A second defeat in a row for Cagliari, the signs are becoming clear. They are safe from relegation and with minds already on the summer break, Triestejust seemed like a hassle.

Players may leave in the summer, there are many issues to be resolved internally, they are probably sick to death of the anxiety that playing for this club involves, so it must have been hard to concentrate.

Travelling half way across Italy to Trieste to play a ‘home game’ against Udinese whose ‘away’ fixture was only around the corner, must have seemed tiresome to say the least.

Crazy Cagliari, who have played with wild desperation and such a siege mentality since January, have now just become apathetic, but who can blame them?

Their future is as secure as it can be considering the turmoil and they can now look forward to having a summer break whilst their agents busy themselves looking for a lucrative alternative to the madness. Some of them may even look forward to sometime in Sardinia, since they have hardly been there in the last couple of months.

The game came and went, Cagliari were not awful they were just beaten by a team who wanted it more, sometimes games can simply come down to that. After the game Cagliari assistant coach Diego Lopez admitted, “We were a bit below par, but these things can happen. We are not finished for the season, as we tried to get the equaliser right to the end and want to maintain 10th place.”

In all honestly they finished with fuel in the tank. Udinese coach Francesco Guidolin did not even bother to mention the ‘Trieste squatters’ saying “I didn’t think we would be fighting for Europe for a third consecutive year. It is a gift we are giving to ourselves. We’re already focused on the next game.”

The situation the Sardinians find themselves in lends itself to speculation that players will leave on mass, none more than Radja Nainggolan. However, he noted that he may be convinced to stay saying that, “I have an excellent relationship with my agent, he’s like a father for me and I have great trust in him. Now is not the time to discuss my future though as there are still four games left and I want to end the season well. Then we’ll see what happens. I don’t necessarily have to leave, I could stay at Cagliari – especially if some external problems here are resolved.”

Perhaps there should be hope with this news, but only a fool could miss what is going on at the club. With Serie A status secured and a mid-table finish ensuring that they are one the success stories of the year they have switched off. Why not you may ask, they have achieved the impossible.

Now maybe they deserve to relax and push the pressure onto the President and the local authorities. Nobody has said they will leave, but at the end of the day, who wants to play for a team with no stadium and a President who is under house arrest? Cagliari maybe apathetic, but who can complain?

Follow Richard Hall on Twitter: @Gentleman_Ultra or his blog The Gentleman Ultra

Even now, the memory still hurts. We were winning 6-0 and it did not matter a jot. Results elsewhere were sending us to Serie B and there was nothing we could do. Radios around the Stadio Artemio Franchi confirmed the dreadful news.

The first cut was definitely the deepest. I have seen Fiorentina relegated twice but that demotion in 1993 was certainly the more painful experience. We had been in second place at Christmas with a side which included the likes of Brian Laudrup, Stefan Effenberg and Gabriel Batistuta. It made no difference to our final fate.

Things had started excitingly under Gigi Radice with a 7-1 win over Ancona and a 7-3 home hammering by Milan in the opening weeks of the campaign. He masterminded a triumph over Juventus in December but it was not enough to keep him in a job for long. A home reverse at the hands of Atalanta in January had volatile film-producer president Vittorio Cecchi Gori sending him packing. And then our world caved in.

The opinionated TV pundit Aldo Agroppi was brought in and produced a series of results which should serve as a warning to so-called experts everywhere. His first game was a 4-0 defeat by Udinese. It would be more than two months before the boys in purple would record a win. By that point, panic had set in.

Agroppi was shown the door too, with a last-gasp effort to avoid the drop coming from Luciano Chiarugi. It failed to provide sufficient points and when Foggia came to Florence on the final day of the season the writing was on the wall. We needed other sides to do us a favour and, in Italy, that just does not happen.

And yet, for a while, we had hope. Four goals up by half-time, our relegation rivals Brescia were only managing a draw with Sampdoria. And things got better early in the second period when news filtered through that Roma had taken the lead against Udinese - the other side involved in the three-way fight to avoid the last two relegation spots.

The Curva Fiesole crackled with the sound of match updates coming from around the country. Every cry of “Attenzione! Attenzione!” by the Tutto Il Calcio commentators brought a frisson of fear. The match being played out on the pitch seemed like a sideshow.

Fiorentina went 6-0 up but the news from elsewhere took a turn for the worse. Brescia pulled 2-1 ahead and then, with 10 minutes remaining, came the double hammer-blow. The Bresciani put their result beyond doubt with another goal while Udinese grabbed an equaliser. The sombre silence of the Franchi left no room for dubiety, we were going down.

Everybody sleepwalked through those closing moments. Foggia waltzed around zombie-like defenders to make the score 6-2. It was a resounding victory which nobody celebrated.

The jokes at the Viola’s expense were not long in coming. Some suggested that their new sponsors should be toothbrush makers Oral B (it translates as “Now in B” in Italian). It would certainly be a while before Fiorentina fans could smile again.

