Roma’s season comes to a close on Sunday as they face Spezia to round off a rollercoaster campaign.
It has been a turbulent season for Roma, with plenty of highs and lows. The meeting between these two sides in the Coppa Italia in January encapsulated the chaos that has sometimes shrouded La Magica’s season, as they lost 4-2, had two men sent off and made more substitutions than allowed. It marked a particular low point in the campaign, but as Roma dream of a more stable season under Jose Mourinho next term, Paulo Fonseca will be hoping to go out on a higher note.
For the coach’s last game in charge of the club, he will be looking to halt a run of five consecutive away defeats. After beating Lazio in the Derby Della Capitale last weekend, Fonseca finally got to bask in some more positivity, so will be hoping that continues to the final whistle of his final game.
As well as the coach, this could be the end of an era for several players. For example, Juan Jesus has an expiring contract but might not get to play one last time for the club, while Antonio Mirante and Bruno Peres definitely won’t as they are out of the squad.
Then there is Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who has an offer to extend his deal but is waiting to speak with Mourinho, and Edin Dzeko, who still has a year on his contract but has been linked with an exit.
Whatever happens afterwards, Roma’s remaining players will have to focus on the task at hand for 90 more minutes this season. As long as they avoid defeat, they will qualify for the play-off round of the inaugural Europa Conference League.
With this being Fonseca’s last game in charge of the club, there was little talk of team news at his pre-match press conference. Instead, the focus was on his overall time in the capital, leaving a bit of guesswork to figure out his lineup.
There have been rumours that he could choose some younger players in a rotated lineup. Primavera winger Nicola Zalewski could be in line for a first start, for example. All will become clear later.
Spezia have confirmed Serie A status for another season but will still be looking to give Roma a game, as they have in previous meetings. Roma have only done the double over five other teams in the league this season – Udinese, Fiorentina, Genoa, Bologna and Crotone – so will be looking to add another to that list after a 4-3 win in January that was just as dramatic as the Coppa defeat.
If those two games are anything to go by, there should be plenty of entertainment on offer for the final game of the season.
It kicks off at 7:45pm UK time. A replay of the game will be shown on Premier Sports 2 at 4am on Monday.
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