It’s time to turn things up a notch. Yeah, thrashing Fiorentina and Lecce was fun, and it sure is nice to be top of the table, however soon in the season it is. But the question remains: how will Roma look against better teams?
Heading into the next gear after their last game before finally playing a Champions League match again next week, Roma host Atalanta on Saturday. It’s a clash between two sides with perfect records after their first two games in Serie A, with one of those records (or both)
likely to evaporate by matchday three.
Roma and Atalanta are among six teams to have gone two from two so far. With Milan and Juventus facing each other this weekend as well, at least two teams will lose their perfect records. Roma will be eyeing a big performance against Atalanta to make sure they aren’t one of them.
Roma’s Perfect Start Meets Its First Real Test
In theory, Roma should go into this game with their tails up. They raced out of the blocks with their approach against both Fiorentina and Lecce, and will be looking forward to being back on home turf.
However, we’ve learnt by now that Atalanta are never pushovers. Of course, they became equals to the usual European contenders during Gian Piero Gasperini’s reign there. His departure for Roma last summer led to a predictable drop-off, but the new Giallorossi boss still wasn’t able to beat his former team in either attempt last season, losing 1-0 in Bergamo before drawing 1-1 at the Olimpico.
Match Details
Date: September 5th
Kickoff: 20:45 CET/2:45 EDT
Venue: Stadio Olimpico, Roma
Referee: Andrea Colombo
Will the third time be the charm? If Roma can replicate their past couple of performances, that could well be the case, but a tough match awaits.Atalanta are the only opponent Roma have failed to beat in their past nine Serie A matches, stretching back into last season.
However, they have a new coach compared to then, with Maurizio Sarri rather than Raffaele Palladino becoming the man Gasperini will be pitting his wits against.
Gasperini vs. Sarri: A Familiar Rivalry
Gasperini has faced Sarri 23 times before – the Roma boss, who has faced Max Allegri and Stefano Pioli more, is his opposite number’s most common foe – and their records are nearly even. Eight wins for Gasp, seven for Sarri, and eight draws. Last season, of course, when Sarri was at another club that shall not be mentioned, Gasperini claimed a derby double over him.
And as much as this is Roma’s sternest test so far, it’s obviously Atalanta’s too. Their victories so far have come against Sassuolo and Bologna, both at home, so Roma will be out to make their first away game and Sarri’s return to the Olimpico even harder work.
Speaking of returns to the Olimpico, Nicola Zalewski, Davide Zappacosta and Gianluca Scamacca should be among the traveling party. Beyond Gasperini, Roma have several ex-Atalanta men on their roster as well: the obvious Bryan Cristante and Gianluca Mancini have recently been joined by La Dea’s ex-captain Marten de Roon, who made his Roma debut on Monday.
It’ll be interesting to see if Gasperini goes with De Roon from the start against the team he was so well ingrained in, or if he sticks with the tried-and-tested Cristante and Manu Koné partnership he has leaned on so far in midfield.
In defence, meanwhile, Evan Ndicka is still a question mark after having to pull out of last week’s lineup. There has been talk this week of a debut for Leonardo Balerdi as an alternative, with Daniele Ghilardi having provided the solution last time out.
The surprise package of the season so far, Emanuele Lulli, could be in line to keep his starting berth for a third consecutive game at right-back, while in attack, the runaway leader in the Capocannoniere standings, Donyell Malen, will be aiming to score for the third game in a row. If he succeeds, he’d be the first Roma player to do so over the first three matches of a Serie A season since Francesco Totti in 2000/01. And we all know what happened that season…
Woah, woah, let’s rein it in. Before we get carried away, there’s a job to do on Atalanta – a team Roma have failed to beat in their past eight attempts. If Roma are the real deal, they need to put that right. Kick-off is at 20:45 local time on Saturday.