Giancarlo is an amazing writer and I persnally thank him for this superb article. I hope he joins us again soon

 Follow Giancarlo Rinaldi on Twitter @ginkers and his own amazing blog http://giancarlorinaldi.tumblr.com/

Past Stadiums of Serie A: STADIO MORETTI

Capacity: 25,000

Built: 1919 (Demolished 1988)

Replaced by Stadio Friuli 1976

FACT: The stadium was built by the Moretti family, owners of the local brewery that made the Moretti beer.

Future Stadiums of Serie A: Udinese, Nuovo Stadio Friuli

“Age is nothing, class is everything”

Plans for the complete restructuration of the Stadio Friuli have been given the go ahead

It is supposed to have 22 000 seats but the city wants 30 000. It would cost about 25 million euros. Originally they wanted it to be ready for the 2013-2014 season.

Giampaolo Pozzo the owner of Udinese, has announced a ‘war chest’ of €30m to invest in a new stadium to be opened for the team’s next season. With his team currently enjoying top-billing in Serie A alongside Juventus, Pozzo told Ill Sole 24 Ore: “There is an investment of €30m… We are discussing it. The goal is to have a new stadium for next season”.

REDUCING CAPACITY: RAISE QUALITY

The club’s existing home Stadio Friuli is a multi-purpose stadium in Udine, Italy. Owned by the local municipality, the stadium was built in 1976 and can hold up to 41,65 people.

But, warned Pozzo, a new stadium will mean sacrifices in terms of capacity: “Will we have a fewer spectators? Yes, of course. But Stadio Friuli is an inhospitable facility. We will do everything to bring people to the new stadium”.

Any good magician performs his tricks for one reason. This is because it is thought that the act cannot be done. Hereby when the magician performs it, it is magic, a miracle. One thing about illusions is that they make something look spectacular and breath taking, when really it’s just a trick.  Inter came from a goal behind to beat Udinese 3-1 at the Stadio Friuli yesterday and although on the outset this looked superb, there is a lot more than meets the eye.

There was no doubt that the performance had many positives and that Stramaccioni is getting the best out of the team he has. He has certainly given new life to some players and 11 points in 5 games is testament to that.

First of all, Stramaccioni is very tactically astute and is not a man who sticks to one formation. Udinese predictably set up with a 3-5-2 and the young Inter Coach countered this with a 4-3-2-1 that often became a 4-3-3. At first, this looked as though it may not work, as Diego Milito, Ricky Alvarez and Wesley Sneijder did not press the Udinese back three when the ball was played short. This in turn allowed Udinese to pass the ball out from the back. The Inter midfield sat extremely deep and the consequence of this meant that the Zebrette could push to the edge of the Nerazzurri box almost unchallenged. After Danilo had put the home side ahead this soon changed as the front three started to press.

The difference this made was immeasurable as by doing this it forced the back three of Udinese to rush their passing, this either resulted in the ball being intercepted when passed out to the wingers or they had go long and try and hit the front men. When the latter happened (the until then stagnant) Dejan Stankovic along with Esteban Cambiasso and Fredy Guarin easily intercepted it due to their deep positions. In fairness Cambiasso suited a deeper role and automatically drifted back into this alongside Stankovic. The unexpected benefit of this was that Guarin played higher up and looked more comfortable even trying to find his range with some long range shots.

The Nerazzurri were fortunate to get back on track through a Samir Handanovic error, however the goal scorer Wesley Sneijder was by now growing into his new role out on the left of Milito and looking increasingly dangerous. The trident had started to work in full effect with Ricky Alvarez and the afore mentioned Dutchman giving the Nerazzurri much needed width. Sneijder was also drifting into midfield to pick up the ball, this in turn giving Milito the much needed supply he needed. Soon two more goals had been scored courtesy of Sniejder and Alvarez.

Julio Cesar aside, there were still evident defensive frailties. Lucio worked harder than anyone on the pitch, but at 33 he is working on two cylinders as opposed to the five he once had. Maicon had a fantastic game especially going forward but it was the lack of cover given to him that made him look like he had run out of position. Had Udinese been at their best, then Inter would have been lucky to escape conceding more. Yuto Nagatomo on the left hand side had a less than convincing game which once again raises the question of whether he is good enough to fulfil this role. Poor going forward, often caught out of position he had a torrid time against Antonio Floro Flores who was possibly the worst player on the pitch. The only other man that may have contested Floro Flores for this honour was Nerazzurri center back Andrea Ranocchia who had a very poor first half, his control, first touch and though process was that of a player lacking in confidence. He improved in the second half but all in all he needs to play to his potential.

Stramaccioni is certainly an expert in papering over the cracks. He is the man that, had Ranieri not been appointed, could have seen Inter higher up the table. The cruel, harsh fact of the matter is that even if the 36 year old coach is bringing the youthful side, out of a squad that is almost his equal in years, how long can it continue. Inter reaching the Champions League would be an immense achievement but it is in the summer that next years campaign will be won and lost as the squad needs and overhaul.

