Easily the most important Rome derby in years, two men have been entrusted with outwitting each other and securing second place in Serie A.
Going into the 37th matchday in Serie A, all eyes will be drawn to a titanic clash in the Italian capital.
Rome currently have 67 points and occupy the position of second, while Lazio are bearing down on them with 66 points. The Giallorossi have a slight advantage going into the penultimate game of the season. Not only are they already ahead on points, but they have just Palermo to see off at the Stadio Olimpico in their final match. Lazio have to travel to the Stadio San Paolo for a nail-biting finish against Napoli, whom have yet to solidify their position in third.
With all this in mind, victory in the Rome derby becomes crucial for either side; putting an immense amount of pressure on the men in charge.
Neither Roma’s Rudi Garcia or Lazio’s Stefano Pioli could claim victory last time these two met, with Francesco Totti canceling out both goals from Felipe Anderson and Stefano Mauri.
Garcia has been very much committed to his tactics this season, necessitating a need for quick attacking football and not letting a player’s name/status determine their position in the starting lineup.
Pioli, on the other hand, has been very much dependent on the form of key players. Miroslav Klose and Felipe Anderson have scored 22 goals between them, keeping the Biancocelesti in the race for European football. There have been points in the season when these players haven’t been up to speed — which can be expected — making it difficult to achieve the right results. In this sense Pioli has suffered this season, most recently in the Coppa Italia final loss to Juventus.
Having been fed false hope with a 1-1 scoreline against Juventus, the Bianconeri broke Lazio fans’ hearts when Alessandro Matri scored a late winner in extra time.
Pioli’s men had shown great character to reach the final, but looked dejected and tired once Matri scored. Lazio had labored toward their position in Serie A, with double the amount of defeats of their city rivals (10).
Comparatively, Garcia is the coach with the greater experience at this level.
His league title with Lille proved he has the aptitude to succeed in football management, whereas Pioli’s own experience is limited to provisional Serie A clubs. With the experience Garcia has had at the highest level, many would back Garcia to hold onto second place. Although his side have not enjoyed the greatest of runs in recent weeks, their performances paling in comparison to those of their city rivals.
Draws against Chievo and Atalanta were further compounded by defeats to Juventus and Inter, with a number of players missing through injury making the task at hand even tougher for Pioli.
Roma are missing a number of important players such as Gervinho and Kevin Strootman themselves, but have just about managed.
The Derby della Capitale will be set up to be the best match of the season as well as the greatest of tests for both coaches in charge; good luck to whomever would be daring enough to predict the outcome of such a massive game.
