Cagliari’s drop fears increase with Verona defeat, Napoli hit Sassuolo

Cagliari’s chances of staying in Serie A took a hit on Saturday with a 2-1 domestic defeat to Verona, while Napoli bounced lower back from recent woes by thumping Sassuolo 6-1.

First-half goals from Antonin Barak and Gianluca Caprari for Verona left Cagliari three points above the relegation sector with all their competitors within the struggle towards the drop but to play.

The Sardinian team, who pulled a goal back in the 57th minute through a superb free-kick from Joao Pedro, are three points above Genoa and Salernitana who both sit just inside the bottom three.

Genoa faces Sampdoria, who is also fighting against relegation, later on, Saturday while Salernitana travels to Atalanta on Monday hoping to continue their three-match winning run which has increased hopes of a miracle escape act.

Napoli has effectively secured a place in the Champions League after blitzing Sassuolo, with Dries Mertens hitting a brace in a display that boosted spirits in Naples after falling away in the title race.

Luciano Spalletti’s side is third, four points behind league leaders AC Milan who host Fiorentina on Sunday, after crashing in four goals in the first 21 minutes through Kalidou Koulibaly, Victor Osimhen, Hirving Lozano, and Mertens to secure the points against a flat Sassuolo.

Mertens netted again nine minutes after the break before Amir Rahmani made it six with 10 minutes remaining.

Just as crucial for Napoli is the 12-point gap between themselves and 5th-positioned Roma.

Jose Mourinho’s Roma has 4 games left to play starting with Bologna on Sunday and the maximum they could reach is Napoli’s modern-day tally of 70 points.

But even supposing Napoli lost all three in their last fixtures and Roma won all of theirs, the 2 attracts among the two aspects and Napoli’s a long way superior intention distinction make it nearly not possible for Roma to make overtake their competitors.