Pisacane fear Belotti has serious knee injury for Cagliari | OneFootball

Cagliari coach Fabio Pisacane acknowledges Inter ‘deserved’ the 2-0 victory, but is afraid Andrea Belotti’s season might be over. ‘He felt a crack in his knee.’

It was a negative evening all around at the Unipol Domus, because not only did they suffer a 2-0 home defeat, but the Sardinians also saw star striker Belotti carried off following a freak accident.

He was running after a long ball when goalkeeper Josep Martinez rushed out to meet it, then slipped and fell awkwardly, causing the Inter man to crash into him.

Cagliari worried about Belotti setback

CAGLIARI, ITALY – SEPTEMBER 27: Andrea Belotti of Cagliari lies on the ground with an injury during the Serie A match between Cagliari Calcio and FC Internazionale at Stadio Sant’Elia on September 27, 2025 in Cagliari, Italy. (Photo by Enrico Locci/Getty Images)

“We hope it is not too serious, we’re waiting for the tests, but his health is the most important thing right now,” Pisacane told Sky Sport Italia.

“We really hope it is not what we think it is, because he said that he felt a crack in his knee. We’ve got to try to think positive right now and wait for the test results.”

It would be a devastating blow if Belotti was diagnosed with ligament damage, as the 31-year-old only just joined Cagliari from Como on deadline day.

He made an immediate impression with two goals in the 2-1 win away to Lecce last week.

CAGLIARI, ITALY – SEPTEMBER 27: Fabio Pisacane coach of Cagliari looks on during the Serie A match between Cagliari Calcio and FC Internazionale at Stadio Sant’Elia on September 27, 2025 in Cagliari, Italy. (Photo by Enrico Locci/Getty Images)

Cristian Chivu said that Cagliari had surprised him with a change of system, so how did Pisacane come up with those adjustments?

“We wanted to put Michael Folorunsho on Hakan Calhanoglu, while Sebastiano Esposito was targeting Stefan de Vrij. Initially, we wanted to use a 4-4-2 and go out there with a strong attitude in front of our fans,” explained the coach.

“We were suffering having two creative midfielders there, so we pushed Folorunsho further up to support Esposito. Later on, we took off a defender and put new wingers on, that is something I’d like to try again.

“Ultimately, we’ve got to give credit to Inter, as they played very well and deserved the victory.”

Lautaro Martinez had opened the scoring early on with a looping header, and the game remained open until Francesco Pio Esposito met the Federico Dimarco pull-back.

“We didn’t make the most of the opportunities in the first half, especially when winning the ball back, as our choices in the transitions were not the best ones,” added Pisacane.

“In the second half, we tried to push further up, but Inter did really well. I cannot have asked for more from my lads, Inter respected us and put in a great performance.”