Rome, now it's your turn! After Juventus' victory on Sunday, the Giallorossi are forced to do the same if they want to take back the lead. In fact, even a draw would mean second place, albeit at a safe distance from third-placed Napoli. An eventuality that nobody likes in Rome, where the match against Cagliari is first of all seen as a good opportunity to reaffirm hierarchies. “We want to win and we will try to do our best to succeed – explained Garcia in Saturday's conference. – It will be difficult, because they have players who have been together for many years…”.
More than the Sardinians however, the Frenchman fears the terrain of the Olimpico. Italy-Argentina rugby, the reason for the postponement of Rome-Cagliari to Monday, was not really liked by the Giallorossi coach. Nothing personal towards my colleague Brunel, just a (legitimate) concern for what could be the conditions of the field, also put to the test by the rain. “The lawn won't be in good condition, besides the rugby match it's been raining for many days – Garcia yelled. – The ball needs to roll across the field, I hope it can be possible. A rugby match played two days before a football one: I've never seen a situation like this…”.
But now the die is cast, so complaining is of little use. Roma must respond on the field to Juventus, according to Garcia the strongest in the championship: “We have made an exceptional journey but they remain the favourites. In any case, the first place depends only on us”. This is the most popular key in the capital, where by now everyone fearlessly dreams of the Scudetto. Against Cagliari, the Giallorossi will find Gervinho again from the start, who will thus act in the attacking trident together with Florenzi and Ljajic, once again in the guise of a "false nueve".
In defense Dodò should be preferred to Balzaretti (thigh problem for him), while in midfield the presence of De Rossi is almost certain, recovered from inflammation of the big toe. Good news also with regard to the bench, where Mattia Destro will meet again for the first time this season, on the verge of returning to the field for six months off. In the meantime, the controversies between the majority shareholder James Pallotta and the minority Unicredit continue. After the rumors about the possible interest of the Chinese Chen Feng in acquiring the shares of the bank, the tough stance of the Giallorossi president arrived yesterday.
"We are dismayed by Unicredit's silly and embarrassing promotion of false news circulating in the media," Pallotta said. – It is shameful and damages our club and the fans. Anyone involved in this type of activity must be held responsible for any damage caused to the club on and off the pitch and should apologize to our supporters. Go Rome!".
