Roma’s win against Fiorentina on Saturday evening secured second place and with four games to spare it ensured that Rudi Garcia’s team will be playing in the Champions League group phase next season.
It is an outstanding achievement for Roma given where they have been for the last two years; not even the most optimistic Romanista could have honestly said last summer that they believed a Frenchman with no Serie A experience would lead a team who were mentally broken into the Champions League group phase in record style.
Not only did Roma win a record 10 consecutive league games at the start of the season, they have broken the club record for most league wins (25, previously 24 in 2007/08 and 2009/10) and equalled the club record points total (82, set in 2007/08) with four games left to break it. The club record of fewest goals conceded of 15 was set in a season with 30 games (19 conceded in 34 matches this campaign).
And yet, they have still not been in the title race for some months due to Juventus’ even more extraordinary season. There is still a match between the top two to be played at the Olimpico next month and the Giallorossi players and management insist that they will continue to hope and believe until they are mathematically out of contention, but whatever happens in the next four games this season will still have been an incredible achievement.
Much of that is down to Garcia himself; the coach has instilled an entertaining brand of football in his team as well as adapting a more efficient, counter-attacking style when necessary. Garcia has often spoken of his desire to keep his squad together over the summer and add to it where possible, and having good squad depth will be crucial next season with the added fixtures that European competition brings. There will be no room for another Michael Bradley, who left for Toronto because of the competition in midfield, but one of Garcia’s great qualities is making every player feel like an important part of the squad.
His faith in his players was evident against the Viola when he started Adem Ljajic against his former club instead of the fresher Alessandro Florenzi, who was available again after serving a one-match suspension against Atalanta. Ljajic admitted before the game that it would be a “strange” experience for him when he returned to Florence, but assured Roma fans that he would be doing his best for the team and proved it by creating two clear opportunities. One was missed by Gervinho, the other was converted by Radja Nainggolan for the game’s only goal, taking Ljajic’s assist tally for the season to seven.
Ljajic has not had it easy this season. Having taken Erik Lamela’s number 8 shirt and the responsibility of reproducing the Argentine’s creativity and effectiveness in the final third, he has gradually faded from the first team picture after a series of underwhelming performances. He was whistled when he came on as a late substitute against Parma, which was only drowned out by the applause given to the departing Mattia Destro, and he did not go to celebrate the victory with the rest of the team in front of the curva at the end of the game.
Then it is said that rather than going to the team dinner later that evening, he instead left the Olimpico in a mood with question marks raised over his relationship with Garcia. The coach could have kept him on the sidelines against both Atalanta and Fiorentina, playing Michel Bastos against the former and recalling Florenzi for the latter, but he made a point of saying that Ljajic is an important part of the squad and that he was counting on all members of the team in the final few weeks.
Ljajic has repaid Garcia with two excellent performances, particularly against his old club on Saturday which was the real litmus test. Rumours abound of the Serb being sold in the summer, possibly even back to Fiorentina where Vincenzo Montella says he “would gladly buy him back”, but I feel he will have an important role to play next season.
First there is this season to conclude though, and the run in does not get any easier for Roma. On Friday night they host Milan (moved from Sunday due to the canonisations of Pope John XXIII and Pope John Paul II at the Vatican), but they will be able to face the Rossoneri with the luxury of having achieved their objectives and having nothing to lose in the title race.
If Juventus have the title won by the time they come to Rome in May, Romanisti can still take great satisfaction from an unexpectedly successful season. And if the scudetto race is somehow still on, Roma will then have the chance to take their title challenge right down to the wire.
