Roma face Inter Milan on Wednesday in their final midweek match of the season.
Just three games remain on the Serie A calendar, and whereas Inter know they are the champions this season, Roma are still fighting for a place in next season’s Europa League.
Since the announcement of ex-Inter boss Jose Mourinho as their next manager, Roma have won both their last two matches. They will be looking to continue their recent revival as Paulo Fonseca’s reign comes towards its end.
Fonseca’s time with Roma has been marred by struggles against the bigger teams, but the one that he hasn’t had too many issues against has been Inter. Last season, they became the first team to keep a clean sheet again them that term in their first meeting in December, and they should have held on to all three points in the reverse fixture were it not for Leonardo Spinazzola giving away a late penalty.
Then, in the fixture at Stadio Olimpico earlier this season, a Gianluca Mancini equaliser earned Roma a point. It means Inter are the only fellow member of Serie A’s seven sisters to never beat Fonseca’s Roma – a record the departing coach will no doubt want to keep.
Fonseca confirmed at his pre-match press conference that he is likely to stick with the 4-2-3-1 formation he has reverted to recently. Mancini will play in defence rather than midfield, despite the coach claiming the latter was an option for following games.
Fonseca also revealed he will be able to count on Gonzalo Villar, Stephan El Shaarawy and Carles Perez again after their recent injuries.
Roma are still without a win at San Siro since beating AC Milan in October 2017, so will be aiming to improve their fortunes there. Inter have proven all season how strong they are, though, so it will be an intriguing challenge.
The game kicks off at 7:45pm UK time and will be shown live on Free Sports.
Show your support by following Giallorossi Yorkshire on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, and subscribe to the monthly newsletter.
Leave a Reply