Cagliari vs Atletico Madrid 09/08/18

9 August 2018

The friendly match against the Spanish giants, Atletico Madrid, at the Sardegna Arena in Sardinia will be Cagliari’s toughest test this summer, as they look forward to kicking off a new season at the right foot. After the Red and Blues barely managed to secure the Serie A football for one more season thanks to some outstanding performance in the final stage of the last campaign, they have entered the preparation period quite focused as they are hoping to avoid the similar scenario next year. After three friendlies with low-level Italian sides, such as Cremonese, Real Vicenza, and Olbia, in which they have comfortably achieved three wins, Rolando Maran’s players faced off against two Turkish teams, Fenerbahce and Trabzonspor, recording a defeat and a draw. Meanwhile, Los Colchoneros started the preparation period with a victory over Arsenal on penalties after the match ended in a 1-1 draw after which they lost 3-2 to Paris Saint-Germain, with both of these encounters took place in the United States as part of the International Champions Cup. Diego Simeone’s team then returned to Europe for a friendly match against Stuttgart in Germany, and although they lacked a lot of first-team members, the Madrid side failed to impress in that game, drawing only 1-1.

Cagliari is expected to enter the field at full strength, while Atletico should see their biggest stars rejoining the squad for the first time this summer.