Last year when Roma played at Massimino the game was a real sensation. Romans had the lead but as soon as it became clear that the win won’t mean a thing in their fight for the title, they relaxed and as it usually happens in the last round in Italy allowed for the elephants to level the score. Thus Catania took a point that saved their place in the league. This season the Sicilian club probably won’t fear for their place and they won’t need any similar favours. Catania play much better, they have 23 points that provided them a midtable spot. If they keep this up there will without a doubt reach the magic number 40 which means survival, and it is the only aim for the Sicilians. Roma are in an excellent run, they won nine straight games in all the competitions entered. The crisis is history and Napoli are still seven points away on fourth but Roma have a game in hand. They played by the middle of this week and Vucinic’s goals eliminated Bologna thus qualifying for cup quarterfinals where they have the role of title holders. Last week they struggled to beat Cagliari at home. They are playing better and better and the players like Totti have completely recovered, so the situation is much better now than on the start.

Roma made a big comeback against Cagliari as they were losing 2:1, but they managed to celebrate a new victory in the end. Mirko Vucinic scored the winning goal and performed a controversial striptease but no one objected. Actually this is another step towards the top for Roman side. Napoli are on seven points ahead but Roma have a game in hand so nothing is lost yet when it comes to the fourth place, that is to say Champions league next season. Bologna arrive relaxed, coach Mihajlovic said that the cup game bears no significance and that they are focused on the away game in Lecce which is another derby of the bottom.

Roma made a big comeback against Cagliari as they were losing 2:1, but they managed to celebrate a new victory in the end. Mirko Vucinic scored the winning goal and performed a controversial striptease but no one objected. Actually this is another step towards the top for Roman side. Napoli are on seven points ahead but Roma have a game in hand so nothing is lost yet when it comes to the fourth place, that is to say Champions league next season. Bologna arrive relaxed, coach Mihajlovic said that the cup game bears no significance and that they are focused on the away game in Lecce which is another derby of the bottom.

Roma express keeps going on, winning run was continued with a win over Bordeaux in Champions League during the week and Roma are now peacefully awaiting the draw that will be held in Nion 19th December. They are top of the group in front of Chelsea and will be in better position with. One goal is accomplished, however it may have looked desperate after two opening stage defeats. Team is now facing the domestic league where nothing is lost either and Roma are aiming the fourth place. They won five games in a row, they have a game in hand, and the trail of seven points behind Napoli is not beyond the reach. So, no one had expect to see them resurrect after the desperate start to the season, but they will still wait the end of this year in much higher spirits. Same thing can be said for Cagliari. They opened the season with five defeats, were already seen as the greatest relegation candidates, but the excellent autumn run of several home wins had launched Sardi to the mid-table. Their tally is 20 points, same as Roma’s. they are ending the year with Reggina game at home and if they win that game they will have a nice, peaceful New Year’s sleep.

Nothing has yet been solved in group A. Actually it is the only group in the Champions League where team has secured a place in the knock-out stage yet. The outcomes in London and Rome will decide who will move on to the next stage. While everyone is sure that Stamford Bridge will see Chelsea beat Cluj and earn a place among best 16 in Europe, the uncertain match between Roma and Bordeaux will decide who will move on and who will have to continue their European campaign in UEFA Cup. A mere look at the standings says it all, Roman side is in a much better situation. Roma would settle for a point while the French must play to win. The first game ended in Roman win although the French were the ones to open the score. Still, from the moment Henrique was sent off, the course of the game was changed and in the end giallorossi won three golden points at Chaban Delmas stadium.

