Cagliari’s record at home means Juventus head coach Massimiliano Allegri is not taking the trip to the Sardinian capital lightly.

Juventus are well positioned to secure Champions League qualification for next season, while Cagliari are just four points above the drop zone ahead of Thursday’s contest at the Unipol Domus.

The Bianconeri next take on Lazio in the Coppa Italia semi-final on Tuesday, holding a 2-0 lead from the first leg.

But Allegri is wary of Claudio Ranieri’s Cagliari, who scored twice in the last quarter of an hour to secure a 2-2 draw at runaway league leaders Inter Milan last time out.

“Of their eight wins this season, six have come at home and 23 of the 31 points they’ve got have been picked up at home,” Allegri told a press conference.

“They’re a team who score a lot of goals in the last 15 minutes of games and particularly with players who come off the bench, they have scored more goals with substitutes than anybody else.

“We know it will be a tough game, so our very best version will have to show up. We won’t be rotating ahead of the Italian Cup, the most important game is Cagliari, then we’ll focus on the cup.

“It would be a mistake to not focus on Cagliari, and a win in Sardinia would allow us to take a big step towards our goals.”

Juventus still have clashes against top-four rivals AC Milan, Roma and Bologna ahead of them in the next few weeks.

“It’s important to stay focused on the next month or so,” Allegri added. “We have a lot of difficult games to come. A win at this stage is almost worth double.”

Cagliari have lost just once in their last eight matches to ease relegation fears and twice hit back from a goal down to claim a surprise point at Inter Milan on Sunday.

“I told the guys that they are doing well, but we have new pitfalls ahead of us,” Ranieri told a press conference.

“The team is focused, we have to keep the right balance. We have to keep pushing without fear, the salvation fight is very tight. There are no foregone conclusions, you go out there and fight.”

FA Cup replays scrapped – the key questions answered

FA Cup replays have been abolished as part of a new agreement between the Football Association and the Premier League on the competition’s format and funding.

Here the PA news agency looks at the issue in closer detail.

What has happened?

The FA has agreed to scrap all replays from the first round proper onwards. Replays had already been phased out from the fifth-round stage but will now be ditched completely. The format change will see all fifth-round ties, which have been played in midweek for the last five seasons, revert to weekends, while ties in the fourth round, fifth round and quarter-finals will be played exclusively of Premier League ties.

The FA Cup final will be played on the penultimate weekend of Premier League games, but no top-flight matches will be played on the Saturday of that weekend.

The agreement also includes the Premier League providing up to an extra £33million per season to support the pyramid, the FA said.

Why has this happened?

The primary driver has been the pressure placed on the domestic calendar by the expansion of UEFA’s club competitions from next season. The new format for the Champions League, for example, features an extra 64 matches next season compared to the current campaign, and spills into January for the first time, a month which had previously been the reserve of domestic football.

But why scrap replays in the first and second rounds, where Premier League teams aren’t involved?

FA sources say that decision has been taken for the sake of consistency in the competition, and to help EFL clubs and those lower down the pyramid resolve their own congestion issues. It is understood the EFL Trophy is another candidate for expansion as Premier League clubs look for further playing opportunities for their young stars, although with talks on a new financial settlement between the Premier League and the EFL having stalled, it is not clear when – or even if – that change will come to pass.

FA sources have also challenged the idea that replays are major revenue earners for lower-league clubs. Of the 19 third and fourth-round replays in the last 10 years where an EFL side was away, 12 had an attendance of over 25,000. Only a very small percentage of first and second-round replays over the same period achieved attendances of over 7,000.

What else has happened?

The mid-season break has been scrapped to allow a mid-August start date for the new Premier League season, which should enable top-flight clubs to ensure all players can get a consecutive three-week break in the summer. The new schedule also allows for the late May Bank Holiday weekend to be ringfenced for the EFL play-offs.

What has the reaction been?

The EFL says the move to ditch all replays is “frustrating and disappointing” and has indicated that it was not involved in the final decision, however the FA said in its media release that the new-look FA Cup was part of the overall calendar approved by the Professional Game Board, which features four representatives from the EFL, including its chairman Rick Parry.

The Football Supporters’ Association has not yet issued any comment on the move, but its survey from last year showed continued strong support for replays, with 69.5 per cent of respondents believing they are an important part of the FA Cup.

Nicola Palios, the vice-chair of League Two side Tranmere, said the FA and the Premier League had reached an agreement “to suit themselves at the expense of the rest of the football pyramid”, and said the new independent regulator would need the power to stop the Premier League “strangling” the lower leagues.

FA chief executive Mark Bullingham said the changes would strengthen the FA Cup while his Premier League counterpart Richard Masters said the changes had been agreed “without compromising the excitement of knockout football”.

The Professional Footballers’ Association chief executive Maheta Molango said the move showed how decisions taken at FIFA and UEFA level had “a knock-on impact which affects clubs, and players, throughout the pyramid”.

“What football needs is a collective approach to a properly thought-out global fixture calendar – not a fight for available dates,” Molango said.

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Liverpool
Jurgen Klopp reveals comeback inspiration ahead of Atalanta clash
Jurgen Klopp hopes to witness the same scenes as he did against Barcelona in 2019, when his team pulled off a shocking win to secure a place in the Champions League final
Liverpool lost 3-0 in the first leg of the Europa League quarter-final against Atalanta
Klopp's side have a chance to redeem themselves in Italy on Thursday night

By Katie Catherall
Apr 18, 2024
Klopp hopes for a miraculous win over Atalanta
Klopp hopes for a miraculous win over Atalanta / Dan Mullan/GettyImages
Jurgen Klopp has said he hopes to ignite the desire within his team to pull off a miraculous win against Atalanta, just like he did against Barcelona in 2019.

Liverpool's dramatic win over Barca was truly remarkable, trailing by three goals heading into the second leg, before finishing 4-0 in the reverse fixture to earn a spot in the Champions League final.

If Liverpool are to secure victory over Atalanta on Thursday night, their achievement will bare many similarities.

Atalanta were solid in their win over the Reds at Anfield in the first leg of the quarter-final clash, scoring three unanswered goals through Gianluca Scamacca and Mario Pasalic.

Marten De Roon, Teun Koopmeiners
Beaten last week / Visionhaus/GettyImages
Reds boss Klopp is hoping to repeat history, in what will be his last campaign in Europe for Liverpool.,

In an interview with The Times, Klopp said: "I remember I said, 'If we fail, then let’s fail in the most beautiful way,' and that’s exactly how I see it again. I usually don't prepare these things like that, especially not the day before or four years before whatever.

"After the game [last week against Atalanta] everyone in the stadium thought, 'That’s it.' Now it's a week later I don't think everyone thinks it is already decided. We want to win the game. If we want to win, we better play good. If we play good, we have a chance to win it. Then we will see.

"We will see who deals better with the situation. If Atalanta go through then they will deserve it. If not, then something special will have happened. Tomorrow is more difficult because they don't have to score at all. We have to do better. It's not simple because usually you fight for everything but when you are 3-0 up it is not easy for them."

Liverpool have never overturned a three-goal deficit away from home in Europe, but will hope to reach this accolade for the first time when they travel to Italy on Thursday.

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