La Repubblica (P. Torri) – Open up heaven. The invertebrates were waiting for nothing else the next day. But like De Rossi, Xabi Alonso is a great coach. Karsdorp no longer has to wear the Roma shirt. Abraham is a troublemaker. Pellegrini is never there when the level is raised. With Mou you would never have lost. These are the main charges against one Roma were beaten and almost eliminated from the first 90 minutes of the Europa League semi-final.
The writer only agrees on the consideration towards Karsdorp. For the rest we disagree and dispute. By virtue of a simple and, if you like, banal consideration. In football we often forget that There are also opponents on the pitch. And if the latter, as in the case of Alonso’s beautiful Bayer Leverkusen in almost two years of work which dominated a Bundesliga where two Champions League semi-finalists play undefeated, prove to be better, logic says that in the end the strongest party celebrates.
Having said that, even in a match in which two players took to the pitch who had just recovered from injury (Lukaku and Smalling), in which Alonso (very good) surprised you by fielding a team without a centre-forward, where Bayer made everyone understand why they arrived 47 games unbeaten.
Roma and De Rossi had the merit of looking Bayer in the eye trying to undermine its certainties and automatisms. She was betrayed above all by Karsdorp’s gross error, a conceded goal that changed the inertia and psychology of a match that up until then had seen a Roma on par against the Germans.
It was punished by inexplicable and unfortunate errors in the finishing phase. We counted six scoring opportunities: the three headers by Lukaku, Cristante, Abraham, Azmoun’s slide a few meters from the goal, Pellegrini’s shot which grazed the post and the incredible smooth shot by Karsdorp a few meters from the opponent’s goal.
The end result is that Dublin is much further away. To the point that it is legitimate to ask: it won’t be the case to think only about the championship to continue chasing Champions League qualification cWhat is the stated seasonal goal? Logic would recommend an affirmative answer. We don’t believe De Rossi thinks so. And we are with De Rossi.
