A struggling AC Milan side travel to Sardinia as they take on a Cagliari team flying high in the league and in the unlikely hunt for European football, agencies report. The Rossoneri may have re-signed Zlatan Ibrahimović this month but Cagliari have been riding the coattails of their own marquee transfer since the summer, Radja Nainggolan.
The controversial Belgian midfielder may enjoy drinking and smoking off the pitch, but he has been the club's talisman on it, scoring four goals and providing as many assists as the islanders find themselves in the heady heights of sixth place with almost half the season gone. Milan come into the match seven points and six places worse off than their hosts as they desperately look to avoid more embarrassment for the remainder of what looks to be another painfully mediocre campaign.
Cagliari are still without their star centre-forward Leonardo Pavoletti, who scored 16 Serie A non-penalty goals last season, the same tally a certain Cristiano Ronaldo returned. Astonishingly, 11 of Pavoletti's goals came via his head but it was a rupture in his cruciate ligament that has seen the forward miss four months of action so far, with his earliest return date not until April.
However, Cagliari may be able to welcome back their first-choice goalkeeper Alessio Cragno who has also been missing since August with a shoulder injury. AC Milan saw Ricardo Rodríguez, Ante Rebic and Lucas Biglia pick up injuries during the winter break which caused them to miss the Rossoneri's first fixture of the year.
