Maran curious to see new Cagliari

Rolando Maran can immediately count on several new Cagliari signings as they face Parma today. “We are both ambitious teams.”

It kicks off at 17.00 GMT, click here for a match preview.

“This is a simple game to read, as we are on the same number of points, Parma have pushed really hard in the first half of the season and showed ambition on the transfer market,” said the coach in his press conference.

Rolando Maran can immediately count on several new Cagliari signings as they face Parma today. “We are both ambitious teams.”

It kicks off at 17.00 GMT, click here for a match preview.

“This is a simple game to read, as we are on the same number of points, Parma have pushed really hard in the first half of the season and showed ambition on the transfer market,” said the coach in his press conference.

“They are a squad with specific characteristics, manage to make life difficult for opponents and we must be very wary. It’s going to be an exciting match.”

The Sardinians were particularly active in the final hours of the transfer window, so have new purchases Gonzalo Pereiro and Alberto Paloschi in the squad already, but Marko Rog is out.

“It’s a strange weekend for us, but that’s the situation we have to deal with and it was all up in the air. We trained hard all week and that’s what matters to me.

“To be honest, I see no benefits to preparing a match on deadline day, but I am not the only coach in that situation. It’s just difficult to talk about players I’ve not yet seen on the pitch.”

Cagliari are fresh from a 1-1 draw away to Inter and Maran hinted they could use the 3-5-2 formation more often rather than just to mirror Antonio Conte’s tactics.

“We put in a good performance at San Siro and it’s certainly a tactic we could use again, including on home turf.”

Cagliari squad for Parma: Rafael, Cragno, Olsen; Mattiello, Cacciatore, Klavan, Pisacane, Lykogiannis, Faragò, Pellegrini, Walukiewicz; Nainggolan, Cigarini, Birsa, Oliva, Nandez, Ionita, Ladinetti; Paloschi, Joao Pedro, Pereiro, Gagliano, Simeone