After a stop-and-start beginning to the new season, punctuated by the three-week international break at the end of September, Roma are now in the middle of a frantic run of fixtures. Beginning with their impressive down-a-man scoreless draw against Como on October 10th and culminating in a Halloween clash against Udinese, the Giallorossi will play seven matches this month, with five more to come in November.
We’re only halfway through that gauntlet, but so far, the 10th month of the year has offered
the full Roma experience. After showing impressive resolve to gut out a draw on the road against Como, Roma laid an egg against Real Madrid, blowing a two-goal lead with seven minutes remaining, ultimately losing to José Mourinho’s crew 4-3.
Roma put that embarrassing defeat behind them with a convincing 2-0 win over Genoa on Saturday, but they won’t have much time to enjoy the fruits of their labor, not with another Champions League fixture on the horizon tomorrow against Slovan Bratislava.
Before the Giallorossi take the pitch against their Slovakian counterparts, Gian Piero Gasperini took to the mic, touching on a range of topics including squad depth, a possible Castro-Malen pairing, and updates on Paulo Dybala’s wonky calf muscle.
But first, Gasp put tomorrow’s fixture in perspective, highlighting the challenges of facing Bratislava:
“They’re certainly a dynamic team, and they’re well prepared athletically. They also have some very good players. Obviously, they’re not among the top-tier teams in the Champions League, but every match in this competition is difficult. We certainly won’t underestimate the opposition, especially because we need to win to improve our chances of progressing.”
With Donyell Malen suspended for Saturday’s fixture against Genoa, summer signing Santiago Castro stepped into the breach, scoring a 50th-minute match-winner with a cheeky/audacious chip in the box. Naturally, this led to questions about how Gasp plans to juggle the minutes between his two forwards;
“There’s no question of frustrating anyone, because Castro scored a great goal the other night. In terms of their characteristics, this could be a game in which they play together. I don’t know whether that would be from the start or perhaps during the match.
“I absolutely don’t want to disrupt the structure and patterns of a team that is scoring goals and creating plenty of chances just because we want to see two particular players on the pitch together. Our attack is functioning well, with players who offer different qualities, so for now, things are working. I don’t need to go looking for other solutions. That said, this is the kind of match where playing them together could make sense.”
No matter who starts up top in tomorrow’s match, Gasperini is already considering Roma’s Champions League advancement scenarios, while also offering an update on Dybala:
“In recent years, the qualifying mark has generally been around ten points, perhaps eleven. To reach that total, we need to win our home matches, starting tomorrow, and that could be enough. We also have opportunities away from home, although every venue is difficult. Our objective is definitely to finish in that points range.
“As for Dybala, we had hoped his recovery would be a little quicker. However, the latest MRI, which he had yesterday, also showed a small tear. That will extend his recovery by a little longer—I think another couple of weeks.”
Dybala missing time with minor muscle injuries feels like a fait accompli, but as we saw over the weekend, Matías Soulé is more than capable of carrying the load. Still, as Gasp cautioned, Roma cannot overlook Slovan Bratislava; they will need every point they can muster to advance in the Champions League.
Stick with us as we continue to cover tomorrow’s fixture—let’s just hope it’s an easier row to hoe than last week’s European fixture.
