'I had a football rebirth after my illness' – Inter's Acerbi aims to fulfil football dreams

Inter defender Francesco Acerbi believes he had a "football rebirth" after his battles with illness.

The 37-year-old battled and defeated cancer on two separate occasions during his impressive career in the sport.

Acerbi has made 409 appearances in Serie A, keeping 99 clean sheets and winning the league title once in 2024.

He also won the 2020 European Championships with Italy and the 2019 Coppa Italia with Lazio.

Ahead of Inter's upcoming match against Cagliari, Acerbi has learned to focus on the important things in life.

"I had a football rebirth after my illness," Acerbi told Sky Sports Italia.

"It was not easy, but that's where you learn to deal with things larger than yourself, accept them, and try to find the positive.

"Living a healthy life isn't just about going to bed early or never drinking wine, it's about knowing what you really want out of life.

"It's about not seeking alibis, because those just suck you into this negative vortex that it's hard to get out of. We must always look inside ourselves and try to improve."

Cagliari have made an impressive start to their Serie A campaign, picking up seven points from four games to leave them seventh in the table.

Their only loss so far this season came away from home against reigning champions Napoli.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Cagliari – Andrea Belotti

After his brace against Lecce in the most recent league match, Andrea Belotti could score in back-to-back Serie A matches for the first time in over three and a half years, since February 2022.

The 31-year-old has scored four goals against Inter in the league, all with Torino at the Stadio Meazza (the last of which came on July 13, 2020).

Inter – Lautaro Martinez

Cagliari is the team against which Lautaro Martinez has scored the most goals in his Serie A career with 11 goals in 11 matches, finding the net in each of his last five matches against the Sardinians.

Overall, only Francesco Totti (14) and Ciro Immobile (13) have scored more goals against Cagliari in the top-flight.

MATCH PREDICTION – INTER WIN

Inter have won eight of their last nine away games against Cagliari in Serie A (L1), including all five of their most recent matches, keeping a clean sheet in the last two. The Nerazzurri have never kept three consecutive clean sheets away from home against the Sardinians in the competition.

However, Inter have won just three of their last 10 away league games (D3 L4), scoring 13 goals and conceding exactly the same, having achieved eight consecutive away wins in Serie A beforehand.

After a 3-4 defeat to Juventus in their most recent away league game, Inter could lose both of their first two away games of the season for the sixth time in their Serie A history, last doing so in 2011-12 under Gian Piero Gasperini.

Cagliari is the team that has gained the most points from being behind (four) in this Serie A season. On the other hand, Inter is the team that has dropped the most points from winning positions (six).

Inter are unbeaten in 14 of their last 15 league matches against Cagliari (W12 D2), scoring 39 goals in the process (2.6 on average). The Sardinians' only win in this period dates back to March 2019 (2-1 at Unipol Domus under Rolando Maran).

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Cagliari – 19.1%

Draw – 22.4%

Inter – 58.5%