Finally, Roma know where they stand. As Rudi Garcia said, Roma had nothing to lose against Parma since they were the only two teams playing – they only had points to gain on Napoli and Juventus.
In the end they gained three points on both, and reignited hopes of a title challenge as they moved to eight points behind the leaders.
By the time Juventus face Livorno on Monday evening Roma could be five points behind them, the smallest margin between the sides since before they met in January.
“Until it’s mathematically impossible we have to keep going on and try to catch Juventus”, Garcia noted after the Parma win, while Miralem Pjanic declared that, “it’s not over, Juventus are having a good season and well done to them but we aren’t giving up”.
Rodrigo Taddei and Maicon were more cautious though, and I would tend to agree that focusing on Juventus – or Napoli for that matter – would be a mistake. Roma have long required a miracle if the dream of a fourth scudetto is to be realised, but they must first concentrate on what is in their own hands.
Of course they must keep going after victories to try to keep title hopes alive, and Garcia would not have it any other way, but the most important thing for now is to secure second place and automatic qualification to the Champions League.
Roma are effectively in the Champions League already; they would need to lose every game from here on in and Fiorentina would have to win all their remaining games for that not to be the case, but finishing second is not yet so certain. The Giallorossi still have to face Milan and Juventus at the Olimpico, as well as travel to Fiorentina and Cagliari.
On paper Cagliari should not pose as great a threat as the other three sides, but the Sardinians have been a bogey team for Roma in recent years. Roma have not beaten them at all since January 2011 and have not won away since 1995 – since when they have had a 3-0 win awarded by default, drawn four and lost eight. They were also the first team to prevent Roma from scoring this season with a 0-0 draw last November.
This weekend’s trip to Sardinia will be anything but a stroll in the park, though it may feel like one with only 4,900 fans expected to be in the reduced capacity Sant’Elia.
It will be an emotional return to Cagliari for Radja Nainggolan, who still has strong ties to his former club, but the man who he will replace in midfield – Taddei – had an emotional game of his own against Parma. The Brazilian finally ended an 832 day goal drought with a header against the Ducali, and the midfielder sprinted over to celebrate with the supporters in the curva.
It was a well taken and well deserved goal to cap off another excellent performance, and his exemplary professionalism and determined attitude on the pitch will surely now be rewarded with a contract extension to keep him at the club beyond this summer.
Incidentally Taddei’s goal (his first at the Olimpico since February 2009) makes him the 17th different scorer for Roma this season (excluding two own goals) – equalling Roma’s record set in 2006/07. As Taddei helped Roma to a fifth straight win there may now be slightly more hope in the title race than there was this time last week, but there are still difficult games to confront between now and the end of the season – starting this weekend.
