It is seven wins in a row now for Roma as they try to finish the season how they started it, but despite everything that has gone before this season they still remain eight points behind Juventus. On the other side of the coin though, the Giallorossi are just three points away from securing automatic qualification to the Champions League group phase.
The last two games have shown the tactical versatility of both Garcia and his team, changing from a counter-attacking unit against Cagliari to their typical high pressing, possession-based football against Atalanta. Even though they still had 56% possession against the Isolani, they were very much set out to contain Cagliari for long periods of the game and use Gervinho’s pace to break forward at speed.
Against Atalanta it was back to form, with 65% of the ball and 853 passes played (almost 100 more than they attempted against Cagliari) with a success rate of 92%. Although there was no out and out centre forward due to Mattia Destro’s suspension, the movement from Gervinho running at the defence and from Adem Ljajic running across them caused Stefano Colantuono’s side major problems.
The ease with which Roma can switch from an attacking to a more cautious style will stand them in good stead for the Champions League next season, where not only Garcia but his players will have to prove themselves capable to stepping up to the next level. There will also be a bigger physical toll on the squad with more matches to contend with, so the players on the fringes of the squad (Ljajic, Federico Ricci) and those playing for their futures (Rafael Toloi, Rodrigo Taddei, Michel Bastos) will need to demonstrate in the remaining games that they should be part of the coach’s plans for next season.
Ljajic helped his cause with a good performance against Atalanta, scoring one goal and setting up another for Gervinho. The way in which Daniele De Rossi selflessly set up Ljajic for his goal shows the importance of keeping the Serb’s confidence high, as it had started to fade in recent weeks. Toloi also put in a solid performance on Saturday; although there were times when he was caught out of position it was a decent enough shift as he deputised for Mehdi Benatia, and playing in an all-Brazilian back four will have certainly helped him.
Whether or not Toloi will be signed in the summer remains to be seen, but he will have his chance to prove he can settle in Serie A in the final few weeks of the season with Benatia out injured. There would seem to be more chance of Toloi remaining beyond the summer than Bastos, who has been used almost exclusively from off the bench – having come off it 11 times in the league he has already made more than half the number of substitute appearances in 10 weeks than De Rossi has in his whole career in Serie A.
In all likelihood Bastos will be on the bench again this weekend when Roma face Fiorentina, with Alessandro Florenzi back in contention after serving a one match ban at the weekend. Miralem Pjanic is also available again, and having both players fresh for what will be a difficult match will benefit the Giallorossi. In theory Mattia Destro could also be available if his ban is overturned following Roma’s appeal which will be heard on Thursday, but it is highly unlikely that the appeal will be successful.
Fiorentina’s Alberto Aquilani contemplated that “it will be a special game for me and for the coach” when Vincenzo Montella’s team take on Roma on Saturday, and it will doubtlessly be a good match to watch from a neutral perspective. Roma’s recent record against the Viola is also second to none, winning nine of the last 14 meetings including each of the last four. And although the title dream may be all but over, Romanisti can count on Garcia preparing his team in his usual meticulous way and sending them out at the Artemio Franchi with his usual message: we play to win.
