After their disappointing start, AS Roma and Juventus collide in the Serie A second matchday clash and both sides will be looking for their first three points of the new season.
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“It’s going to be a cracker of a game but I want to see us going out with far more intensity than we had against Verona“.
Despite dominating large swaths of their maiden contest with Udinese, the Bianconeri were beaten by the first shot they faced and went down to a 1-0 defeat – their first, opening-day home loss in club history.
Rudi Garcia will be hoping that his team can get closer to Juventus this campaign, after finishing 17 points behind the Old Lady for the past two seasons. And that team just happens to be Juventus, who enter the 2015-16 season gunning for a fifth straight Serie A title. He has made a number of new additions to his playing squad, with the likes of Edin Dzeko, Mohamed Salah and Iago Falque brought in to bolster their attack.
The Giallorossi stumbled to a 1-1 draw at Verona last week when right-back Alessandro Florenzi hit a late leveller.
Garcia, whose side is seen by many as the biggest threat to Juventus’s dominance over Italian football, wants Roma to start as if they were already chasing the game and press the defending champions from the word go. Recent addition Lucas Digne is in line for his debut at left-back, following the completion of his transfer from French champions Paris Saint-Germain.
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There has been speculation about where Cuadrado will fit into Coach Massimiliano Allegri’s plans, but the Colombian worldwide assures he’s happy in a number of roles.
Allegri has an embarrassment of riches up front but after Mario Mandzukic missed several opportunities against Udinese, Argentinian Paulo Dybala could partner Alvaro Morata on what will be the Spaniard’s league opener.
“Serie A is not a 100 metre race but a marathon”, Allegri said.
Roma entered this season on a wave of optimism and it is hard to dispute the rationale behind such unbridled expectation. 2013-2014 was such a revelation, everything worked and everything came so easily, but last season was the reverse; we had to scratch and claw just to manage draws, so we’re not quite sure where Garcia stands. We must play to win and make home advantage count for us.
Milan lost their first Serie A game under Mihajlovic last week, 2-0 at Fiorentina.
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The Bosnian has the chance to announce himself to the Curva Sud, and for a player with vast experience of playing at the top level, he will take that chance. At the end of the day, Sunday’s fixture between the two Italian giants will make for a great game to watch.
