Claudio Ranieri could not hide his emotions as Cagliari secured Serie A return with last-minute goal

Former Chelsea and Leicester City manager Claudio Ranieri was in tears after guiding Cagliari back to the Serie A.

The legendary Italian coach made his name at Cagliari during his first spell as manager between 1988 and 1991 when he achieved back-to-back promotions from Serie C1 to Serie A.

After returning to the club in December with the team in 14th place, he has worked his magic again after a dramatic late winner in the 94th minute against Bari.

At the end of the match, Ranieri could not hide his emotions. You can watch the footage below.

With the first leg ending in a 1-1 draw, both teams knew they only need one special moment to achieve their ultimate objective.

With 94 minutes on the clock, Leonardo Pavoletti was the man to send Cagliari back to Italian football’s top table.

During the celebrations, Ranieri was in tears as he shared a heartfelt embrace with his staff and players.

Fans were quick to react on social media.

One said: “That’s the beauty of football.”

Another tweeted: “Leicester getting relegated and Caudio’s team promoted wow.”

A third fan added: “Nothing beats football.”

Someone else wrote: “I hope coach Ranieri will have much more moments like this, cause he deserves the best.”

Whilst a fifth commented: “Amazing scenes… love this..”

GUIDA LA GUIDA LA GUIDA L’AEROPLANOOOOOOOOO OOOOH RANIERI GUIDA L’AEROPLANOOOOOOOOO STIAMO ARRIVANDOOOOOO 🫡✈️ pic.twitter.com/LL3aF5QZqV

— Cagliari Calcio (@CagliariCalcio) June 11, 2023

During his time in English football, Ranieri created one of the biggest shocks in the history of the Premier League after he led Leicester to the title in the 15/16 season. The Italian also had spells with Chelsea and Watford.

However, successfully guiding Cagliari back to Serie A at the first time of asking will for sure rank as one of the top achievements in Ranieri's illustrious career.

When Ranieri took over, Cagliari were struggling but then went on a run of 10 games without defeat whilst only losing twice in 24 matches.

As a result, they will now return to Italian football's top flight alongside Frosinone and Genoa.