TRIESTE - FootBall Data from Florence tells us that today's meeting between Cagliari and Inter will be the 75th competitive one, the first in a neutral ground, although it is a home game for the Sardinians. In their home games against the Nerazzurri they have a record of 12 defeats, 18 draws and 6 victories, with 49 goals conceded and 36 scored. The first matches date back to the 1964/65 season, while there are also two European matches in the semi-finals of the 1993/94 UEFA Cup.
For Marco Guida, the referee assigned to officiate this afternoon's match at the Stadio Nereo Rocco, it will be his 24th match in the Serie A, in which there have been 10 wins for the home team, 8 draws, 5 away wins, 4 penalties and 3 expulsions. Guida will be in charge of his 16th match in the 2011/12 Serie A season, while in his entire career he has only officiated for Cagliari and Inter 2 times (1 win and 1 draw each).
Inter have always scored at least one goal in each of the last 27 competitive matches played against Cagliari, for a total of 54 goals scored. The last time the Nerazzurri failed find the net dates back to 28 April 1996 when, in the Serie A, the result was 0-0 in Sardinia.
With three penalties conceded to Genoa on 1 April, Inter have conceded nine in 30 league matches in the 2011/12 Serie A season. This figure not only gives the Nerazzurri the unenviable record of penalties against in the current season, but it also equals the historical record for the club in a single-table Serie A season; you have to go back to the 1985/86 season to find one in which Inter had so many called against them.
As a coach, Massimo Ficcadenti will go into his fourth competitive match against Inter and so far his teams have always lost, letting in 6 goals in the 270 minutes.
The last goal conceded in a competitive home match by Cagliari came on 26 February when, in the Serie A, Lecce prevailed 2-1. The scorer of Lecce's second goal was Bertolacci in the 61st minute; since then, including the remaining 29 minutes of that match as well as the entire league matches won against Cesena (3-0) and Atalanta (2-0), there has been a clean sheet at home lasting for 209 minutes.
Cagliari is the team with the highest amount of scoreless draws in the 2011/12 Serie A season with a total of 7.
Cagliari are coming off of two consecutive home wins, obtained in the league against Cesena (3-0) and Atalanta (2-0). The last home match that the Sardinians failed to win came on 26 February: a 1-2 loss to Lecce in the Serie A. If the Sardinians were also to win today then it would be the first time that they have enjoyed three consecutive away wins in competitive matches since the October-November period in 2009. Back then there were actually four, all in the Serie A: 3-2 against Genoa, 3-0 against Atalanta and 2-0 against both Sampdoria and Juventus.
