This time the derby man of the 2013 Coppa Italia final, that Senad Lulic by now declared nightmare by the Giallorossi fans, won't be there, but that doesn't mean you can't breathe the same atmosphere on the eve. Although today's Rome is not the powder keg of the past, and Lazio have not won a derby since that unforgettable May 26, once again the tripping is in the air.
In fact, the gap between the two teams has never been so reduced since Garcia arrived on the Roma bench, projecting the Giallorossi side of the capital into the full fight for the Scudetto for the past year and a half, while Lazio have struggled to regain brilliance after that all-too-vaunted triumph. But just like then, something suggests that an ambush is in the air: Pioli's team arrives at the appointment in its moment of maximum form, after seeing the explosion in the last few weeks of the Brazilian Felipe Anderson, who is a candidate to be the derby man.
The timing of his sudden consecration is, from the Biancoceleste point of view, very providential: Candreva's injury seemed to have wet the dust in the autumn, but the most unexpected gift arrived just before Christmas. Now Pioli could even think of deploying the couple together, the emerging Anderson and the revived blue, behind Djordjevic or even better, according to his resume in derbies, in Klose.
Roma for its part arrives at the appointment once again, as in the aforementioned Italian Cup final, as favourites, and moreover, this time, also as Juventus' main challenger for the Scudetto. A very uncomfortable position, in which there is everything to lose: above all considering the moment of form which, specularly to that of the rivals, is not at all the best, as the latest results testify. Although Garcia has actually recovered ground against Juventus, in recent weeks Roma have shown limits that he had never shown under the management of the Frenchman, and his athletic strength is also clearly decreasing.
The last victories, in particular those of Udine and Genoa, have been quite difficult and even, according to the slow motion, generated by some referee help. The most evident are those who brought the 3 points against Udinese (with Astori's famous ghost goal and the penalty denied to the Friulians) and the home draw against Sassuolo, recovering from 0-2 thanks to a very dubious penalty. Even the management of Genoa-Roma did not seem impeccable (and slightly favorable to the Giallorossi): overall, the feeling is that after the endless controversies following Juventus-Roma (the last one still a few days ago at the press conference) Garcia has managed to "scratch" something. Will it be enough to overcome an aggressive Lazio?
Whatever the result of the derby will be, in any case not even the leaders Juventus will sleep peacefully, who will concede the Super Cup revenge to Napoli the evening after the Rome derby. It will be played at San Paolo, where the Italian champions lost 2-0 last year with goals from Callejon and Mertens. It could be the turn of the yellow and red overtaking, but also of a new black and white extension. And lurking there are the two third in the standings, who could shorten the distance with the top.
