Honeymoon is over for De Rossi - Roma defeated at home

It was good while it lasted, and it lasted long. When Daniele De Rossi took over from Jose Mourinho he got Roma going, revamped the team and fired up the players. 17 games in all competition and only one defeat, if we don’t count the meaningless loss in Brighton (Roma won the first lest 4-0) was a clear sign of renewal and suddenly Giallorossi became relevant again, and went into the mix for the Champions League spot. Luckily for them, other Serie A clubs did their job and won enough points in the UEFA ranking to secure that the 5th placed Italian club still gets to the most prestigious European champion. But after tonight’s 1-3 loss against Bologna (only second under Daniele De Rossi,) even the fifth place is in danger. Now the real stuff begins. This is the loss which really hurt them, as they all but ended their quest for the fourth place. Not only are they seven points behind Bologna now, but they have allowed Atalanta to crawl back and they are now only two points away from Roma. Until the end of the season, De Rossi and his men have the toughest schedule in the league (Napoli, Juventus, Atalanta, plus two games with Bayer Leverkusen) and next week game in Naples against Victor Osimhen and co. will definitely be a test for Giallorossi. They will play under pressure and for a win since Atalanta is breading down their necks.

Tonight, they faced a team totally opposite to them – Bologna. Without any stars in the team, with a rookie head coach (but who knows what’s he doing) and without any pressure whatsoever, now, near the end of the season, they all but secured the Champions League spot and can even ‘attack’ Juventus at the third position. They are playing smart, very tough, they defend with 10 people and wait for other teams to attack them, and they are using all their chances (three shots on target – three goals). Roma huffed and puffed all evening but had only two good chances (apart from the goal) and didn’t used them. Lukaku had a knock and hand’t played so Tammy Abraham finally started his first game since the injury on June 2nd. He was invisible and was replaced by the only scorer for the home team Azmoun at half-time already.

The first two goals of the visitors were the result of quick passes in tight spaces, but above all, the inexplicable confusion of Roma's defense. The home defenders were poorly positioned, wrongly doubling up on players, leaving a huge gap behind them. Therefore, even the excellent Mile Svilar couldn't find a solution to stop the shots from El Azuzi in the 14th and Jozue Zirkzee in the 45th minute of the match. Usama Azuzi undoubtedly played the match of the season. This was only the second start of the season for the Moroccan, but it seems it won't be the last, as he was unstoppable for the home team's defense. If we could talk about errors in Roma's defense for the first two goals, for the third goal by Bologna, the entire praise goes to the brilliant offensive. Bologna players first forced a mistake from the opposition with strong pressing in the opponent's half, resulting in a fatal counterattack by the visiting players in four moves. Zirkzee provided the final pass to Alexis Saelemaekers, who masterfully lobbed the onrushing Svilar from the edge of the penalty area.

SERIE A - MATCHDAY 33

Friday

Genoa - Lazio 0-1 (0-0)

/Luis Alberto 67/

Cagliari - Juventus 2-2 (2-0)

/Gaetano 30 pen, Mina 36 pen - Vlahovic 61, Dossena 87 og/

Saturday

Empoli - Napoli 1-0 (1-0)

/Cerri 4/

Verona - Udinese 0-1 (0-0)

/Coppola 90+3/

Sunday

Sassuolo - Lecce 0-3 (0-2)

/Gendrey 11, Dorgu 15, Piccoli 61/

Torino - Frosinone 0-0

Salernitana - Fiorentina 0-2 (0-0)

/Kouame 80, Ikone 90+5/

Monza - Atalanta 0-1 (0-1)

/De Ketelaere 44/

Monday

Roma - Bologna 1-3 (0-2)

/Azmoun 56 - Azzouzi 14, Zirkzee 45, Saelemaekers 65, /

21:45: (3.80) Milan (3.60) Inter (2.05)

***odds are subject to change***