After maintaining their 100% record in Serie A by beating Hellas Verona this Saturday, AS Roma now look ahead to a crucial midweek clash against English Champions Manchester City in the UEFA Champions League.
If statistics told us all we needed to know about football, then Roma fans would be brimming with confidence going into Tuesday’s clash at the Etihad: five wins from five games and only one goal conceded so far in Serie A makes for pleasant reading if you’re a Giallorosso fan, but look deeper and you may begin to understand the hesitation held by some of Roma’s more cautious (perhaps pessimistic) fans.
Aside from a blistering opening forty-five minutes against Fiorentina, back on match-day one of the domestic campaign, and a comfortable blitzing of rather weak CSKA Moscow in their Champions League opener, Roma have actually had a tough time accruing their fifteen points in Serie A, often having to grind out wins (as seen against Empoli and arguably Hellas this weekend).
The most probable reason for this is not necessarily down to any fault of Rudi Garcia or his players but perhaps rather due to the fact that teams in Italy have figured out how to play against Roma. So far Roma have had the individual brilliance and sometimes luck to dig themselves out of holes this season, for example Nainggolan’s winner against Empoli which was a long range shot that cannoned off the post, and then ricocheted off goalkeeper Luigi Sepe’s head to give the capital based club a narrow 1-0 win over the recently promoted side.
Particular examples aside and all things considered, Roma will face a truly unique experience on Tuesday where they will probably play as the underdogs for the first time this season and because of this it is rather hard to gauge how the team will be set-up to play. Crucial first team players like Daniele De Rossi, Kevin Strootman and Leandro Castan will all miss the game and Captain Francesco Totti is expected to start from the bench. Despite the imjuries, Roma made a point of adding depth this summer and the likes of Seydou Keita and Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa will all have to step up and be counted this coming week if Roma will stand any chance of picking up a result at the Etihad.
Despite the injury crisis, Roma have still managed to perform well this season as alluded to above with regards to their strong defence. The objective against Manchester City will certainly be to leave with something, making the reverse fixture on match-day six (at the Olimpico) a probable knock out game to see who progresses from the group along with German Champions Bayern Munich.
