Rome still believes in it. With heart, grit and ferocity, the Giallorossi really don't want to give up this crazy idea called the Scudetto. Of course, Juve remain the favorites for the victory and tomorrow a real match point will be played in Udine, but Garcia's team are real opponents, to be honored regardless of what the final standings will be. “We will try to win them all because the title is still possible – proudly explained Rudi Garcia. – Now the pressure is all on the others”.
The Giallorossi certainly don't suffer from performance anxiety. Colantuono's Atalanta, which perhaps has to say goodbye to European dreams, has been literally swept away. And to think that Garcia was missing several key players: from the injured Benatia to the suspended Pjanic, Florenzi and Destro. In short, a full emergency, which forced the coach to risk captain Totti, not in the best possible way due to a muscle problem. But the heart helps to compensate for absences, and Rome has a lot of it. The perfect example is Rodrigo Taddei, 34 years old in March, revitalized by Garcia in an almost incredible way after two years on the back burner. In the 12th minute it was the Brazilian who unlocked the match with a beautiful and powerful shot, which slipped into Consigli's goal.
The 1-0 gave wings to the Giallorossi who, as usual, played well and entertained the large crowd at the Olimpico. Maicon and Gervinho plow the wings which is a pleasure, Totti and De Rossi put in the usual mix of class and experience and Ljajic, for one night, returns to show what he can do. At the end of the first half, the Serbian puts into practice an action orchestrated by the two "captains" in the best possible way and scores the goal that closes each speech (45'). In fact, Atalanta can do nothing in the face of so much technical and competitive energy and in the second half, apart from a start from Denis (51'), they limit themselves to watching the show. In the 63rd minute Totti and Ljajic pack the right ball for Gervinho, who gives cold advice and signs the 3-0. The Ivorian then, in line with his habits, devours the poker net with a practically empty goal.
The finale also gave Atalanta a pale smile who, after trembling for a Ljajic post, scored the flag goal with a header from Migliaccio (78'). Just a valid note for the scores, because Roma's success is not affected in the slightest. “This is how I want to see my team play – Garcia declared in the press conference. – We had fun playing perhaps the best match of the year. For a couple of days we will be -5 from Juve, we hope to be so again next week". Maybe not even he, in his heart, really believes in a comeback that would make history. But he convinced the team, as well as an entire city. And this, however it turns out, is already a success.
