Christian Panucci apologised to Roma, but that isn’t enough to earn him a recall against Genoa. “He didn’t apologise to me,” noted Luciano Spalletti.
The defender has been frozen out of the squad since he refused to sit on the bench in the 3-0 win at Napoli, accusing Spalletti of “not respecting me” and demanded a transfer.
He released an open letter to the newspapers in which he apologised to the fans, his teammates and the club – but notably left out his tactician.
“Panucci’s exclusion is a logical consequence of what has happened recently. He will not be called,” said Spalletti after leaving the defender out of the squad to face Genoa.
“After every game we have a talk in the locker room. There has been no apology to me or to the club. The club and I decided to leave him off the Champions League list and all we did was follow the player’s intentions.”
This is causing a rift within the side, as David Pizarro and Philippe Mexes have publicly urged Panucci to make up with the Coach.
“I talk things over with everyone and I’m fully aware of what is happening. We are interested in tomorrow’s game and that is all.
“Panucci wanted to leave, it was clear to everyone. Will he play for Roma in the future? My future is tomorrow and Panucci is not there.”
The Giallorossi can ill afford such distractions when going into what is essentially a play-off for the fourth Champions League spot.
“This is a very important game and we all feel it. It can be a great reward for the comeback we have had from a difficult start. It’s an exciting challenge.
“Genoa are a very strong side and they play as a unit with remarkable enthusiasm. They’re great to watch too, as you can see they attack in unison are relaxed and really own the tempo. They deserve to be in the top four right now.”
Francesco Totti, Julio Baptista, Cicinho, Pizarro and Juan have recovered from injury, while new boys Marco Motta and Souleymane Diamoutene are also available.
John Arne Riise, Marco Cassetti, Jeremy Menez and Filipe are out of action.
Roma squad: Cicinho, Juan, Mexes, Pizarro, Aquilani, Vucinic, Totti, Taddei, Motta, Loria, De Rossi, Julio Baptista, Perrotta, Diamoutene, Tonetto, Montella, Artur, Julio Sergio, Doni, Brighi.
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