" The retreat ? We were very happy to do it. After the match against Bologna we needed to recover. It allowed us, therefore, to concentrate on certain situations in particular, to split the daily training sessions in two, to delve into the sections on videos and set pieces. It will happen again when the matches are so close together." Cagliari is ready and charged up to the right point for tomorrow night's match at the Domus with Genoa, assures Davide Nicola, who just yesterday blew out 52 candles.

"It's an important match because we can take a further step forward and because there are eleven to go, but it's certainly not decisive," the Piedmontese coach is keen to point out in the pre-match press conference at the Crai Sport Center in Assemini. The pressure? "It's not a problem. In fact, I hope it's always there. As far as I'm concerned, if I didn't feel the fire inside, I would struggle to express myself."

Nicola believes a lot in this challenge without, however, being obsessed by the standings or the fear of making a mistake. «We will make mistakes again, after all. The important thing is to know who we are and what we want». The opponent? «An organised and quality team. With Vieira they have found a balance in the defensive phase. We will therefore have to be good at developing our game, always maintaining the right attention , perhaps even communicating more among ourselves on the pitch in some situations».