Francesco Totti - Il Gladiatore di Roma

Morata is just banging them in for you and you should be able to overthrow Milan next month!

Great month there! Now that I've started reading again, I will continue!

(May or may not have given up at page 23 last time....)

Greaaaaaaaaat month Neal! (5am comment woo!)

I don't think so.

pompeyblue: Thanks bud, and yes hopefully we can win our game in hand and go top once again

Walter: Yes he's done excellently to come back from that hamstring injury and fingers crossed he continues to find the net

The Madridista: Yes, we will burn AC Milan to the ground >;)

fzemdegs: Hahaha don't give up! You can do it!!

Josh_MU: Not sure if sarcastic or not

Justice: Yeah you know what I DO -_-

Bringing AS Roma back to Champions League football was considered a major success for Francesco Totti last season. Leading them to the top of Group G this season with a 4-1-1 record was considered even better. However, despite finishing top of the group, they were given a draw of death in the First Knockout Round: FC Barcelona.

With the first leg taking place at the Camp Nou in Barcelona, it was never likely that the Giallorossi would be able to pull out a victory or even a draw. Damage limitation was expected to be Roma's tactical standpoint from the very start, with hopes of getting the goals all resting on the return leg in the Stadio Olimpico.

Going along with this expectation, Francesco Totti lined up his team in a very defensive 5-1-3-1. With Daniele De Rossi suspended, Nuri Sahin was started in the deepest midfield role, with Verratti, Pjanic, and Grenier ahead of him to try and stave away Barcelona's tiki-taka midfield.

For the entirety of the first half, Totti's tactics seemed to work like a charm. Whenever Xavi and ex-Roma player Kevin Strootman came forward, they struggled to find space, and Cesc Fabregas, playing as the most advanced of the attacking trio with Neymar and Messi on either side, hardly got involved in the play at all.

Just two minutes into the second half, however, it was a moment of Messi magic that broke the deadlock. The Argentinian maestro of the game collected the ball from Dani Alves out on the right flank and went on a mazy run into the box, easily skinning Tin Jedvaj and chipping the ball over the onrushing Asmir Begovic.

With half an hour to go, Brazilian starlet Neymar doubled La Blaugrana's advantage. Kevin Strootman had lined up to shoot from 30 yards, only to be blocked by his replacement in the Roma team, Nuri Sahin. The deflection fell kindly to Neymar, however, and the young winger easily slotted home to make things 2-0.

Roma tried pushing more men forward after that but to little avail, and the match finished 2-0. "It was a tough match against a very, very good Barcelona team," said Totti after the match. "Of course we are disappointed to lose, and now we have absolutely an enormous mountain to climb in Rome, but we will not give up. Football is a sport of miracles and comebacks, and we will not stop believing."

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Ah well. Let's hope for a better second leg!

Walter: It's a massive ask to turn around a 2 goal deficit against Barcelona but we certainly will try!

Great write-up as usual but I slightly disappointing result.
It was always going to be, and it will be even tougher in the second leg but I'm hoping for a miraclalous Roma win. C'mon!

pompeyblue: Glad you enjoyed the update, but yes the result was a bit tough to take. Hopefully we can pull off the impossible back in Rome

Despite dropping points twice to 'lesser' teams on the road and struggling greatly in the two games they did manage to win, Roma have returned to the top of the Serie A standings.

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ROMA 2-1 PALERMO (SERIE A)
LJAJIC, BENATIA
BENATIA

FIORENTINA 1-1 ROMA (SERIE A)
MORATA
BENATIA
DODO

ROMA 2-1 PARMA (SERIE A)
MORATA, CORCHIA
CORCHIA

PALERMO 0-0 ROMA (SERIE A)
BENATIA

---

Despite having four games that looked relatively straightforward on paper this month, AS Roma has certainly struggled to impose themselves at all, scraping their two wins and dropping points on their two away matches.

Even though Alvaro Morata has kept up his good scoring form since returning to the first team fold, the Giallorossi's attack has still looked decidedly blunt. Miralem Pjanic, despite a lightning start to the season in which he was by far the best player in the league, has cooled down greatly and is now struggling to create good chances.

Not helping are defensive frailties in key moments. Mehdi Benatia's red card against Parma cost the capital city side the three points that day, and Leandro Castan has been forced into playing a lot of left back, where he is not particularly comfortable, of late due to injuries or suspensions to Dodo and Federico Balzaretti.

However, despite all of the negatives, things look rosy for Roma in the league. AC Milan has had an even worse month, losing two games, and the Giallorossi are now sitting pretty atop the league standings by 2 points with 11 matches left to be played. It seems Totti and his men are being pipped to win their second straight Scudetto, but with form like this they may not be able to hold on.


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Great to see you back top of the league, even if you did drop a couple of points which you shouldn't have!
Hopefully you can have a return to form and hold onto win the league title

pompeyblue: Thanks pompey, we've not been great so far but we're top of the table which is all that counts! Hopefully as you say we can keep this up and win another Scudetto

I think you can finish first, as a Roma fan

Well done in the league so far, great job on beating Barcelona!