Siena vs Udinese preview - Cosmi confronts past

Serse Cosmi comes face to face with one of his greatest triumphs and one of his biggest disappointments on Sunday when he leads Siena out against Udinese.

Cosmi was in charge of the Zebrette in 2005 when victory over Sporting Lisbon saw the club qualify for the Champions League for the first time in their history.

However, he did not last the full season on the Udinese bench, despite taking them into the semi-finals of the Coppa Italia, and his dismissal after just seven months still rankles.

"It still hurts," he told the Gazzetta dello Sport. "I beat Sporting Lisbon, causing resignation after resignation at that club.

"They were not just any little club. Not only that, I left Udinese when they were in the semi-finals of the Coppa Italia and they were not doing so badly in the league either.

"On Sunday, I want to beat them, but it is going to be a major challenge because they have a very strong defence, and then they have (Antonio) Di Natale, who is hard to control.

"There is nobody better than him in Italy and he has had the same impact on his side as (Zlatan) Ibrahimovic had on his."

Udinese have failed to qualify for the Champions League since Cosmi's departure and their current coach Francesco Guidolin questioned whether he was capable of ever reaching Europe's elite club competition in the aftermath if his side's elimination to Sporting Braga last month.

After a few days of reflection, he decided not to throw in the towel, but his side's league form has been equally disappointing with two defeats out of two.

That may convince the coach to make changes to his side this weekend.

The biggest change could be the return of Barreto, who has spent the last two seasons on the sidelines due to injury.

"I feel good and the only reason I wanted to leave was because I wanted to play, but I am happy to still be here," he said.

With Muriel sidelined for over two months and Maicosuel still not fully forgiven for his penalty miss against Braga, Barreto could now be given the chance to get his and Udinese's season off the ground.