Roma Means Rome

By: Corey | February 17th, 2008

No Betis review, check out Steve’s live blog for a good recap. Was not a pretty game for what I could gather, but I didnt watch so I dont feel right recapping it. Lets get right into the big game.

Real Madrid takes on Roma in the first knockout round of the Champions League. We will travel to the eternal city for the first leg ,while the second leg will be in the Bernabeu. I for one would prefer to end the tie in Rome, but that wont be an easy task. For those who dont watch Serie A (including me), Roma may seem like a mystery to the neutral observer. Other then Mr. Totti and the transfer rumor happy Mancini, who is there on the team?

Lots of people actually, plenty of players to worry about. Lets start from the back, I will preview the entire squad and how they play. If you want even more recon, check out Chris/Marco at http://roma.theoffside.com/. First up is the keeper situation. In net is Doni:

I think he sucks. I really do. He can make some brilliant saves, but when you have a starting goal keeper you want consistency. So while he doesnt consistently suck, he is not consistently good either. Blunders, poor positioning, sometimes laughable technique. But reflexes help him out, he is quick like a cat, so he can be relied on to pull one or two out of his ass. If Roma has a weak point then this is it, hit him hard and hit him low (or cross the death out of him) and he will let one go.

Now unless Spal has a “total eclipse of the heart” and puts guture Azzurri keeper Curci in net then we lose our focal point, but dont count on it. Curci will be on the bench.

Defense:

Cicnho, Tonetto, Cassetti, Panucci: Two of the four have played for Real, try and pick them out!

Besides Cicinho being a huge underachiever with Real and being sold off after a serious knee injury, he is a dangerous attacking fullback. He has superb movement on and off the ball, and accelerates like a rabbit. But he rarely starts a game for the Rossoneri, and as we all know, is just about as defensivly lacking as Michel Salgado. We all know what kind of player he is, so I will not go into much detail. I dont think he will start, I will elude to that a little later.

Panucci, where does the time go? How long ago were you playing under Capello for one year and then being shipped out as part of the illustrious Ferrari Boys with Seedorf, Davor Suker and one other dude (shocking, but it was Pedja Mijatovic, ever wonder why he went to Florentina) (Remember when it was Florentina and not Fiorentina?). Well he has had a long and illustrious career, with several stops. Hell he won the CL with us. Althoug his better days are behind him, he still looks solid and scores goals too. Slow as balls though, if he is played at right back Robben will have a field day. Or he wont, dont really know who is gonna play where.

Tonetto and Cassetti, is there really a difference? I do not mean to be patronizing, but look at the two of them, and how each plays and you have a strong arguement. Tonetto plays on the left, and although he is primarily a hard working left winger, he is deployed as a left back alot. But so is Cassetti. But he is primarily a right winger playing at right back. Looks like Roma have two Miguel Torres type players. Both drop back, but they primarily just attack at will. Chris coined the term “the cluster fuck” and I agree, they attack you from all angles. Which is fine, because we have seen what we do to teams that attack us…

In the center they have two classy dudes. Philliou Mexes and Juan. Juan is injured right now but is going to return to the team for the game, so we wont catch any break there. Mexes has a temper, but I dont like to discuss using that to get him booked, I think thats cheap. And both occassionaly (1 at a time silly!) stroll out of the defense to join the attack. Did I mention this Roma team likes to attack? As for a weakness, draw Mexes upfield even 5 yards and leave Juan isolated against a through to an onrushing attacker. It should eliminate Mexes’ tacling ability and challenge Juan’s positiong and pace. But his positiong is always superb so we will see. I dont have much more to say about them, they are both solid and Ruud and Raul will need to be on the top of their game to cause them trouble.

So in the 2-0 win against Reggina, Cicninho started. Cassetti was on the left. And Panucci was in the center. But I doubt that will happen again. As for the backline, I think urging on the side of caution is not in Spaletti’s vocab, so he will through Cassetti and Tonetto out their to attack us. Wait for the Juve game this weekend to be sure of what we should see though.

