The Messenger (G. Lengua) – In the end between the Rome and the Serie A League the rags flew. A battle with no holds barred between letters, pressure, phone calls, votes, press releases and spite. The epilogue was a note issued by the Giallorossi after the League had rejected the proposal not to play the 18 minutes and 30 seconds of Udinese-Roma on 25 April. The remaining minutes will be played on the 25th at 8pm, the time decided by the club to try to conclude the away match on the same day. The tension was so high that the times of the Serie A advances and postponements, scheduled yesterday for 12pm, were also postponed. Everyone in this story tried to look after their own interests and in the end it was Roma who lost out.
The club had asked to play in Udine in May and avoid April 25th as a date so as not to overwhelm its calendar which includes matches against Bologna (22) and Naples (28) and safeguard preparation for the European challenge against Bayer Leverkusen (2 May). He did so through a three-page letter sent to the president of the League Lorenzo Casini and the CEO Luigi De Siervo. Having taken note of the request, a League council was convened which voted against the agreement that the two clubs had reached to play next month. To oppose, Empoli and Verona (both fighting to avoid relegation with Udinese) e Atalanta in the running for the Champions League. Furthermore, playing in May would have meant being able to bring forward the match against Napoli to Saturday 27 April. In the letter to the League, Roma expressly asked for it, observing that to put the team in the best conditions to fully play the chances of European success, it would have been appropriate to have the same days of rest as the Bayer Leverkusen.
But playing on the 25th in Udine, even for just under 20 minutes plus injury time, the club didn’t think it was appropriate to take the field again two days later. Above all because the team will have to make another plane trip and approach that part of the match, which starts from 1-1, with the need to find the advantage.
