Another great story. After winning the title with Leicester, Claudio Ranieri shone in his native Italy. His team is back among the elite thanks to a 94th minute goal

Claudio Ranieri has fallen into oblivion in recent years, but now the likable Italian has come back to the fans. He has managed to raise his Cagliari after his arrival and is bringing it back to the Italian elite.

The popular Italian coach has had a few successes, but his biggest one came in 2015/16 when he led Leicester to the English Premier League title. This is one of the greatest footballing tales of all time.

He didn’t stay anywhere for too long after his stint with the English outfit ended. He switched teams like Nantes, Fulham, AS Roma, Sampdoria Genoa and Watford. From January 2022 until the end of last year, he was without an engagement.

At the end of the year, however, he signed for Italian second division side Cagliari. This was not a good situation. After their relegation from Serie A, they were not doing well in the lower competition and Claudio Ranieri had a tough mission ahead of him, with his team only in fourteenth place.

But with the arrival of Ranieri, things have taken a turn for the better. Cagliari stopped losing and started picking up points. By the end of the regular season, they had accumulated 35 points in 19 games, with 9 wins and 8 draws.

Thanks to their rise, the team pulled themselves up from the second half of the table to the fifth place and caught up with the fourth-placed Parma, who were assured of a better place in the play-offs despite the parity of points thanks to a better balance of games.

While Parma were assured of a semi-final spot, Ranieri still had to guide his team through the quarter-final stage. And in the playoffs, he did even much better than in the regular season. In the quarter-finals, Cagliari took on Venice, followed by a double-header with the aforementioned Parma.

Parma were not helped by the legendary Gianluigi Buffon in goal, Cagliari advanced to the final after a 3-2 win and a 0-0 draw, where Bari awaited them. The first leg ended 1-1, the second was dominated by Ranieri’s men thanks to a goal in the 94th minute.

This means only one thing. Ranieri has another great success and next season, barring any surprises, we will see him among the Italian elite. He is under contract at the club until the summer of 2025.

It’s worth mentioning that Ranieri has already been at Cagliari once. Since 1998, when he took over the team, he managed to take the team from the third league to the Italian elite. He retired from the club in the summer of 1991.

Source: Serie B, Transfermarkt