Is he the right man for the job? Statistically yes. Will he win the Scudetto with these players? Categorically no. Moratti must see is that a win over Udinese is all well and good, even Champions League qualification would be superb but there is still that problem. His Coach will get better with age but his squad will simply continue to get worse.

The Italian Football Federation postponed all games on Sunday after the death of Livorno midfielder Piermario Morosini in a match on Saturday.  Inter who were due to play Morosini’s parent club Udinese paid their respects this week.

With all the weeks’ fixtures having to be moved to another date, it was hoped that the decision would be an easy process due to the circumstances. However, even under the back drop of immense tragedy clubs still squabbled over the dates to which the fixtures were to be replayed. The clubs were to meet on Monday night to discuss this situation and prior to this Inter President Massimo Moratti urged for calm. He told www.inter.it : “We have to do what is right. I don’t think it is the case to create any controversy at this time. I think it was obvious not to play the game. It was the only choice that could be taken because it was a serious episode, which sent the right message. It was normal and understandable. For Udinese players, it was a case of losing a team-mate, a team player, who everybody knew well. Hence, it was a very serious situation, a horrible episode and the football world understood it.”

Moratti’s sentiments were also echoed by Inter Captain Javier Zanetti who said he was ‘shocked’ at the death and that it was only right to call off the weekends games, he said: “ We are truly shocked by what happened to Morosini. We are all struck deeply. Something incredible happened and it was clearly the right decision to call off the games. On behalf of all my teammates, our thoughts and embraces go to his loved ones.”

As with the rest of Serie A, it is under this overhanging cloud of grief Inter have had to prepare for their next game this weekend. The trip to Florence will certainly not be easy as both of these under performing clubs look to finish on an ironic high this season. Fiorentina approached this year with hopes of a Europa League spot whilst Inter would have hoped a title challenge would have been possible. As it happened the Nerazzurri find themselves only with a distant chance of Champions League football in their grasp whilst the Viola are trying hard distance themselves from the drop.

Andrea Stramaccioni has overseen the Nerazzurri’s training this week and will be happy to see that Wesley Sneijder and Maicon have completed full training sessions. The pair had been side lined and their inclusion in the coming weeks will be a much needed boost. Julio Cesar and Dejan Stankovic had personalised workouts are on the road to recovery whilst Luc Castaignos and Walter Samuel continued with their rehabilitation progress. These injuries may make Stramaccioni blood some of Primavera squad, he notably promoted Raffaele Di Gennaro, Ibrahima Mbaye, Joseph Alfred and Jakub Vojtus to train with the first team this week.

Respects will be paid all around Italy again this weekend and rightly so. The whole of the country has felt the loss of Morosini.  It will be a hard task for all teams to approach the matches with thoughts of him not in their minds, never mind with the mentality that the game is a matter of life and death. Is it really more important than that? You tell me?

Follow me on Twitter @RichardHall_TGU

For over a decade Abel Balbo was scoring goals in Italian Football. The Argentine also managed to pick up his fair share of silverware in the process.

Balbo’s career started in 1989 with Udinese in Serie B were he scored 65 goals in 134 appearences between 1989 and 1993. In the 1992/93 season he managed to net 22 times which turned the heads of Roma. 

Roma quickly purchased him and he immediately repayed the faith. This was Balbo at the height of his powers in Italy and he netted 22 times gain in the 1993/94 season becoming one of the most feared strikers in the country. He finished his time in Rome in 1998, a fans favourite after scoring 78 goals in 171 games.

His career wound down after this and he endured less fruitful spells at Parma and Fiorentina before returning to Roma to play only three games with no goals to show for it. 

Balbo was quite simply a goalscorer, a poacher a man who would gamble on a defender or a goalkeeper making a mistake. Near post headers, tap ins, beating the keeper to a ball by inches, this was the way he plied his trade.

He picked up Silverware along the way to, although most late on in his career;

• Parma
  • Coppa Italia:
    • 1998–99
  • UEFA Cup:
    • 1998–99

• Roma
  • Serie A:
    • 2000–01
  • Supercoppa Italiana:
    • 2001

Rarely spectacular but always clinical, when Calcio ruled the world Abel Balbo was scoring goals.

Stadio Friuli

Team: Udinese

Capacity: 41,652

Built: 1976

City: Udine

The Stadio Friuli is a stadium with character and a stadium with style. Ultra modern in its construction in 1976 it was the only venue that hosted matches in the 1990 World Cup that needed no refurbishment. The ground was innovative for its time and has a Gym as well as athletics, fencing and martial arts facilities. Recognisable for its huge curved roof the stadium is more than equipped to host the Champions League or International matches. The atmosphere in the ground is certainly passionate when near full capacity as was seen at the end of last season when Udinese were battling for a Champions League spot. At the beginning of the season however, the average attendances were a lot less and the atmosphere can get lost somewhat despite the efforts of the Ultra groups such as the Teddy Boys.