Gianluca Lapadula was decisive in helping Cagliari achieve the long-awaited promotion to Italy's top division. However, an injury has sidelined him from the Serie A 2023-24 season so far, and his team misses him terribly after scoring only one goal in their first five matches.
The team led by Claudio Ranieri has played against Torino, Inter Milan, Bologna, Udinese, and Atalanta, suffering three defeats and two draws. In those matches, they could only score one goal against Bologna, where they eventually lost 2-1. It has been the only goal so far, scored by Zito Luvumbo, who plays as a winger or attacking midfielder. The strikers have been unable to score.
This makes the 'Bambino' being greatly missed, who scored 26 goals in the previous season in 43 matches. Now, the worrying part is that Gianluca will be out for a while and his return is expected at the end of October, approximately.
The bad news continues for Cagliari, who will perhaps face their toughest match so far when they host Milan on Wednesday, September 27th at 11:30 AM (Peruvian time). Lapadula will have to support from the stands and give strength to his teammates to get points: currently, they are second-to-last in the table with only two points.