Hellas Verona held title chasing Roma to a 1-1 draw in the first game of the 2015-16 Serie A season at the Stadio Bentegodi overnight.
Bosko Jankovic gave the hosts the lead early in the second-half, but his strike was cancelled out shortly after by a long-range effort from Alessandro Florenzi.
With much of the talk in the build up discussing Roma’s chances of ending their 14-year wait for the Scudetto, Rudi Garcia’s men will be disappointed to drop points at the first step of the campaign.
Full-back position still an issue
The last time Roma won Serie A, they had one of the best fullbacks of all time among their ranks. Cafu, ‘Il Pendolino’ (the Express Train) as he was nicknamed by the Roma faithful, was a leader in the great side under Fabio Capello, superb going forward and in defence. The same can not be said about the current crop of fullbacks at the club.
Vasilis Torosidis worked tirelessly throughout the game against Verona and on the whole was solid. But for the hosts’ goal he failed to track the run of Jankovic, which cost the Giallorossi all three points. On the other side, Alessandro Florenzi was great, moving forward with ease and was rewarded with his fantastic goal. The effort poses questions for Garcia.
Florenzi is an attacking-midfielder, but played in defence last season out of necessity. The Roman born player took to the position with ease and has stayed there ever since. But his long term future is undoubtedly in an more advanced role. With the arrival of Lucas Digne from Paris-Saint Germain immanent, Garica still needs to find the right balance on either side of his centre-backs.
New signing need time
Edin Dzeko received a hero’s welcome in Rome, thousands of fans greeting him at the airport when he landed in the Italian capital. The same welcome was given to Mohamed Salah. Yet, neither made a huge impact on their competitive debuts for the club.
At times they looked sharp and at others a bit off the pace. ‘Mixed’ would be the right word to describe the performances of the two players. Dzeko has never played in Italy before and is likely to need further time to adapt., meanwhile Salah excelled at Fiorentina in the second-half of last season and will be disappointed with his showing in Verona. Patience is key for fans with their new and exciting talents.
No love lost in fair Verona.
The city of Verona is famous for one thing, Romeo and Juliet. The William Shakespeare tragedy was based in the far northern city in Italy and is the most well know love story in the world. Yet not many teams will travel to Verona and experience the same effect.
Verona are a solid team who a strong at home. With the experienced forward partnership of Luca Toni and Giampaolo Pazzini, they will cause any team problems. Not many opposition sides will win at the Stadio Bentegodi this season and by the end of the campaign, Roma may look back at this result as one point gained rather than two dropped.
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A True Roman Hero
Leandro Castan is not a well known defender, but may well come into the spotlight in 2015-16. Last season he only played one game for Roma before being diagnosed with a rare brain disease, yett the Brazilian has fought his way back and starred for Roma in Verona. He was easily the team’s best defender and a candidate for man of the match.
It is a remarkable comeback for a player who only a matter of months ago was lying on a hospital bed unsure if he will ever play the sport again. Castan’s story is heart-warming and truly inspiring.
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