Claudio Ranieri has worked wonders in his third spell in charge of Roma ahead of his (second) retirement from coaching in the summer.
In November, Ranieri took over a dishevelled group of players stuck just four points above the relegation zone in Serie A – and 12 away from the top four – after 12 games. By the end of the season, he managed to steer them to finish in fifth place, just one point away from the top four.
While his tenure ended without a trophy that everyone dreamed he could lift, Ranieri has led Roma to some achievements they haven’t experienced in the league for a number of years.
Wider acknowledgement is starting to arrive for the popular 73-year-old too. But do neutrals – and even some Roma fans – realise just how impressive the form he has inspired this season has been?
Many – rightfully – consider Ranieri’s crowning achievement to be when he won the Premier League with Leicester City, one of the favourites for relegation, in 2015-16.
Embed from Getty ImagesRanieri couldn’t quite get Roma into the Champions League, but getting them as close as they did may just be his biggest achievement since what he did with Leicester.
But to put things into perspective, he achieved a better win percentage in Serie A this season than he did with Leicester in the Premier League that season!
So, here’s a detailed comparison between Roma’s Serie A record since Ranieri’s return and his famous Premier League campaign with Leicester.
Wins, draws and losses
In his final spell on the touchline, Ranieri managed 26 league games for Roma. He won 17, drew five and lost four. In contrast, over the 38 games of Leicester’s title triumph, he won 23, drew 12 and lost three.
Thus, his win percentage with Roma is 65.4%, compared to 60.5% with Leicester. Furthermore, his points-per-game ratio was 2.15 with Roma, compared to 2.13 with Leicester.
Roma surpassed Leicester’s biggest win, which was by a 4-0 scoreline (against Swansea City). Roma’s 5-0 win over Parma in December took care of that. In addition, Roma’s biggest loss was just 0-2. Leicester’s was 2-5 (against Arsenal).
However, it has been argued that the fixture list has been favourable to Roma, even though they only lost once in the league in the entire second half of the season. Leicester beat more opponents on their way to the title, defeating 16 different sides (some more than once). In contrast, Ranieri’s Roma beat 15 different teams this season, with a loss to Atalanta denying them the chance to match the figure of 16.
Goals for and against
Ranieri’s Roma scored 42 league goals this season, compared to the 68 Leicester got in 2015-16. Per game, that favours the Foxes, whose average was 1.79 compared to Roma’s 1.62.
But at the other end of the pitch, Roma’s average is better. They conceded 18 league goals, half of Leicester’s 36. On average, Roma conceded 0.69 goals per game, whereas Leicester’s average was 0.95.
That said, Roma couldn’t match Leicester’s clean sheets record in their title-winning season: 15. Roma kept 12 under Ranieri (enough for Mile Svilar to be the keeper with the most clean sheets in the league.
Spells of form
Roma surpassed the longest unbeaten run Leicester went on in their glory season, which was 12. Between losses to Como in December and Atalanta in May, Roma went on a 19-game unbeaten run – something they hadn’t managed since way back in Ranieri’s own first spell with the club.
Likewise, Leicester’s best winning run in the 2015-16 Premier League was five games. Ranieri led Roma to a superior seven consecutive wins in Serie A between February and March.
Coincidentally, the last time Roma had managed that was between January and March 2016, precisely while Ranieri was on course to winning the Premier League with Leicester.
Goalscoring
Both the Roma and Leicester sides in question had 13 different scorers (excluding own goals), but the Foxes were more reliant on their main striker, with Jamie Vardy scoring 24 times. In contrast, Roma’s leading league scorer under Ranieri was Artem Dovbyk with 8.
On the topic of goalscoring, Leicester took more shots on target per game (an average of 4.71 compared to Roma’s 4.27), while their xG per game was also better (1.80 compared to 1.70). However, Roma averaged more goals per shot on target (0.38 compared to 0.32).
The number of games in which each team failed to score was equal at three apiece.
Possession
A hallmark of Ranieri’s conquering Leicester side was their danger on the counter attack. Unlike many title winners, they didn’t need the ball all the time.
At Roma, he has been able to deploy different approaches. This is highlighted by the fact that Roma’s average possession has been 51%, whereas Leicester’s was just 42.6%. There’s more than one way to win a game, and the so-called Tinkerman knows it.
Conclusion
Ranieri didn’t win a league title with Roma like he did with Leicester. He came close in his first spell in charge, and if this season started when he took charge, no team would have gained more points, but it was never a realistic target in either of his later spells. Instead, the Premier League title he won with Leicester will forever be etched onto his legacy.
There are even things he could have done differently this time around to make Roma even better. But from the situation he inherited, what he has done has been inspirational.
Naturally, Ranieri won the Premier League Manager of the Season award for 2015-16. Whether he’ll get the equivalent award this year is up for question after Antonio Conte’s title win with Napoli, but Ranieri’s been one of the best in Serie A in 2024-25 as well. He just wasn’t finished yet.
A Leicester-level miracle this hasn’t been – of course not – but Ranieri will be leaving Roma in a better place than he found them.
This article was originally published on 24th April, 2025, and has been updated since.
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