AS Roma (0) v Arsenal (1):AS ROMA'S Montenegrin striker Mirko Vucinic, a man familiar to Ireland fans, admits his side face an uphill struggle ahead of tonight's return leg at the Olympic Stadium in Rome.
Trailing by one goal and with an absentee list that would stretch all the way round the Coliseum, Roma have a lot to do: “If I think too much about this match, I get a headache”, said Vucinic yesterday, adding on a much more optimistic note: “Of course, if we go all the way and win the final here in Rome, it means we’re qualified for next year, doesn’t it?”
Just now, however, it requires a rare old flight of the imagination to foresee this Roma pulling off the dream result by winning the Champions League in their own backyard. Sixth in Serie A – hence Vucinic’s concern about qualifying for next season’s tournament – Roma come into this game without at least three key players.
Midfielder Daniele De Rossi is suspended, Simone Perrotta is injured, whilst the experienced ex-Chelsea, ex-Real Madrid defender Christian Panucci was left out of the Champions League list after a dressingroom row with Roma coach Luciano Spalletti last January. Just to rub a little salt in the wound, both Brazilian Cicinho and Marco Cassetti, two players who could have replaced Panucci at right back, are also injured.
However, it is the fitness (or lack thereof) of those who do take the field for Roma that most preoccupies the home side. “Il Capitano”, Francesco Totti, young pretender Alberto Aquilani and Chilean Davide Pizarro may all line out tonight, despite being clearly far from fully fit.
As always with Roma, most attention is on Totti. These days the club talisman almost never trains with the rest of the squad, restricting himself to physiotherapy sessions, swimming pool sessions, jogs around the pitch and regular visits to the local clinic for various check-ups. To put it mildly, Totti is far from match fit.
Yet, the folks at Roma have sort of convinced themselves they cannot play without him, so here he is in the hope that one touch from the old maestro just might swing it Roma’s way.
Coach Spalletti tends to have a melancholic look about him at the best of times. If you were looking to cast an Italian Hamlet, he would be your man. Speaking at Roma’s Trigoria training ground yesterday, he was his usual understated, measured self.
The media wanted to know if this was the most important game of his career and if his future with Roma depended on it. “We’ve played lots of important matches in the last four seasons, this is just another one . . . As for me, it would be a bit reductive if, after four years of concentrated work, I was to be judged just on one game”.
Irish and English fans will forever remember Roma for that 7-1 drubbing at Old Trafford three seasons back. Spalletti believes that, whatever else, his side has picked up a lot of useful experience along the Champions League road and that this could well stand to his men tonight:
“As always, the important thing will be to maintain a balance between going looking for a goal and not opening ourselves up too much to Arsenal”
Spalletti makes no bones about the threat that Arsenal will pose down the flanks. Theo Walcott might still be on the recovery road, following that shoulder injury, but if and when he steps off the Arsenal subs bench tonight, Spalletti will be concerned about the impact of his tremendous pace on the Roma defence.
One suspects, too, the mobility of Frenchman Samir Nasri and Brazilian Denilson in the Arsenal midfield has Spalletti worried, while the remarkable comeback made by Arsenal’s Brazilian/Croatian striker Eduardo was probably the last thing Roma needed.
Two years ago, Manchester United fans clashed violently with Roma fans in Rome. Uefa and Italian Federation officials will be closely monitoring fan behaviour tonight lest similar incidents jeopardize the staging of the Champions League final, due at the Olympic Stadium on May 27th.
Which takes us back to Vucinic – if there is even an outside chance Roma might make that final, then much rides on his shoulders. As he says himself, it gives him a headache just to think about it.
Defender Kolo Toure returns to the Arsenal side following a calf problem. Nasri and Denilson also come back into contention after being rested for the FA Cup win over Burnley on Sunday, but Russia international Andrei Arshavin is ineligible.
Eduardo and Walcott could feature, but defender Mikael Silvestre (calf) is not yet match fit, while Emmanuel Adebayor (hamstring), captain Cesc Fabregas (knee) and Tomas Rosicky (hamstring tendon) continue rehabilitation.
