Ranieri says goodbye to Cagliari with tears in his eyes after Fiorentina defeat in his last breath

Claudio Ranieri said goodbye to Cagliari and ended a career spanning almost four decades as the club’s coach, with Thursday’s 3-2 defeat to Fiorentina, cruelly inflicted in the 13th minute of stoppage time.

Arthur scored Fiorentina’s winner from the penalty spot after Luca Beltran had saved the visiting team, who were 2-1 down in the 85th minute, with a soft penalty after a lengthy VAR check.

Fiorentina won and secured European football with the last kick of Ranieri’s final match in charge of Cagliari, before next week’s Europa Conference League final with Olympiakos.

Former Premier League winner Ranieri has now effectively retired, although he admitted in an interview with Sky in Italy that he would be interested in a role with the national team.

However, Thursday’s defeat made little difference to Ranieri or Cagliari, as last weekend he saved from relegation the same club he formed in Serie B last season and with whom he rose to prominence in the late 1980s.

Ranieri began his coaching career in amateur football in 1986, but gained attention by leading Cagliari to Serie A with two consecutive promotions in 1989 and 1990.

“What we managed to do, we did together,” said Ranieri in a brief speech on the pitch after the game.

“I asked for your help a year and a half ago because only with you could we do what we did.”

Ranieri appeared backstage before kick-off as fans chanted his name and a standing ovation rolled out from the stands as a banner was unfurled that read “Eternal gratitude to a great man”.

And then he hugged the players and family in front of a crowd that applauded one of the most beloved figures in Italian football.

The 72-year-old said his decision to leave the club was made with a “heavy heart”, fearing he could tarnish two brilliant spells almost 40 years apart at Cagliari by remaining at the club.

Ranieri offered to quit after just three points from the first nine matches of the season.

– Life lessons –

But the club and players convinced him to stay and survival was dedicated to Ranieri, who has often been hailed by his team as an inspiration.

“He taught us things that are valuable not just on the pitch, but in life in general,” Gianluca Lapadula told DAZN pre-match.

“If you don’t fight for your teammate, for the man next to you, you’ll never go anywhere.”

Ranieri is most famous for winning the Premier League with Leicester City in 2016, but is a popular figure at several clubs, even if he has only won a few major honors in his career.

An Italian Cup with Fiorentina and three trophies with Valencia accompany the exciting victory in the English Championship eight years ago.

Ranieri brought in Gianfranco Zola to replace Diego Maradona at Napoli in the early 1990s and then coached the Sardinian native, then capped by Italy, a decade later at Chelsea.

He managed Chelsea from the brink of bankruptcy and took them to the Champions League in 2003, after which the Blues were taken over by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich.

Ranieri then reached the semi-finals of Europe’s premier club competition the following year, before being replaced by José Mourinho.

He struggled with Mourinho while in charge of his boyhood team Roma in 2009/2010, in charge when the capital club came close to wresting the Serie A title from eventual three-time champions Inter Milan on the final day of the season.

And Cagliari will remain in Serie A for at least another season thanks to Ranieri, who ended an eventful career where it really began, 36 years ago.

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