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| Thursday 10 April, 2008 |
| Blog: Heads High |
| Roma's participation in this season's Champions League is over, but Richard Godden insists that the Giallorossi can still feel proud |
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After Roma lost to Manchester United at the Stadio Olimpico last week, I predicted that the tie was over. And so it proved, but I am not writing this blog to gloat about a prediction which just about every football fan - even the most ardent Giallorosso follower - had made. Instead, I'd like to praise the Eternal City boys for doing themselves proud.
They may have failed to score in either leg, yet La Magica did just about everything but. Daniele De Rossi's missed penalty after half an hour proved to be the turning point in the second leg. Quite how a man who so coolly converted a spot-kick in Italy's World Cup Final penalty shoot-out with France could strike the ball so far over the bar I do not know, but let us not forget that he missed a spot-kick against Milan earlier this term attempting a 'Totti spoon'.
The performance of Luciano Spalletti's boys wasn't quite enough to exorcise the demons of last year's 7-1 hammering, but they can content themselves with the knowledge that they did not look out of place at this stage of the competition. While Inter, the best side in Italy, continue to stumble and fall in Europe, Roma can rightfully claim that they are one of the top eight clubs in the continent, with Lyon and Real Madrid among their victims over the last two years.
Unfortunately, this current crop of players don't look capable of bettering themselves. Francesco Totti's absence from both legs obviously clouds the view somewhat, but I don't think that explains a three-goal deficit to the Premier League champions. The most telling sign of Roma's weakness came midway through the second half, when Spalletti could only send on a winger - Ludovic Giuly - on to the field with his side desperate for a goal. In the other dugout, Sir Alex Ferguson gave Wayne Rooney a run-out and could afford to leave Cristiano Ronaldo on the bench.
Roma are up there with the best of them when it comes to 11 v 11, but football is a squad game nowadays and it's no surprise that the four semi-finalists in the Champions League all have deep benches. Nonetheless, after losing 8-3 to United this time last year, the Giallorossi have cut the deficit by two goals. With such a talented tactician as Spalletti at the helm and reinforcements promised, they are heading in the right direction - and they can certainly leave Manchester with their heads held high.
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