All About Roma-Juventus

After Palermo, Napoli, Torino and Bologna, Juventus are about to play Roma on Saturday night. The match against the giallorossi is rich in tradition with so many previous encounters and memorable victories, six of which during the month of March.

ROMA AT HOME

Nine victories, three draws and one defeat. Roma’s track record at home is definitely better then the one for away matches from which it only obtained 16 out of the 46 points till now collected Agreat difference which is mostly due to the contribution of the defence: at the Olimpico, Spalletti’s team conceded 11 goals in 13 matches while away from the capital the number is more then double (26).

On the attacking side, the difference is minimal: 22 goals at home and 21 away. Only on two occasions did the giallorossi create less chances then their opponents: against Inter in a match lost 0-4 on the 7th match day and during the derby against Lazio which they won 1-0 during the 12th match day.

HOW THEY’VE BEEN DOING

The championship has been marked by a series of crisis and sudden comebacks: this has been the track record of Roma up to now who were capable of establishing both a string of positive and negative results. The start was marked by a a series of 5 defeats in the first 5 away matches with results which were rather heavy even in proportion: in Palermo (3-1), against Genoa (3-1), in Siena (1-0), against Udinese (3-1) and against Juventus (2-0 with a goal scored in each half thanks to Del Piero from a free-kick and Marchionni with a light low touch face to face with Doni).

The change in route came along with the victory in the derby during the 12th match day: the 1-0 obtained against Lazio had the effect of launching Roma into a series of 5consecutive victories which brought them back to the left side of the table. After a defeat against Catania and a draw at home against Milan, the giallorossi had another positive moment during which they beat Sampdoria, Torino, Napoli and Palermo.

During March the last shift took place: three consecutive draws – 3-3 away to Inter at the San Siro, 1-1 against Udinese at the Olimpico and 2-2 against Sampdoria at the Ferraris – thus missing the fourth place. With regards to qualifying for the next Champions League, after the match on Saturday night against Juventus, there will be two direct encounters to play, both away from home: on the 33rd match day against Fiorentina and on the penultimate match day against Milan.

THE VICTORIES IN MARCH

There are as many as 6 victories of Juventus away to Roma during the month of March. The most common result in favour of our lads is that of 2-1 and it is interesting to note that the way this was obtained was never the same.

In the first case, back in 1964, the bianconeri were ahead by two gaols thanks to Stacchini scoring twice while it was Angelo Sormani (the father of Dodo, the current technical manager of the Juventus youth nursery) who reduced the margin. The 2-1 obtained in 1983 is definitely a memorable one: Trappatoni’s Juventus played against a Roma which was en route to winning its second scudetto. Notwithstanding the goal by Falcao, Juve managed to turn round the result thanks to a Platini free-kick and a header by Brio on a ball received from the usual Michel. In 2005, the 2-1 end result was the fruit of goals in the first half: Cassano equalised to the Cannavaro opener with Del Piero deciding the match from the penalty spot.

The Old Lady registered 2 victories in the capital city by 1-0: in 1993 thanks to a goal by Borel II in the first minute of the second half and in 1991 thanks to Casiraghi as match winner. Completing the list is the most exciting of victories: It was the 14th of March 1982 when Juventus took advantage of a Roma who had to deal with the absences of Falcao and Pruzzo, scoring three times in 38 minutes to the expense of Tancredi. Virdis scored twice and Galderisi scored the other goal aided by a deviation by Marangon.

A MOVIE STYLE DEFEAT

On the 15th of March 1931, Juventus who ended up by winning the championship, suffered the heaviest defeat against Roma in their history. The end result was that of 5-0 with goals by Lombardo, Volk, Bernardini (twice) and Fasanelli. The result was so unexpected that the following year it gave birth to the first film dedicated to football by Mario Bonnard which was entitled “Five Nil”. Many Roma players took part in the movie. The unexpected defeat by Juventus was even quoted in the novel “Le due città” (The two cities) written by Mario Soldati in 196, a writer from Turin with a proven faith in black and white.

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