Two weeks ago, the goal of Chiprian Mariki ensured the interest of football Europe in both games of the sixth round of the Champions League in group D. No, but the intrigue still persisted. The Romans arranged a draw with any score to enter the playoffs, while the Donetsk club was looking for answers to two questions on the Grigoris Karaiskakis field. First, in the event of a home defeat of Roma from the bats plucked by injuries and their victory over the leader of the Greek championship, Shakhtar would move to second place in the group. The second, more realistic task of the Ukrainians was to not give way to Olympiacos in the pursuit of the crane and to hold in their hands the titmouse, which had already taken the form of a ticket to the UEFA Cup.
Interest in the game also warmed up as the list of injured Roma and Valencia players increased. And while Kike Flores was already accustomed to redrawing his squad almost weekly, then Luciano Spaletti, considering the tournament task that had not yet been solved, ran into more serious problems. The leader of the Romans, Francesco Totti, was unable to enter the field due to an injury, and the center line for the same reason was missing by Aquilani and Perrotta. In addition, the Chilean Pizarro rented from Inter did not play due to disqualification. As for the guests, Roberto Ayala was added to the long list of missed games with a search for yellow cards.
As a result, the trainers had to take some interesting steps. So, the defender Kivu took the place of the defensive midfielder next to De Rossi, Panucci shifted to the center of defense, and Vucinic was chosen for the first time in the League as the “tip” of the traditional Roma scheme. As part of the Spaniards, Tavano got his chance, who still could not play at the base of his new club. The remaining holes in the lines of attack and midfield were closed by young players from the B list - Aaron, who started the match with a drawn forward, and Pallardo.
The hosts gently outlined their goals in the second minute, having launched a breakthrough in the center of Vucinic. After that, there was some lull, which continued right up to the unlucky 13th minute for the fans when the goal was scored. The episode was opened by guest captain Torres, who fouled on Mansini, after which Taddei from the left flank hung the ball on the far post.
Given that in five rounds of the Champions League, the pure attackers declared by the Romans for the tournament - Montella, Vucinic and Okaka - “figured out for three” a little more than an hour and a half of playing time, without scoring even once, the goal from Mexes and Panucci did not look strange . Butel and two defenders exposed the central zone, seduced by a canopy. The episode was completed by the experienced Panucci, who became the captain of the Romans in this match: from a short distance he sent the ball into the goal of the guests after the Mexes discount.
A mockery of fate was another injury to the player of “Valencia”. Aaron fell heavily on the lawn, performing a canopy on the right, and was forced to leave the field. Replacing him, Nacho Insa took the place of the right midfielder, and Joaquin, who eventually became the most active player of the "bats", moved into the attack. The statistics of the first half refuted the beautiful words of Kike Flores that his team would still play their football in an insignificant match: only one shot towards the goal and the lion's share of possession of the ball from the opponent.
The entire game, “Roma” tried to attack almost exclusively through the left flank, with the efforts of the defender Tonetto. Mansini clearly did not feel completely confident on the left, and Virga played on the right completely faded. “Valencia” tried to distribute its attacks, and yet preferred to act through the center. In the second half, Perrotte appeared on the field, giving De Rossi the opportunity to relax in front of the most important Roman derby. This moment coincided with a whistle of grateful fans addressed to “Dzhialorossi”.
At the end of the game, it became clear that Panucci was by far the best player in the match. Christian began to attack the hosts, scored a goal, twice Doni calmly threw the ball and clearly performed the selection of the ball. At that time, in Greece, Shakhtar tightly held that very tit, and Roma for the first time since 2002 overcame the Champions League group stage.
Stanislav POPOVICH