Chievo finally ended the poor run of results, having taken points from Udine, and this result will have helped restore some of the confidence. Veronesi are just three points behind Torino, the first team outside the relegation zone and nothing is lost yet. Coach Di Carlo expects to see new players in January. Chievo will end the difficult fixture list before the New Year, and they will have much easier opponents in the remainder of the season. They will try to pick up some points before Christmas but after Roma they will play Inter and then Genoa, which makes the task very difficult. Roma showed that they were not in crisis by beating Fiorentina. Totti scored the decisive goal in a great game. With Totti back, the team has a lot more confidence and Spalletti can be satisfied with current form. Roma will play decisive match in the Champions League in midweek but before that they will try to continue the good league run and close the gap behind the teams at the top.

This will be one of the derbies of this round. Roma couldn’t have snet a better invitation to their fans as they not only recorded two triumphs in the league, but they also beat Cluj in the Champions League. Now Roma are knocking on the door of the next stage which is definitely a big feat, especially after the humiliation in the first round against Romanians and two losses in three matches. Last week they easily beat the home side, Lecce, Spalletti definitely changed his tactics, Baptista played up front with the support of Totti and Vucinic. Yellow-red seemed impressive at moments and we will see if they can continue that way against Fiorentina. The loss to Lyon on home ground saw Fiorentina say goodbye to the dreams of Champions League knock-out stage. We have already talked about that and the players admitted it in the end. This team is too inexperienced for the European elite which was obvious in the duels against Bayern and French champions. It is better that they ended eliminated as they can now turn to the championship.

Roma je nakon popodnevnih utakmica u nedelju bila u zoni ispadanja, ali se pobedom u rimskom derbiju ponovo našla iznad davljenika Bologne, Reggine i Chieva. Bila je po pobeda izvojevana srcem, Julio Baptista je postigao zlatni gol i teško je reći da li je “vučica” zaslužila ovaj trijumf. Trener Spalletti tvrdi da je ovo početak novog, mnogo srećnijeg perioda za klub koji je zaista imao košmaran start šampionata. Pobeda nad najvećim rivalom je melem na ranu, ali ako giallorossi ne počnu da pobeđuju i krenu ga gornjoj polovini tabele, neče mnogo vredeti. Lecce je igrao solidno u Genovi ali nije mogao protiv Antonija Cassana. On ih je praktično pobedio a ni dva postignuta gola nisu bila dovoljna da Salentini izbegnu poraz, nakon tri uzastopna remija. Pre dve nedelje su na Via del Mare zaustavili Milan, pa nemaju razloga da se plaše gostiju.

One only has to say ‘Derbi della Capitale’ and everybody will know what he is talking about. The clash between Roma and Lazio is one of the greatest football matches in the World and one of the most famous local derbies. Rome is divided in two and supporting one of the teams is not just a life style but also shows social and class background. The scale of the rivalry could be seen in the fact that Laziali and Romanisti are in the shadow of rich clubs from the North and these teams are rarely fighting for the title. Still, that doesn’t lessen the importance of the match or the passion that makes the Italian capital virtually stop two times a year. The first derby was played in 1929 and even though the Fascist regime with Mussolini wanted to unite these two teams, not even the dictatorship could change the hatred between the teams. It grows year after year and probably neither European derby is followed by such violence like this one. The match has a political connotation as Lazio fans are notorious right wing. On the other hand, Roma gathers the supporters from the hard core of the city, mostly left wing, although this is not so strict.

After the embarrassment in Cagliari, the new owners of Bologna, Mearini family, finally decided to sack coach Arigoni. His team was demolished in Sardinia and Sinisa Mihajlovic was given the hot potato. Former Roma, Lazio and Inter player have been Mancini’s assistant in Inter until recently. He will need a lot of luck in order to help his team stay in the league. The Rossoblu are not a small club, having won 7 league titles, but they failed to make the step from Serie B and they are now paying the price. Mihajlovic could hardly have chosen the worse time to join the club. Their next opponent is Roma, the team that finally returned to winning ways after a disappointing start by beating Chelsea in the Champions League. The fans that were furious after the defeat from Juventus, are now pleased and everybody in the club believes that the win over Chelsea was just a sign of things to come. The first step is away game in Bologna.