Roma vs AC Milan: Both sides seeking redemption

Roma will look to recover after a bad result when they take on Milan at the Stadio Olimpico on Sunday.

The Giallorossi, who sit in fourth place, are hoping to position themselves as potential dark horse contenders for the Scudetto. However, they sit eight points behind league leaders Inter coming into this contest, and dropped valuable points during a dull scoreless draw with Benevento. Even more frustrating for Paulo Fonesca’s side is that Benevento played much of the game with ten men, yet were able to park the bus to maximum effect to grind out a point.

Drawing with Benevento hasn’t been the only blemish on Roma’s CV this season. Although they’ve had no problems dispatching most of the smaller sides, they have failed to hold their own when pitted against teams like league leaders Juventus and cross-town rivals Lazio. They also ended up losing to Atalanta – a team that has improved recently, but aren’t yet among Serie A’s “biggest” teams. And they humiliatingly were dumped out of the Coppa Italia by newly promoted minnows Spezia before struggling to beat them three days later in a seven-goal thriller.

Despite this, Roma do have something to celebrate. They secured their spot in the Europa League round of 16 in resounding fashion, beating Portuguese side Sporting Braga home and away by an aggregate score of 5-1. And they come into this match with a formidable home record. Roma have won 12 of their last 16 home ties at the Stadio Olimpico; while they did lose 3-0 to Lazio during the Derby della Capitale, they were billed as the “away” side for that contest.

Key for Roma now is to ensure they secure European football, and as things stand, they would feature in the Champions League next season. They also do have a shot at winning the Europa League as they’ve been pitted with Ukrainian outfit Shakhtar Donetsk, thus avoiding teams like Manchester United, who have been very impressive over in the Premier League.

Milan, however, haven’t been so lucky, as they’ll be taking on the Red Devils in a mouth-watering tie next month. The Rossoneri come into this match having narrowly edged out Serbian side Red Star Belgrade after two draws, with away goals proving to help see them through. Domestically, Milan’s form has also taken a major hit. Previously unbeaten in 2020 and sitting on top of the table, Milan have since lost four matches. Three of them have taken place in their last five, and shockingly, one was to Serie A debutants Spezia. And more concerning is the fact that Milan come into this match having lost two on the trot, including a 3-0 reversal to Inter in last weekend’s Derby della Madonnina.

The Rossoneri will be desperate to avoid matching an unwanted record in this match. April 1967 was the last time they lost three consecutive matches without scoring in the top flight, and if they fail to find a way past Roma, it will be a new low for Stefano Pioli’s side. They’ll also be keen on getting back on winning ways to prevent Inter from pulling further ahead; currently the Nerazzurri are four points ahead, and a loss here coupled with a win for them against Genoa will see them fall seven points behind.

Meanwhile, Roma will look to take advantage of Juve’s stumble against Hellas Verona to move back into third spot. The Bianconeri again wasted a good opportunity to apply major pressure on Milan by conceding to the Gialloblu; this marks their second such draw this season with the minnows. This, however, is great for the Giallorossi, who will also be looking to show that they can go toe to toe with another big side and clinch a win.

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The hosts will have to make do without Edin Dzeko, who recently suffered an injury after being reintegrated back into the squad. However, Henrikh Mkhitaryan has proven to be more than a reliable presence in attack, with the Armenian being directly involved in 17 goals for the team (nine goals, eight assists). Fonesca also continues to be without the services of veteran defender Chris Smalling, as well as Roger Ibanez, so he’ll have to improvise somewhat in defense like he did for the two-legged clash with Braga.

Milan will be missing new signing Mario Mandzukic due to a thigh injury, which will certainly be disappointing for Pioli as the former Bayern Munich and Juventus man was brought in to alleviate some of the pressure on Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The veteran striker has not been in good form lately, failing to score in Milan’s last two losses and will be aspiring to find his shooting boots in this crunch tie.

Will Roma be able to re-claim top spot, while finally getting a win over a “big” side? Or will Milan avoid matching an unwanted record while staying within touching distance of their cross-town rivals?