Match Focus: Leaky Roma Must Tighten Up Ahead of Leverkusen Welcome

It was a trick that worked a treat for Inter on Halloween. When the starting line-ups were printed on Saturday night, however, their fans feared a horror show at San Siro. Danilo D’Ambrosio hadn’t played a minute all season and yet this was the moment when Roberto Mancini decided to throw him into the team… against Roma and their flying wingers, Gervinho and Mohamed Salah. That the major talking point wasn’t the Inter coach’s decision to leave €35m summer signing Geoffrey Kondogbia on the bench also served to underline just how much of a shock it was to see him drop his captain and last season’s co-Capocannoniere, Mauro Icardi.  

Mancini insisted it was tactical and had absolutely nothing to do with comments his No.9 had made after Tuesday’s 1-0 win against Bologna, even walking out of a post-match interview with Mediaset in frustration at their line of questioning. The ends justified the means as Inter overcame the initial scepticism surrounding the XI that Mancini kicked off with to give Roma an unexpected fright. ‘What sorcery is this?’ mused La Gazzetta dello Sport.  

Roma had won five in a row. Gervinho had scored in each of them and coach Rudi Garcia was boasting of “thousands” of options in attack. It wasn’t an empty brag either. Twelve different players have already written their names on the scoresheet for Roma, as good an indicator as any of a healthy collective. The team had made its most prolific start to a season since 1960. Top of the table and threatening to break away from the chasing pack, they were overtaken instead.  

Should Bayer Leverkusen coach Roger Schmidt be seeking a blueprint of how to beat them, he could do worse than analyse this one. Mancini let Roma have the ball (58.5%), but not the space. It was a game plan Antonio Conte used against them at the Juventus Stadium in Garcia’s first season in the league and the opposite of the one Paulo Sousa had devised for Fiorentina when they played and lost 2-0 to Roma last weekend.  

By doing so, Mancini disarmed the visitors, removing the danger they posed on the counter through the pace of Gervinho and Salah. He had his wingers Ivan Perisic and Adem Ljajic play as auxiliary full-backs and got Fredy Guarin and Marcelo Brozovic to shuttle across and give a helping hand on the flanks too. They stopped Roma scoring in Serie A for the first time in 21 games, a run stretching all the way back to mid-March. Gervinho, for instance, was limited to a single shot and it didn’t hit the target.  

Garcia was of the opinion that the defeat was undeserved and with some justification. Inter had by no means completely nullified Roma. In the 73 minutes Miralem Pjanic was on the pitch, he created eight of their 12 chances. Roma got 19 shots away. Inter have only conceded as many once this season and that was in the derby against Milan when they also won 1-0. Of the 11 Roma registered in the second half, seven were on target.  

If it had not been for Samir Handanovic they wouldn’t have held out. As was the case at the Renato Dall’Ara in midweek when he produced a huge stoppage time save to deny Mattia Destro and seal the win, the Slovenia international once again came to the rescue. A poker of parries, one after the other, was enough for all the papers to make him Man of the Match and for WhoScored to award him a player rating of 9.23. Roma by contrast didn’t concede a single ‘Big Chance’ from Inter. Guarin’s shot from 74 yards was the longest to hit the target in Serie A this season and Gary Medel’s winner, like Steven Jovetic’s against Atalanta and Guarin’s against Milan, came from outside the box. That, in particular, disappointed Garcia.  

While Antonio Rüdiger’s decision to turn and put his hands behind his back as though afraid to concede a penalty despite not being inside the area raised eyebrows, attention focused on goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny. “If Roma had swapped ‘keepers with Inter, they would have won this game,” Gianni Mura deduced. “Medel isn’t exactly Johan Neeskens when he shoots,” Garcia huffed. “You’ve got to say Szczesny could have done more.” The Pole hasn’t looked the same since his injury against Barça. He had a shocker against BATE Borisov and was at fault for Empoli’s goal in a 3-1 win.  

Roma are one of only five teams in Serie A to keep a single clean sheet from 11 games this season. It’s a roll of dishonour. By way of comparison Inter have kept seven while Fiorentina and Napoli have six apiece. Rüdiger and Leandro Castan have yet to really convince beside Kostas Manolas at centre-back. That’s an area where Roma evidently need to improve at home and abroad. Despite holding the Barça of Messi, Neymar and Suarez to a 1-1 draw on Matchday 1, their defence is the worst in the Champions League and of the eight they have conceded, five have been scored in the opening half an hour which would indicate issues of approach and mentality.  

Pjanic will be decisive on Wednesday night. Unlike against Inter when he got sent off for dissent after a handball by Brozovic and then, ironically enough, a handball of his own, he must keep his wits about him. Along with Alessandro Florenzi, he has been Roma’s best player this season. The 25-year-old Bosnia international has been involved in 40% of their league goals, scoring five and assisting five.  

If Roma top the charts for goals from set-pieces in Serie A (8) this season, it’s down to him. His delivery from corners is excellent and he is the best free-kick taker in the Europe right now. He proved that in his duel with another sultan of spin, Hakan Calhanoglu a fortnight ago. The free-kick he curled in at the BayArena was his fourth in six attempts this season. After foolishly getting himself banned for Sunday’s derby, Pjanic will presumably be eager to redeem himself by turning Roma’s fortunes around in the Champions League.  

Saturday’s 1-0 defeat aside, the goals have flowed for this team, but not for Edin Dzeko, which is ironic considering he was identified as the major upgrade to their attack in the summer. Of strikers to have scored one or more goals in Serie A this season - and Dzeko’s was a significant one in the win against Juventus - he has a conversion rate of only 4%, the lowest in the division. Clearly lacking sharpness after the injury he suffered against Carpi, Dzeko is yet to meet expectations. But Garcia isn’t worried. Selflessly Dzeko has done a lot of the team’s dirty work as the pivot of their attack. The goals will come.  

Leverkusen give you them and Schmidt’s commitment to high-pressing full throttle fußball leads one to believe he won’t follow Mancini’s lead on Wednesday. He might instead make the same mistake Sousa did. Leverkusen represent a big threat to Roma - this game is essentially a Champions League playoff - though it’s arguably not as big as the one they pose themselves. Roma have been their own worst enemy in this competition. After the 4-4 a fortnight ago, La Gazzetta adapted SPQR from the Senate and the People of Roma to Sono Pazzi Questi Romani! “These Romans are crazy!”  

Crazy indeed.

Can Roma iron out their defensive problems to secure victory over Leverkusen on Wednesday night? Head to the WhoScored preview to have your say