What is Serie A Italian soccer?
Serie A is the top professional soccer league in Italy. Its clubs play each other in a season, and the results build a league table that ranks the teams. Roma and Cagliari are two of its clubs, and their midweek match in Rome is the current news item.
Why it's in the news
Roma host Cagliari at the Stadio Olimpico in a midweek Serie A match, coming just after a 3-3 draw with Napoli that drew attention to an outburst by Napoli coach Massimiliano Allegri. Paulo Dybala is out of the Roma squad through injury.
- Roma vs Cagliari — Roma host Cagliari at the Stadio Olimpico in midweek Serie A match
Background
Serie A is the highest level of men's club soccer in Italy. Teams from across the country compete in one league season, playing each opponent in home and away matches. Points are awarded for wins and draws, and the standings, also called the table, rank clubs by their points at any point in the season.
Among the clubs now in the news are AS Roma and Cagliari. Roma play at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome. Gian Piero Gasperini coaches Roma. Massimiliano Allegri coaches Napoli, the club Roma drew 3-3 with just before this match. Cagliari is coached by Pisacane.
Roma's squad is short-handed for this match. Paulo Dybala has been left out of the match-day squad because he is not yet ready to return from injury. Santiago Castro, Nahuel Molina and Matias Soulé are among the players starting for Roma. Cagliari will be without Harry Winks, and Yukinari Sugawara is expected to start for them.
For the full schedule, live scores, standings, team statistics and line-ups for any given match, readers can consult the sports pages listed in the sources below.