Ermanno Feliciani to referee Roma against Cagliari at the Olimpico

Ermanno Feliciani will referee Roma-Cagliari, the ninth-round Serie A fixture at the Stadio Olimpico tomorrow, Tuesday 27 October, kicking off at 20:45. The Italian Football Referees Association (AIA) made the mid-week appointments public this morning. Feliciani, from the Teramo section, will be assisted by linesmen Zingarelli and Fontani, with Mariani as fourth official. Ghersini will be the VAR, with Camplone as the AVAR. The head-to-head record favours Roma strongly. Roma have never lost under Feliciani: in six matches he has refereed involving the Giallorossi, they have won five and drawn one. The only result that was not a win came in a 2-2 draw with Salernitana in the 2023/24 season. Their most recent meeting came on 10 April, when Gasperini's side thrashed Pisa 3-0, with a hat-trick from Malen. Cagliari's record against Feliciani is far less encouraging. They have lost all three of their Serie A meetings with him, the most recent a 2-0 home defeat to Lecce on 16 February 2026. In matches involving Roma, Feliciani has awarded only one penalty in the Giallorossi's favour, in the 3-0 win over Udinese in September 2024. Gasperini is weighing up some rotation after Roma's costly draw at Napoli. Paulo Dybala could return to the matchday squad after making progress in his recovery from a calf injury. The rest of the round's mid-week schedule includes Sassuolo-Lazio on Tuesday at 18:30, with Zufferli refereeing, and Torino-Como at 20:45, refereed by Collu. Milan-Bologna, Parma-Udinese, Venezia-Inter and Genoa-Juventus follow on Wednesday 28 October, and the round closes with Frosinone-Lecce and Fiorentina-Atalanta on Thursday 29 October.

Ermanno Feliciani, of the Teramo section, will referee Roma against Cagliari on Tuesday 27 October at 20:45 at the Stadio Olimpico. Roma head into the match straight after a 3-3 draw with Napoli, while Cagliari, coached by Fabio Pisacane, are coming off a home defeat to Bologna. Roma are coached by Gian Piero Gasperini. Feliciani's record with Roma is strong. In six meetings so far, Roma have won five and drawn one, without losing. The only draw came in a 2-2 result against Salernitana on 20 August 2023. Among his more recent results are Roma's 2-0 win over Verona and 1-0 win over Como in the 2025/26 season. His most recent match in charge of Roma was a 3-0 home win over Pisa on 10 April 2026. Cagliari's record under Feliciani is far less favourable. In five meetings across all competitions, they have won once and lost four times. Their only victory came in a 4-1 Coppa Italia win over Frosinone on 23 September 2025. In Serie A, Cagliari have lost every game refereed by the Abruzzo official: 2-0 against Atalanta in September 2023, 2-1 against Udinese in May 2025 and 2-0 against Lecce in February 2026. They also lost 4-0 to Juventus in the Coppa Italia in December 2024. Assistant referees Zingarelli and Fontani will support Feliciani, with Mariani as fourth official. Ghersini will work in the VAR room, with Camplone as AVAR.

Roman radio pundits have given their verdicts on Roma's draw at Napoli, with several focusing on the performances of Wesley and Gollini and on Roma's attacking problems. Lorenzo Pes of Tele Radio Stereo (92.7) said: "At Napoli, Wesley didn't convince me fully. He was very much in the shadows, and it was perhaps one of the worst performances in giallorosso. Now we'll see if he plays tomorrow, because Gasp could change the team there. I've heard a lot about Gollini. In my opinion, he's putting in a performance worth a pass mark." Piero Torri of Manà Manà Sport (90.9) argued that the match narrative had been too kind to Napoli. He said: "I read an enthusiastic narrative about Napoli and a bit less about Roma. I didn't see Napoli dominate the first hour. The run of play was in Roma's hands, as they wanted to win it, and Napoli were countering. Perhaps it was Napoli's best performance of the season, but Roma didn't steal anything. I'm convinced that if Roma had gone ahead, it would have ended up being a tight game." Roberto Pruzzo of Radio Radio (104.5) was critical of the match as a whole. He said: "Beukema threw himself to the ground, he made a terrible impression, and if he had stayed on his feet perhaps he wouldn't have let his side concede. I agreed with almost nothing in the game; it was a festival of errors. Napoli threw away two points with a way of playing I struggle to understand. Roma struggled a lot but managed to get the better of it, and in the end it's an acceptable draw. There are clear attacking difficulties when Malen is shut out, and in January they are thinking about addressing it." Nando Orsi, also of Radio Radio (104.5), focused on the positions of Matías Soulé and Paulo Dybala. He said: "Soulé is left-footed, he likes coming inside onto the pitch and he plays better there. In my view, Dybala has nothing to do with it and isn't some kind of submission; for me it's purely a question of roles. He plays better there. Having two players like that and using them both could be a problem, because I think Dybala on the left doesn't perform at his best either."