Yerry Mina’s Revival at Cagliari Under Ranieri’s Guidance

“An experienced player, a leader who knows how to guide his teammates, and for a coach, that means a lot.” With these words, Claudio Ranieri summarized Yerry Mina’s work at the Unipol Domus in Cagliari, where he has been consolidating himself as an undisputed starter after months – and entire seasons – of not being one. The Colombian is one of the main reasons behind the positive streak of the ‘rossoblu’ team, which has only lost two out of the last ten matches and is currently in 14th place, still fighting but avoiding the relegation zone.

The former Blaugrana player, signed by Everton in 2018 for €30 million, had not found such prominence since his best days in England. With the ‘toffees’, in fact, he only played eight games in his last season, the 2022/23 season, and then barely completed seven in the first half of the current 2023/24 season with Fiorentina before joining Cagliari on a free transfer. There, under Ranieri’s guidance, Yerry has already played ten matches, being crucial in defense to strengthen their defensive lines.

In fact, the Guachené native has become a kind of talisman for his team. Only in his first two games did he suffer defeats, against Roma and Lazio on February 5th and 10th, respectively. Since then, whenever he played the full 90 minutes, his team won (3) or drew (5), including crucial draws against Juventus (2-2), where Yerry even scored a penalty. The good streak only broke when he got injured, missing the recent match against Genoa, with Ranieri’s team succumbing heavily with a 3-0 loss.

THE TEAM NEEDS HIM Precisely, the coach missed the solidity of the Colombian. “We missed him and many people who normally make the team play well,” pointed out the Premier League champion with Leicester City, hoping for the 29-year-old defender’s return soon.

Yerry suffered a muscle strain in training, and the fans are hopeful of having him back for the remaining four matches of the league calendar. Currently, Cagliari occupies 14th place with 31 points, three more than Udinese, who are at the bottom of the table and facing relegation to Serie B. Ahead, they have matches against Lecce, Milan, Sassuolo, and will close against Fiorentina, a personal challenge for Mina against the club where he didn’t have opportunities in the first part of the season.