Returning Nainggolan the catalyst in Cagliari's flying start

Serie A's big hitters are positioned in and around the top of the table with 12 games of the season gone. Juventus lead the way and Inter are just a point behind the Old Lady. Lazio and Roma are separated by just two points, while Atalanta remain in the hunt for another top four finish. 

However, at this stage of the campaign, a surprise package sits level with Lazio in the top four. Cagliari beat the drop by just three points last season, and that was too close for comfort. A five match winless run to end the season, a run that included four defeats, had fans looking nervously over their shoulder as the possibility of relegation very nearly became reality. 

Yet after 12 games, Cagliari are sitting pretty in fourth with 24 points to their name. The blistering start to the opening third of the campaign coincides with the homecoming of Radja Nainggolan. The Belgian returned to Sardinia five years after leaving for Roma, albeit on loan from Inter. 

"It was like coming home for me. They always recognised what I did on the field. They welcomed me as if I had never left," the 31-year-old said last month of his return to Cagliari. Despite offers from China and other teams in Italy, the decision to return to Cagliari was an easy one to make. The player's wife, Claudia Lai, revealed in an emotional Instagram post in July that she is battling cancer and is believed to be undergoing treatment in Sardinia. 

Unwanted by Inter boss Antonio Conte after a solitary season in Milan, Cagliari acted swiftly to secure his services and maximised the money brought in by Nico Barella's move to Inter to invest accordingly. Marko Rog and Nahitan Nandez arrived from Napoli and Boca Juniors, respectively, and Robin Olsen is a solid loan capture from Roma. In attack, Nainggolan has operated primarly in the number 10 role behind fellow new arrival Giovanni Simeone and Brazilian Joao Pedro in Rolando Maran's favoured 4-3-1-2 formation. 

In spending the money wisely, it's contributed towards Cagliari's best start since the 1969/70 season and it's epitomised superbly in Nainggolan's fine start to his second stint at the Sardegna Arena. Indeed, his WhoScored rating (7.24) is better than any other player for Maran's side, helped in part due to his man of the match display against Fiorentina at the weekend, where Nainggolan scored a 30-yard screamer and provided assists for Rog, Simeone and Luca Cigarini in a stand out display from the midfielder. 

In landing a WhoScored rating of 9.59 against Fiorentina, it marked Nainggolan's second best rated performance of his Serie A career, with his best, incidentally, coming against Fiorentina for Roma back in 2014 (9.77). Much of the reason for his success upon his return to Cagliari has been Maran's decision to field him in a role that brings out the best of his ability. 

Injuries restricted Nainggolan to just 22 league starts last season, the worst of which was a calf problem that saw him miss five matches back in March. A similar issue means he sat out a three-game span in September, but in lessening his defensive work means Nainggolan can put in performances that renders him an unstoppable force in the final third and lessens the possibility of muscle injuries. While Cagliari fans are yet to really see the player at his barnstorming best, he's still making 1.9 key passes per 90; only Cigarini (2.7) is averaging more of all Cagliari players. 

With a solid midfield foundation of Nandez, Cigarini and Rog, Nainggolan is able to maximise attacking capability and, if required, his tenacity to win the ball higher up the pitch. He's won possession in the attacking third eight times this season - Lorenzo Insigne tops this metric with 13 - and his 1.7 tackles per 90 is also a solid return.  

And while Maran is understandably hesitant about using Nainggolan as an all-action midfielder from deep, deploying him between the midfield and attack clearly allows for the player to pressure opponents higher up the pitch, and this works wonders for the side. Cagliari's possession average of 45.8% is the fifth lowest in Serie A this season, which is a clear indicator that they rely heavily on rapid transitions from defence to attack in their quest to hit the back of the net. 

This would include winning the ball higher up the pitch in numbers, which has helped them develop a statistically calculated WhoScored strength of 'counter attacks' and means only Parma (5) have scored more counter attacking goals than Cagliari (4) in Italy's top tier this term. For context, they managed only two counter attacking goals in Serie A last term. I Rossoblu remain a direct attacking unit, but in a different way following the injury of Leonardo Pavoletti, which forces the team to keep the ball on the ground more than thumping it long to the 30-year-old and rely on knock ons and knock downs. This approach has resulted in a more cohensive Cagliari outfit, and one that surprisingly occupies a top four spot. 

Whether they can keep up this good form, it remains to be seen, but even without Nainggolan; Cagliari have proven they can maintain their high performance levels having won all three league matches he missed with injury. It's the return of Il Ninja, though, that has been a catalyst to their superb early season efforts and if he can remain fit and firing on all cylinders, then Cagliari fans will be dreaming of a Champions League finish as the campaign wears on.