Catania will host Roma in higher spirits than last week when they welcomed Lazio. The Elephants missed a great chance to win then, but on Wednesday they remained unbeaten in Bergamo. They had enough chances to secure a win but the Japanese Morimoto didn’t catch the ball the way he wanted to. Still, the progress has been made, two draws came after three defeats. Roma won a point in Palermo in totally inhuman weather conditions. In Ranieri’s words, thanks to a biblical flood, this game was more a water polo match. His team was up and running twice, but the host got even closer to winning the game at the end. Still, a white spot kick from Totti and Roma were saved. After all, Ranieri can be very pleased with the point. The team got stabilized since he arrived, having lost only in Basel. Still, Europa League is completely a different concern for them, Roma’s main aim is to get back to Champions League.

This will be one of the interesting matches on Wednesday night as it is always a special treat when Romans arrive at Sicily. Palermo arrive at the back of the defeat in Parma and we can already say that the start is far from expectations. After a lucky win over Napoli, they lost in Florence and Parma, while they got away with it in the last minute at home against Bari. Roma got off to a losing start but after Spalletti left, Ranieri managed to win the games against Siena and Fiorentina and boost team’s confidence. Their aim is to return to the Champions League and in order to do that they must win both home and away games. They changed the style of play, the triumph over Fiorentina was too high, but not undeserved.

Roma put an end to a poor run in Siena and Ranieri had a triumphant debut. Still, that win came after a lot of fortunate circumstances, not the good performance. A defeat to Basel in Europa League showed that Roma are still a vulnerable side. They made series of disastrous mistakes, looked without a will to do anything. Still, you should never judge an Italian side upon their performances in UEFA Cup since they are simply not too interested. Fiorentina also lost in Europe. Their Champions League season was opened with a loss to Lyon. They didn’t play well, but hadn’t Gilardino been sent off, they would’ve probably have had bigger chances. After the red card, all there was left for them to do was to close up and defend, Frey saved couple of clear cut chances, but made a poor intervention with the only goal. Fiorentnia again showed their inexperience in Europe. Their Italian championship was opened well although they did have a fine schedule. After the draw in Bologna, they beat Palermo and Cagliari to a minimal margin at Franchi. They are not playing beautifully, but winning which is most important.

Roma are obviously not happy for having to play in the second-best European competition as the failure to reach the Champions League emptied their budget. They didn’t have enough money to sign new players and they are now in problems following the departure of Luciano Spalletti. Top 4 finish in Serie A is the priority this season and we are yet to see if they will take this competition seriously. New coach Ranieri had a successful debut as his team defeated Siena but that was a lucky win more than anything else. The visitors face a difficult task at St Jacob’s Park as Basel are usually very convincing in home games.

The outing to Siena couldn’t come in the worse time for Roma. Over the past two years, this town gave them cold welcome and this will be their first time there without Luciano Spalletti who just couldn’t handle the high margin loss to Juventus and who resigned aware of the fact this teams need a shock therapy to snap out. roma seemed lost in the mentioned duel, they simply had no solution for the rival who even missed good chance to bag a couple of more. Two opening defeats came very hard on the fans who even went on to organize public protest on the town square of Trigoria. What is more, we don’t think that the new appointed manager will be able to change the things around. Siena are entering this clash in a completely different mood. Thye took points from Sardinia, lost tightly to Mialn in the season’s opener and, if we are to make early assessments, this team has what it takes for mid-table finish. Better more, they have an excellent expert who is capable to bring only the best out of his players. Marco Giampaolo knows what he’s doing and Sennesi are feeling it second year in the row.

This will be one of two great derbies of the Serie A second round and a great chance for the title contenders to see where they stand at the beginning. As far as Roma are concerned, they have manage a great return to Champions League, while Juventus will be searching the 30th title. Goals galore at Olimpico saw Roma beat Kosice and snatching their place in the Champions League group stage which will still not be the priority for this team. Juventus opened the new season beating Chievo and showing two sides of the medal, great one in the first half and inability to close the deal in the second compromising the win. Still, they won and that is the only thing coach Ferrara cares about. There is plenty of time to make impressive performances and it will certainly come as soon as Del Piero, Sissoko, Melo come back on the field. These are all man who should be key players in the new season. Juve are going to the eternal city with a strong determination to win. In defender Chiellini’s words, this game will be a great test for new team’s ambitions and the real picture of the strength of this rebuilt squad.

After the first leg in Kosice, Roma are the favourites for the next round. Slovakians gave solid resistance and held on to a 3:3 draw in front of their fans. They opened the score early on but Romans overturned the deficit. Finally, the visitors relaxed a bit so the match ended winless. Kosice even had the chance to win through their best scorer Nova. Slovakians played a good match and it was obvious that they were relaxed as they had nothing to lose, but nevertheless, their chances at Olimpico are minimal.

This is the pick of the opening round of Serie A as Genoa and Roma are among the strongest teams in the league this season. Both teams ensured European qualification last season and have started Europa League campaign very well, thus they are both expected to qualify for the group stages. The visitors are looking to forget the disappointing displays from the previous Serie A campaign. They didn’t have money to spend after failing to qualify for Champions League but Genoa did not have such problems. They did stay without two best players in ‘Il Principe’ Milito and Motta but president Preciosi wasn’t cheap. He bough Floccari for 12 million euros, while experienced Crespo and former Boca Juniors player, Palacio also arrived. When you compare this team to that of last season, it is maybe a bit weaker but they now have much bigger squad, which is going to be very helpful considering they will be playing in Europe.

Slovakians didn’t have luck with the draw and they will try anything to surprise the big rivals, but truth to be told, it will probably end up like one of their players said after the draw: “I hope we will have time for shopping in Rome“. This club managed to eliminate Slavia in the last round, having won both legs, but Roma are way better team. Anyway, we saw that against Belgium Gent, who had some hopes after the first leg at Olimpico but went down in the returning leg. After two matches against the Belgians that are better than Kosice, Roma scored ten goals.

Roma managed to secure the sixth place in the standings with the away win over Milan. They will play in Europa League next season, which is definitely not enough but as De Rossi admitted, they did not deserve anything more. The fans are more interested in the way their club is going then in the outcome of this match. The announced club takeover is occupying fans’ attention, therefore they will not be thinking too much about this match. Torino are on the verge of relegation. The home defeat to Genoa served as a big blow to their survival hopes. The only way they could stay in Serie A is by beating Roma, while at the same time Bologna have got to slip up against Catania, which is highly unlikely.