On the one hand, someone who wants to take back the future, on the other, someone to whom the future wants to open golden doors. On the one hand Tammy Abraham, who will return to play a match as a starter tomorrow, more than ten months after the last time (4 June 2023, that damned match against Spezia where he tore the anterior cruciate ligament of his left knee). On the other Joshua Zirkzee, the jewel that everyone likes a bit, the man who gave wings to Bologna for a long time and who now wants to take it to paradise, which is nothing other than the Champions League, an achievement that only thinking about it ten months ago gave everyone around Casteldebole the chills. And tomorrow they will be the ones who will have to leave their mark, with their eyes on the cup that counts.
the wait
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Roma-Bologna is a sort of play-off for the Champions League, even if the expansion of the field to five teams makes it less decisive than it could have been before. But the stakes are still high, because Atalanta is also in the race and so those points really matter. De Rossi is looking for a victory that can bring the Giallorossi back into Bologna’s wake (awaiting the recovery in Udine next Thursday), Motta tries to stretch, to tear away, leaving his opponents behind and then giving them nothing but dust. And to achieve the goal tomorrow the distance challenge between the two center forwards will be decisive. Lukaku got stuck in Roma and it will be Abraham’s turn, Zirzkee has been back in Bologna for a while and wants to go back to making an impact like in the good old days.
the comparison
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And so tomorrow it will be his turn, Abraham, who has only played three parts of matches so far, the two in the Europa League against Milan and the derby against Lazio. “I’ve seen little of Abraham so far, I want to discover him, he’s a force of nature – said De Rossi speaking about him on the eve of the match against Bologna – He has a contagious enthusiasm that we must channel towards football things instead of losing it with fans, the boots or the referee. He has enormous potential, he is not very different from Lukaku, but by working with him he can become devastating just like Romelu.” This is what the Roma coach expects, starting from tomorrow’s match, knowing precisely that he will have to do without the Belgian center forward and that Azmoun is also not at his best. Abraham in some ways also resembles Zirkzee, in the sense that they both like to move, vary, move away from the goal to go and play the ball and then reattach the space. The Dutchman is probably better at this, because he is more technical, more elegant in his movements too. And at this moment even more ready, considering that the Englishman still has to regain confidence with the pace of the match and with all the nuances associated with it. Joshua, on the other hand, has already recovered since his recovery (very different) and is now ready to leave his mark. Since he returned he has never scored and the last time he scored dates back to March 3, against Atalanta. The eyes of many big names are fixed on him, while others were on Abraham before he got hurt. Now they both want to color their future with different colors. Starting with tomorrow’s challenge.