Midfield:

Daniel De Rossi, Alberto Aquilani and Simone Perotta. How is that for an Italian midfield trio. These three resemble Lyon’s midfield structure somewhat in that one does alot of defensive duty, one does alot of attacking, and one does a little of both but has the vision. Now that I think about it, thats what our midfield is sometimes like. And thats how I personally like my midfield. DDR mops up. Aquilani helps out and then gets the ball from DDR. He then uses the vision to spray the ball all over the field. And Perrotta bombs forward to supplement Totti.

DDR is not a true defensive midfielder though, so if he target him as the man to shut down then the whole thing sorta comes undone. If he cant get the ball to someone else then who is gonna win it other then him in midfield? Aquilani and Perrotta can do their fair share, but neither can be considered a ball winner. Starve them of the ball and you can eliminate a quick counter attack that usually gets pushed out to the wings.

Another advantage is how woefuly inaccurate Perrotta is with chances. He probably fluffs three great ones a game. So we can be assurred he will let us off the hook a few times. But he will run his ass off from box to box tackling, passing and shooting the whole game. Have to admire a guy that gives his all throughout out every game he plays.

As for Aquilani, he is like Guti but more refined and not as fussy. He can play in the center and win a few balls, but most importantly he can pass it very well and is good moving forward. He makes it looks like art, something we all admire Guti for. I cant knock him for anything, he seems to me to be a great player (not really a prospect anymore) and should cement his play in the Azzurri midfield as long as he stays healthy and on form.

The options for the midfield three are the wee men David Pizarro and Lulu Giuly. We know Giuly is a pain in the ass type player, and few people are a fan of his. He knocked us out of the CL when Monaco ran all the way to the final, while he is an ex-Barca player. Need I say more? David Pizzaro is a poor mans Aquilani, but is always a possibility given the fitness problems of Alberto and Simone. The last character is Matteo Brighi. Name sound familiar? Yeah, he was a 97 rating in FIFA 03 I believe, back when they use to make 1 player perfect. He wasnt a 98 rating caliber player though, no one had ever heard of him, and since then he has been a journeyman if you will.

Alright, now the wings. Giuly can play on the wings though he often plays in Perotta’s position as well. Rodrigo Taddei and Amantino Mancini are the Brazilian wing pair we must be concerned with. Both have had fair seasons compared to last year, but they still remain dangerous. I wont bother with a YouTube video for Mancini, he is sick, as is Taddei. But there is one move I must post because I have tried it and it is damn near impossible to figure out:

Which One Is Better, Taddei or Anderson?

So its evident they both have skill. They run at you down the wings and get crosses in. They are not usually great crosses, but they get the ball in the box, so Marcelo ahem, better have your defensive booties on. The main threat with these two is that since their crossing isnt the best, they prefer to cut in and shot alot, and thats how most of their goals are generated. Besides Totti. The key to stopping these two is simply to puch them to the byline. If they are pushed that far, their crossing is crap and they wont have much a shot. So the only real danger left is them beating a defender and strolling into the box. But they have less an angle then at the top of the box.

Besides Giuly as an option on either wing, there is also Mauro Esposito, who has played little, and Mirko Vucinic, who is really a striker but is pushed to the wing often because of Totti. Now for me to break down Totti is silly, everyone knows who he is and what he is capable of doing. If a Golden Boot wasnt good enough for you. We have to mark him tightly and rough him up a bit, he gets testy and looses focus if you do. Im sure Fabio will enjoy marking him all game.

