All we needed was Zaniolo’s goal to make the evening even more bitter. It seemed clear that there were disagreements with his former teammates, just as his way of celebrating seemed irritating and disrespectful. Ranieri has tried them allRoma remained in the game for more than an hour, then one damn Celik detour it broke the balance on the pitch.
We knew that Ranieri’s return to the Giallorossi bench wouldn’t be easy. Three games in eight days, with only one draw, in London against Tottenham e two defeats against Napoli and Atalantathe two best teams in the championship.
With the seventh knockout the ranking has become dangerously complicated. Roma are fifteenth, equal on points with Lecce, just two points away from the relegation zone. On Saturday at the Olimpico, against the Apulian team regenerated by Giampaolo, it will be a merciless battle for salvation.
Fourth consecutive defeatyou can’t go wrong anymore. But at least in the next games the calendar should give the Giallorossi a hand. Yet Ranieri has tried them all. He armored the defense around Hummels and for more than an hour Gasperini was unable to break the deadlock. He did it thanks to the possibility of making high quality changes. In the second half he brought in Cuadrado and Samardzic, shortly after Zaniolo and Brescianini.
In the initial lineup, however, the San Saba coach left Pellegrini out again and chose the senators Paredes and Cristante, the latter with the license to insert himself forward, almost as an attacking midfielder, the role in which he had played, shining, precisely in the Atalanta, under the leadership of Gasperini.
Then Ranieri tried to give Shomurodov confidence, which he had last year in Cagliari, when he saw Dovbyk tired. He tried to find new offensive solutions, changing the wingers, inserting El Shaarawy and Saelemaekers, then Zalewski and Soulè. But it was of little use, Atalanta’s superiority came to the fore, leaving Roma in their worries.
To manage this delicate situation Ranieri is the right personAnd the only coach who can save Roma from relegation. Because this is what it’s all about, there’s no point in having any illusions.
It is a season of suffering, the Giallorossi fans are used to it and will not fail to provide their support.
