Opponent overview: Cagliari

After their winning start at San Siro against Monza, Inter face their first away fixture of the 2026/27 Serie A season. On Sunday 30 August, the Nerazzurri travel to Sardinia to take on Cagliari on Matchday Two. As the summer draws to an end, the two sides are set to kick off at 20:45 CEST at the Unipol Domus. Inter will face a side that began the season with a 0-1 win away to Parma and that has retained Fabio Pisacane as head coach, with the aim of building on the 43 points earned last season while developing a squad featuring several new faces.

NEW ARRIVALS

After saying goodbye to some of last season's key players, including Palestra and Gaetano, Cagliari have strengthened their midfield and attacking midfield options, giving Pisacane an interesting range of attacking solutions. The arrivals of Daniel Maldini and Jacopo Fazzini, two quality and versatile attacking midfielders, give the coach the option of switching between a 4-4-2 and a 4-3-2-1. Up front, Kevin Carlos has arrived from Nice: a strong, aerially capable striker brought in to replace Zito Luvumbo, while Alieu Fadera adds pace and an ability to attack space in behind. In midfield, meanwhile, Harry Winks has joined from Leicester, alongside Alessandro Romano on loan from Roma: a partnership combining quality and dynamism, experience and youth.

FORMATION AND STYLE OF PLAY

Last season, Pisacane built his Cagliari around a back four and very compact lines: a deep defensive block that was extremely aggressive and vertical when winning the ball back. In the early outings of the new season, however, the Rossoblù have already shown some new ideas. During pre-season, which ended unbeaten after matches against Modena, Sampdoria, Union Berlin and Nice, Pisacane began experimenting with ideas that were then implemented in the team's first competitive fixture, against Arezzo in the Coppa Italia round of 32. Cagliari lined up in a 4-4-2, with Adopo on the right in a more tactical role and Fazzini on the left, while Mendy and Trepy formed the attacking partnership. Against Parma, however, Pisacane opted for a 4-3-2-1: Deiola and Rodriguez at centre-back, with Zé Pedro and Obert at full-back; Winks and Romano in central midfield, with Fazzini initially operating deeper and tasked with linking play in midfield alongside Maldini and Adopo, who in turn moved inside, while Mendy was deployed as the attacking focal point. Cagliari's build-up play mainly developed through the central areas of the pitch, using Maldini and Fazzini's technical ability to create combinations in tight spaces. Another feature to emerge during these early fixtures has been a willingness to shoot from distance: Deiola hit the post from outside the box against Arezzo, Maldini went close against Parma, and Romano found the top corner to give Cagliari their first three points of the season.

CAGLIARI'S PRE-SEASON Sampdoria 0-0 Cagliari Cagliari 1-0 Modena 1-0 (Mutandwa) Union Berlin 2-2 Cagliari (Trepy, Mendy) Cagliari 0-0 Nice (4-2 on penalties)

COPPA ITALIA Round of 32: Cagliari 1-0 Arezzo (Deiola pen.)

KEY PLAYERS

Though the young squad has an average age of 24.3 – with several promising players looking to establish themselves – one of Cagliari's more established players is between the posts, with Elia Caprile beginning his third season with the Rossoblù. In defence, Deiola provides physicality and composure in possession, while the arrival of Harry Winks gives the midfield a more technical and experienced presence, ideally suited to helping Romano's development. With Kevin Carlos and Fadera still to make their Cagliari debuts, they could add further attacking options to the team. Much of the final phase of Cagliari's attacking play currently runs through Maldini and Fazzini, who showed on the opening matchday that they can interchange positions in the central areas, combining effectively and finding each other with the ball on the ground. Borrelli offers an alternative through the middle thanks to his physicality and aerial ability, while Felici provides a useful option out wide.

Inter can therefore expect to face a solid and aggressive side, with players who look to combine in tight spaces and attack vertically in possession. Cagliari have made an excellent start to the season and are now preparing to face the Italian champions in front of their home crowd.