2,745 is a pretty substantial figure, and fortunately, it’s one Roma will no longer need to dwell on. That was the number of days between their last Champions League game, against Porto in 2019, and Thursday’s clash with Fenerbahçe upon their return to the competition.
Roma claimed a 1-1 draw away from home, going ahead via Bryan Cristante before Archie Brown equalised for the hosts.
So, what were the numbers that stood out from the game?
5
As in the number of Champions League debutants Roma had on the pitch,
including three in their starting lineup. Of course, everyone except Cristante, a veteran of the 2018-19 season, was playing in the Champions League for Roma for the first time. But Gianluca Mancini, Manu Koné and Wesley were newcomers to the competition altogether. So were substitutes Niccolò Pisilli and Rodrigo Mora, who were aged 14 and 11 respectively when Roma last played a Champions League fixture.
As it happens, the last time Roma had five Champions League debutants in the same game was against Atlético Madrid in September 2017, when Alisson Becker, Bruno Peres, Juan Jesus, Grégoire Defrel and Lorenzo Pellegrini made their bows in Europe’s premier competition. The only time Roma have had more Champions League debutants on the pitch in a single game was their first game in the competition in 2001.
14
As in the number of Champions League appearances it took Cristante to score his first goal in the competition. Not many would have predicted the midfielder to be Roma’s first scorer in the Champions League since Daniele De Rossi, but with his well-placed effort across goal from the edge of the box, he was the one to break the deadlock. Of his 13 prior Champions League appearances, seven had been for Roma, with one for AC Milan and five for Benfica. Now, on his eighth Champions League game in giallorosso and first since he became captain, Cristante was the one to get Roma up and running.
112
As in the number of touches Cristante had of the ball, which was more than any other player. In fact, he was the only player on the pitch with more than 100 touches, with Mario Hermoso the next highest on 90 and then Fenerbahçe having three players tied on 67 touches. By being so involved, Roma’s captain was also able to lead the way for accurate passes, eclipsing everyone with 91. Moreover, he made 24 passes into the final third, at least 10 more than anyone else. For a player so criticised (sometimes justifiably) as a reason for Roma not getting back into the Champions League, it was – once he had got over giving the ball away a few times early doors by overhitting some of his passes – a welcome response on the pitch.
4
As in the number of saves made by Mile Svilar in his first Champions League game since December 2017 – an even longer wait to return to this level than Roma as a club has endured, but a well-deserved one. Svilar was playing for Benfica back then and was on the losing side in each of his three Champions League appearances for them. But he helped Roma hold onto a point against Fenerbahçe, having more saves to make than his opposite number, Ederson.
Interestingly, he also boasted a significantly higher passing accuracy (92%) than Ederson (68%), despite the Brazilian being renowned for that aspect of his game. This is the competition in which Svilar should come to wider attention, as Alisson did on the 2017-18 run, for example. Roma will hope it doesn’t end in the same way, with him being snapped up by another club. Granted, any prying eyes might not have spotted anything too flashy from Svilar just yet, but his showing against Fenerbahçe was a solid (re-)start at this level.