So there you have it, all the players. As for a formation, I sorta eluded to this, its a 4-3-2-1, just like Lyon and similar to what Capello had us play last year, but Roma is very attack minded. Almost to their own detriment some times. Here is some Roma player comments: http://www.realmadrid.com/articulo/rma47116.htm

Real Team News:

As for Real, just when we thought we saw some light at the end of the injury tunnel, we have a whole no crop of them. Obviously Metz is pretty much done, while Pepe continues to recover. But now besides Robinho’s pulled muscle or pinched nerve and Sneijder’s cracked rib, Marcelo is out as well. Which means Michel Salgado will be getting a start at right back, and I will shit my pants every time Mancini and Taddei touch the ball. A back four of Salgado-Sergio Ramos-Canna and Torres looks likely, but you may see Heinze at left back. I feel its best to leave him on the bench because he has been out for awhile and probably isnt ready for CL quality games. But playing Heinze would mean no Salgado probably, which is fine with me, so its a give-take type deal.

As for the midfield, Gago had a stinker, which means he will probably drop to the bench but then again so did Baptista. Id assume since this is an away game that Diarra and Baptista would be partner up in the center with Guti and Robben. But who knows? Drenthe and Balboa both had a rough go of it against Betis and neither is a CL starter, so its pretty obvious that its either Diarra or Gago.

Up front Ruud and Raul will hope to nick a goal or two to bring back to the Bernabeu. Soldado and Saviola are both healthy again and provide good options that Schuster never uses….

Can you tell I get bored of Real’s lineup? As for tactics, Schuster will notice Roma’s attacking style, which is not built particularly on possession through the midfield but very quick ball movement. With that in mind, I reference the Villarreal game, where they took the game to us and we ended up winning. It has that type of feeling to it.

Here is Raul’s comments pre-match:

“Above all, it’s Real Madrid against Roma,” he told RealMadrid.com at a press conference.

“Totti is a great player, a player of superb quality in his team, but Roma are more than just him - there are good teammates, too.

“But it’s clear that he’s the man who makes the magic.

“He’s been around for years and has done a lot both with Roma and the national team, and he’ll be outstanding.

“He said it was a shame that I didn’t get the golden ball? Coming from such a player, that’s a real compliment, but it’s in the past.”

“For us, the Champions League is a huge competition, although in recent season we’ve not moved past the ‘eighths.’

“Now, we’ve set the goal of regaining credibility in Europe, and there’s no better time to do it than here against Roma, who are tough, difficult to beat, and prestigious.

“They’ll cause us problems, but tomorrow we have the chance to play well and get a good result.

“Home advantage is a factor for them, but on the other hand a bad day in the Champions League can mean many things. But if we don’t play well and Roma get great a result then it could be over.

“So it’s an advantage to som extent, but the important thing is that there are 180 minutes to go. Tomorrow we have the first 90, and we’ll do our best and not wait for the second one - by then it can be too late.

“A clean sheet? That’s not our target - it’s more than that. We want to score. We need to play a complete game, full of pace, to get what we need.

“If we manage to keep a clean sheet and score, that’ll be an accomplishment for us, but what is clear is that it’ll be a tough match.”

“My motivation? It’s this simple: I like to play and train, and I enjoy doing so.

“I also have the good fortune to be with the best club in the world, and that is the encouragement that I get every day - even moreso for being in this competition.

“Madrid has won the European Champions League before, and after many years of not being at the required level - the whole team, but me especially - I’m looking forward to resuming the challenge.

“Transfer offers? Everybody knows that my dream since I debuted at 17 years of age is to continue at Real Madrid and that is what I will do.

“At times other teams have asked, but they always get the same response: my intention has never been to leave Real Madrid.

“Can we win the Champions League? We’ll be trying. This eliminatory round is a great chance to see how we can make a start as we head into the key months.

“We’ve achieved a lot so far, and we’re happy with it, being five points clear of second place, but now comes the moment of truth: to see whether or not this squad of capable of the Champions League and the Liga.

“We’re willing to stand tall and say we’re up to the challenge, but these are just words. We have to prove it.”

He is the man, such a humble person but an elegant player and courageous leader. Lets hope he is able to lead us to more titles. I will be watching the game in class which should be fun, hopefully I dont scream GOAL like I did last semester. Maybe its best I stay home then, not like I would miss much in class. Either way, all Madridista’s will have their faces glued to a screen as they cheer on their merengues. HALA MADRID!