Roma vs Napoli: How will Giallorossi respond after setback?
Roma will be desperate to get back to winning ways as they host Napoli on Sunday. It’s been a terrible past week for the Giallorossi, who were first beaten by Juventus last Sunday, making them the first team to lose ten times at Juve’s new home ground, the Allianz Stadium. But if fans thought that defeat, which marked Roma’s third in the team’s last five games, was bad, things were only to get worse.
On Thursday, Roma took on Bodø / Glimt. The Scandinavian side aren’t exactly a household name, but a lot more people will be familiar with the Norwegian outfit following their shocking win over the Giallorossi. Prior to that result, Roma had been largely in control of their quartet and were looking good to secure a spot into the next round without much fuss – especially considering they’d won their first two matches by an aggregate score of 8 to 1.
But football truly is an unpredictable thing, and that’s a big part of why it’s so fascinating. Roma were outplayed and outclassed throughout, and by the time the dust had settled, the Lupi were left reeling following a shocking 6-1 loss. Bodø / Glimt are now the first team to successfully put six goals past a Jose Mourinho-led side, and this is only the second time a Norwegian team have scored three or more goals against an Italian side in European competition. Interestingly, the last team to do this are none other than the same Bodø / Glimt, except their victims were Sampdoria and that was during the 1994/95 UEFA Winner’s Cup.
Roma did field a dramatically different starting XI as it clearly seems Mourinho expected this game to be pretty straightforward. The highly Portuguese tactician was left ruing those mistakes and while he didn’t admit he’d underestimated the Norwegians, he was forced to concede that Bodø / Glimt were the better team on that night.
This result is just another blow for Roma, as it marks their third straight away defeat following losses in the Derby della Capitale, to Juventus, and most recently, to Bodø / Glimt. As such, the Giallorossi will be aiming to put this bad patch behind them, and will hope that their home record, which has seen them win six on the spin, could give them an added edge over visitors Napoli. It’ll be much easier said than done, though, as the Partenopei are off to a flying start under Luciano Spalletti.
Indeed, the Southern Italian club have won their last eight games, putting them on top of the table by two points. It’s their best start to a season since Maurizio Sarri was in charge during the 2017/18 campaign, and should they make it a ninth consecutive victory, Napoli will set a new club record. Their defense has been simply outstanding, as they’ve conceded just three times this season, and having won their last eight away games, the Partenopei will be aiming to cap off a fine week by winning Sunday’s Derby del Sole clash.
Will Roma be able to recover, or will things go from bad to much, much worse when Napoli arrive at the Stadio Olimpico for the first of two big Serie A games on Sunday?
