Serie A

Three points from two matchdays and a respectable defeat at the champions': Cagliari remain on target, and on 3 Sep 2026 Fabio Pisacane stressed the “positive indications” left by his team's resistance to the end against Inter. The squad overhaul remains massive, however, with fourteen arrivals and seventeen departures in sixty days, which complicates the absorption of patterns. The schedule offers no respite with three matches in eight days across Inter, the Coppa Italia and Lecce. Confidence is therefore real but rests on a squad still under construction.

New sporting director Pietro Accardi has led a deliberate revolution, praised for the depth regained in midfield but debated in attack, where local analysis notes the absence of a striker who can guarantee fifteen goals. Pisacane publicly supports those choices by naming the last signings, Sugawara for his “quality, running and experience”, Nzola for his “strength, penetration and attacking presence”. Two administrative matters were nonetheless still pending in early September, Sugawara's visa and Kevin Carlos's family leave. The link between the coaching staff and the sporting directors appears, at this stage, free of friction.

The Sardinian tifoseria is still marked by the summer's contract stand-off and by the hostile chants aimed at Sebastiano Esposito before he left, but it has an immediate reason to buy in: the Coppa Italia at the Unipol Domus, where the club are on a run of thirteen home cup matches unbeaten, eleven wins and two draws. The new stadium is the other big public subject: the postponement of the tender to 15 September 2026 was presented by the city council as a technical step rather than a retreat, the city still declaring itself a candidate for Euro 2032. Between an immediate sporting stake and a long-term infrastructure one, local attention remains high.

Fabio Pisacane retains wide credit, protected by the context of a complete squad rebuild and by a start in line with expectations. On 3 Sep 2026 he himself rejected the language of rotation, preferring to talk of clear-headed management across three matches in eight days, a way of owning his choices rather than enduring them. His decisions are visible: Radunović in goal in the cup, Mina and Borrelli rested. The real test will come from attacking output, the area identified as the most fragile part of the rebuild.

Survival remains the priority objective, underpinned by the €250m new stadium project whose tender must now be issued on 15 September 2026, with a view to Cagliari bidding for Euro 2032. In the short term, the club is targeting a Coppa Italia run: a win against Verona would open a last-16 tie against Roma. In the league, hosting Lecce on 7 September at 18:30 is identified as a direct fixture in the survival race.

The dispute with Sebastiano Esposito and his agent, which poisoned August, ended with the player's transfer, but it leaves a mark on the relationship between the club and part of the support. No new tension is reported in the dressing room, where the main issue is the accelerated integration of fourteen signings. Two administrative matters, Sugawara's visa and Kevin Carlos's absence for family reasons, temporarily reduced Pisacane's options. Institutionally, the postponement of the stadium tender is presented as technical, but it is the focus of local political attention.