An enthralling spectacle awaits as Jose Mourinho takes his Roma side to face Juventus on Sunday night.
Always a standout fixture in the Roma calendar, the clash this year has the added element provided by Mourinho, who knows what it is like to be an enemy of Juventus from his time with Inter.
Those memories have lasted long in his mind; few can forget his reaction towards the Juve fans when leading Manchester United to a victory at the Allianz Stadium in November 2018.
Now, Mourinho is aiming to guide Roma to what would be just their second victory at the arena since it opened in 2011. The previous victory was between two rotated lineups in 2020, when both sides were focusing on upcoming European duties, but this will very much be the game occupying their thoughts now.
Roma go into the game four points above Juventus in the table, with the hosts having made an indifferent start to Massimiliano Allegri’s second spell in charge. However, in the bigger picture, the Old Lady are still expected to challenge for the title this year, whereas Roma’s ambitions have more of a cap for now.
Even so, Mourinho wants to accelerate the process and it would be a major statement to get a good result in Turin.
His record against Juventus leans in a positive direction with four wins, one draw and two defeats from seven previous encounters (five with Inter and two with United).
But the preparation for this challenge has been shrouded by doubts over two of his regular starters, Tammy Abraham and Matias Vina. Abraham limped off on international duty for England, but will be travelling with the group before Mourinho makes a decision. Eldor Shomurodov is ready if he is unable to start.
Vina, on the other hand, is available to play after his exertions in South America (thus likely denying Riccardo Calafiori the chance to start at the same venue he made his Roma debut in 2020).
Mourinho also denied reports that Gonzalo Villar would not be in the Roma squad, although the midfielder will not be a starter either. Instead, it will be his usual suspects taking to the pitch, with the only major decision to make being that between Abraham or Shomurodov.
The last visit to Juventus was a 2-0 defeat for Paulo Fonseca’s Roma in February, a game in which Roger Ibanez scored an own goal. He will hope to have a better impact at keeping it out of the net this time around, especially with the responsibility on his shoulders in the absence of Chris Smalling.
Roma’s only two defeats this season have come in away matches, although one of those was still at Stadio Olimpico against Lazio. That game was Mourinho’s toughest test yet, but this will overtake it in terms of the size of the challenge, if not the magnitude of the fixture. The desire is for a more positive outcome, especially after Roma’s struggles against bigger teams under predecessor Fonseca.
The game kicks off at 7:45pm UK time and will be live on BT Sport 1.
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