Win, lose, or draw, yesterday was a momentous occasion in the Romaverse. After spending the better part of the past 10 years sweating out every result, running every table scenario, and typing the phrase “top four” until the keys nearly got erased on my laptop, Roma finally made their long-awaited return to the Champions League.
On a psychological level, yesterday’s draw against Fenerbahçe may not have met the definition of catharsis, but watching the club compete under the Champions League banner
again did provide a small measure of validation. After so many years away from Europe’s biggest stage, it was a reminder that Roma—the club of Francesco Totti, Daniele De Rossi, and the Eternal City itself—is a Champions League club.
Even if the result was a little disappointing, last night was proof at long last that Roma is out of the wilderness. So, before we fret about José Mourinho’s return to the Stadio Olimpico next month, let’s pass out some halos and sharpen some pitchforks in the first ever Champions League-tinged Sinners & Saints!
The Saints
Bryan Cristante
You gotta hand it to the guy. Roma’s always-maligned captain has gotten off to a flying start, stringing together a series of solid to spectacular performances to begin the new season. After a ho-hum run against Atalanta, Cristante put in a Man of the Match performance against Fenerbahçe in Roma’s return to the Champions League.
In addition to scoring Roma’s lone goal, Cristante’s passing prowess was on full display last night, as he tallied game-high figures in touches, passes attempted, passes completed, and balls into the final third, with an incredible 24, 10 more than his closest competitor.
There may have been some moments where he didn’t pass the eye test, but Cristante was arguably Roma’s best outfield player Thursday night.
We included the qualifier outfield player because this man shined in Roma’s return to the spotlight.
Mile Svilar
While there wasn’t much Svilar could do to stop Archie Brown’s equalizer, he was otherwise flawless in goal last night. His four saves doubtlessly highlighted by his 52nd-minute kick save on Vedat Muriqi, Svilar was aggressive, techinically sound and rouse to the occassion in the biggest moments.
Donyell Malen
While he failed to find the back of the net for the first time this season, the Dutchman traded in his shooting boots last night, playing the role of creator, at least for one bright moment. Taking nothing away from Cristante’s fantastic effort on that goal, Malen’s bull-in-a-china-shop run across the box was the real star here. From the brilliant touch and run at the beginning to the patient dribbling across the box, Malen’s strength was on full display in this assist.
Paulo Dybala
La Joya was cut from a similar cloth as Malen last night, making a quiet but considerate contribution to the Roma effort on Thursday. Going the full 90, Dybala gave a B+ effort (by his lofty standards) on a night where an A would have led to three points for the Giallorossi: one chance created, six balls into the final third (most of any forward in the match) and four touches in the opposition’s box, second only to Malen.
If he gets a slightly better touch on his 21st-minute effort, perhaps Roma walks away 2-1 winners. As it stood, he still improved the quality of that chance from an initial 0.24 xG to a whopping 0.65 xGOT, meaning Dybala essentially doubled the initial probability of a goal.
He was just incredibly unlucky, as the grimace on his face when he glanced skyward after that miss suggested.
The Sinners
Gianluca Mancini
When you live by the sword, you die by the sword. With Roma clinging to a slim 1-0 lead at the break, the Giallorossi found themselves face to face with Mason Greenwood, who had the fate of the match in the palm of his hand in the 48th minute.
Working a give-and-go in midfield, the English forward slipped into a pocket of space between Roma’s midfield and defense, putting Mancini in a bit of a bind. Does he stick with his man, Archie Brown, and allow Greenwood a clean look at goal from 20 yards out, or should he jump the passing lane and try to intercept the ball before Greenwood receives it?
Mancini chose the latter and wound up with egg on his face.
Stuck In Between
Matías Soulé
After playing the hero in Roma’s come-from-behind 2-1 win over Atalanta last weekend, Soulé got the starting nod yesterday but failed to make his mark before being subbed off in the 74th minute. Outside of one chance created and three touches in the box, Soulé was rather pedestrian in Thursday’s draw.
Manu Koné
The French midfielder was putting together a saintly performance before he was lifted in the 53rd minute due to injury. Koné was at his usual best, dominating and disrupting play in midfield, but his highlight came in the 21st minute when he stripped the ball from Fenerbahçe and found Dybala on the right for one of Roma’s few genuine scoring chances of the evening.
