dating back to 2013, winning on seven occasions and keeping the same number of clean sheets.
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For that reason, expectation levels are suitably low in Sardinia. After a 0-0 home draw on this season's opening matchday, Cagliari will now seek just their second win in 20 league meetings with Roma.
Ranieri led the Rossoblu to a double promotion in his first spell at the club, with the 1990-91 campaign marking his debut as a head coach in Serie A, and he returned three decades later to great effect.
After earning another promotion from Serie B, the veteran tactician kept Cagliari afloat last term, before supposedly retiring from front-line management.
Events in his home city of Rome changed those plans, while Ranieri's replacement Davide Nicola now has the Sardinians sitting four points above the drop zone with 10 games to play in the current campaign.
Having followed back-to-back defeats by claiming a point against Genoa last week, they are on track to stay up once again.
A proven survival specialist, Nicola has helped Cagliari move away from acute danger throughout 2025, as they have averaged over one point per game since the start of the year. However, maintaining that rate at Stadio Olimpico may be a tall order.
Team News
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Roma are set to make several changes to the side that started in Bilbao, with Mats Hummels - who subsequently apologised to his teammates - set to be dropped after being sent off at San Mames.
Only Zeki Celik will be sidelined by injury, so the hosts have plenty of options to choose from, with ex-Cagliari striker Eldor Shomurodov, captain Lorenzo Pellegrini and Matias Soule all in contention.
Soule has not only scored more goals past Cagliari than any other Serie A side (three, including his only brace in Italy's top flight) but he has also been involved in three across his last four league appearances - as many as throughout the previous 28.
After a goal against Bologna and an assist against Genoa, Roberto Piccoli will lead the visitors' attack on Sunday, possibly supported by Nicolas Viola, who scored the opener last weekend.
Their fellow forwards Zito Luvumbo and Florinel Coman are both ruled out by injury, while right-back Gabriele Zappa is struggling with an adductor problem.
Roma possible starting lineup:
Svilar; Rensch, Mancini, Ndicka; Saelemaekers, Kone, Paredes, Angelino; Soule, Pellegrini; Shomurodov
Cagliari possible starting lineup:
Caprile; Palomino, Mina, Luperto; Zortea, Adopo, Makoumbou, Deiola, Augello; Viola; Piccoli
We say: Roma 2-0 Cagliari
Cagliari are one of only two teams, along with Lecce, that have yet to beat any opponents placed inside the top half.
With five draws and 10 defeats from such games so far, they could be picked off by Roma, who will overcome any hangover from Thursday's defeat to record six Serie A wins on the spin.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Jonathan O'Shea
