Turin-Cagliari 0-0, few emotions and zero goals. Granata and rossoblù cancel each other out

Turin, 21 August 2023 – Il Turin and Cagliari they didn't go beyond parity in their first outing of the season Serie A. The first match on Monday of the championship was between the Granata and the Rossoblù, who tried to get hurt on several occasions, but were unable to do so. The team of Juric they relied on the game patterns already seen last season, but found a solid, concentrated and mature team on the other side of the pitch. Claudio Ranieri has prepared its players in the best possible way in view of their debut in Serie A, after the promotion achieved last year in the Serie B play-off final, at the last gasp against Bari. Sir Claudio has tried to change the inertia of the match in the last minutes with the inclusion of San Nicola's hero of the evening, Leonardo Pavoletti, which was not enough to undermine the grim home defense. Toro e Cagliari, therefore, they begin their season by dividing the stakes and moving the rankings.

The starting lineups

Ivan Juric and Claudio Ranieri they both field their teams with a three-man defence. Torino presents itself with Milinkovic Savic between the posts and Schuurs, Buongiorno and Ricardo Rodriguez in defense. On the side lanes run Bellanova, ex of the day, and Vojvoda; in the middle there are Ricci and Ilic. Vlasic and Karamoh act in the attacking midfield, supporting the lone striker Sanabria. On the other hand, newly promoted Cagliari has Radunovic in goal, with Goldeniga, Dossena and Obert to help in the rearguard. Zappa and Azzi are the two full-backs of the five-man midfield, completed by Nandez, Sulemana and Makoumbou. Oristanio works on the trocar behind Luvumbo. Bench only for Pavoletti, which leaves room for the young people born in 2002.

First half

The match opens with a corner kick in favor of Torino, who immediately becomes dangerous in the 2nd minute. Sanabria finishes with the right and finds the target, in addition to the save from Radunovic, who is confident in the rebound. Cagliari responds a few minutes later with an attempt from Azzi, who tries to turn but shoots high over the crossbar. In the quarter of an hour two goalscoring opportunities arose, one for each side. Before Sanabria he takes advantage of Dossena's sleep at the back of the pitch, wins the tackle in the area and looks for an assist in the middle with a strong and tense ball that doesn't catch any teammate; then Nandez steals the ball from the opponent's midfield, aims for the goal and from the center left fires a great right-footed shot aimed towards the top corner: Milinkovic Savic he overtakes himself and manages a corner kick. At minute 18 shed he has perhaps the best opportunity of the match so far. The Granata defender is served on the development of a corner kick, heads it and misses the target of the Sardinian goal. Before the cooling break Luvumbo and Ricci try a similar solution, i.e. a shot from outside the area, but both shoot the ball into the corner. After the short break, necessary due to the very high temperatures this afternoon at the Olimpico, karamoh he demonstrates his qualities with a quick start Azzi, thwarted by an extremely lopsided conclusion. In the final Oristanio tries a couple of conclusions for the Cagliari, one from a free kick and the other diagonally, without much luck. Same outcome for a volley from Vojvoda, which goes out in the corner. The two teams go to half-time with the score 0-0, despite some good chances created by both sides.

Second half

At the beginning of the second half we see a couple of substitutions from the two benches. Emotions are lacking in the first quarter of an hour, where there are only a couple of contacts in the area not sanctioned by the referee. In particular Luvumbo falls to the ground after a tackle with shed and requires the intervention of the medical staff of Cagliari, but the referee and the Yes they do not report any irregularities in this regard. In the 61st minute Torino tries to maneuver with speed on the counterattack: Ilic widens Bellanova, whose blocked cross becomes good for Voyvoda, who takes aim from a distance without worrying Radunovich. The round of substitutions continues, with the guests entering the pitch among the ranks Yankee, who immediately became dangerous in the 64th minute: his attempt in the area was easily blocked by Milinkovic Savic. The cooling break suspends hostilities in the 72nd minute, in the heat of the Olympic stadium. The pace drops and the two teams now struggle enormously to create offensive actions. It is above all the new players who try to attack, with some tight combinations which, in particular, puts the Sardinians' rearguard in difficulty Ranieri. The hosts have a double sensational scoring opportunity during the second minute of injury time. Radonjic tries a diagonal shot which is blocked by the defense Cagliari, then the Serbian tries again on the still live ball: his header ends up just wide. Thrill for Claudio Ranieri's team and for goalkeeper Radunovic, who watches the ball end harmlessly but poisonously on the bottom. Very little happened in the remaining four minutes of injury time, with the sole warning of Leonardo Pavoletti interrupting the now rather fragmented game, also due to the great tiredness present on the pitch of the Olympic stadium in Turin. The teams finished goalless and took home one point each.

The match scoreboard

Turin  (3- 4-2-1 ) : Milinkovic Savic; Schuurs, Buongiorno, Rodriguez (75' Zima); Bellanova, Ricci (68' Linetty), Ilic, Vojvoda; Vlasic (68' Pellegri), Karamoh (46' Radonjic); Sanabria (87' Verdi). Available: Gemello, Popa, Bayeye, Ilkhan, Dembele, Tameze, Gineitis, Nguessan, Ange. TO coach: Juric.

Cagliari (3-5-2): Radunovic; Goldaniga (46' Di Pardo), Dossena, Obert (87' Deiola); Zappa, Nandez (72' Pavoletti), Sulemana, Makoumbou, Azzi; Oristanio (62' Jankto); Luvumbo (62' Shomurodov). Available: Aresti, Scuffet, Viola, Deiola, Prati, Jankto, Capradossi, Augello, Pavoletti, Kourfalidis, Shomurodov, Di Pardo. TO coach: Ranieri.

Referee: Francesco Cosso. Note - Booked: Good morning and Pavoletti.

Read also: Bologna-Milan, follow the live broadcast