Cagliari vs Parma preview - Pulga: Cagliari not safe yet
Posted Saturday, April 26, 2014 by PA
Cagliari coach Ivo Pulga has warned his players that relegation is still a threat ahead of Sunday's match against Parma.
Last weekend's 2-1 victory at Genoa, Cagliari's first away win of the season, lifted them to 15th in the standings, eight points above the drop zone with four games remaining.
However, Pulga does not want his men to ease up and knows that a positive result on Sunday would be a giant step in their battle to remain in Italy's top flight.
"The result in Genoa allowed us to take another step towards defending our Serie A status," Pulga said.
"We have four games left to play and we know that three points on Sunday would greatly boost our chances of remaining in the top flight next season.
"But until we can be 100 per cent certain that we will avoid the drop, we cannot make the mistake of thinking we are safe.
"Anything can happen in the last four games and we must take it one game at a time.
"Right now our only focus is on beating Parma, which will be no easy task."
Parma travel to the Sant' Elia stadium looking to bounce back from last weekend's 2-0 defeat to Inter Milan.
The loss was the Gialloblu's first at home since November 2 and saw them drop to sixth place, five points behind Inter in the final Europa League qualifying spot.
Despite that setback, Parma coach Roberto Donadoni believes his side, who are level on 51 points with AC Milan, still have a chance of qualifying for Europe football next season.
"There are four games left and we will see what our chances are of finishing in the top five," he said.
"If at the end we do well, then we will go into the Europa League.
"We will try to the very end but, whatever happens, what my players have achieved this season has been extraordinary."
The home side will not be at full strength with striker Victor Ibarbo and goalkeeper Vlada Avramov suspended. Marco Silvestri will replace Avramov in goal.
Parma are without the services of defender Gabriel Paletta, who must serve a one-match ban, and injured midfielder Marco Marchionni.
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