Fiorentina - Roma

Arguably the game of the weekend, Roma must beat Fiorentina if they are to have any chance of qualifying for next year’s Champions League. Fiorentina and Genoa lost at the weekend, allowing Roma – who conjured up a marvellous 3-2 victory over Lecce on Sunday – to move within five points of fourth place.

A gap of just three points now separates Roma from Fiorentina, who lie sixth and fifth respectively in Serie A, and a draw is no good to both sides. Genoa, who currently occupy fourth spot, may have lost at home to Lazio on Saturday evening but they are still overwhelming favourites to qualify for the Champions League.

The Grifone travel to Bologna this weekend and will be confident of coming away with three points given their hosts have lost three of their last five games 4-1. That prospect makes it all the more important for Roma and Fiorentina to go all out for victory this weekend.

Fiorentina lost 3-1 at Udinese on Sunday, but they have recently been in a lot better form than rivals Roma. Cesare Prandelli’s side had won three on the bounce up until their trip to Friuli and appeared to have put Roma well and truly behind them.

Fiorentina looked poor in midfield on Sunday, but that was largely due to the absences of Riccardo Montolivo and Felipe Melo. Montolivo will be back at the weekend while Melo will once again be forced to sit on the sidelines and ponder his suspension.

Roma, meanwhile, did well to put Lecce to the sword, considering the number of injuries and suspensions they have in their ranks. Artur will keep his place between the sticks as Doni continues to struggle physically, while Christian Panucci is expected to pair up with Souleymane Diamoutene in central defence.

The Roma backline has been far too porous this season and has leaked 13 goals in the last five games.

Keep an eye on: Francesco Totti (Roma) – The Roma talisman scored his 174th and 175th goal in Serie A at the weekend, making him the 10th highest scorer in the history of the League. Totti is now just three goals behind Juventus legend Giampiero Boniperti and will no doubt want to overtake him by the end of the season.

Last season: Fiorentina 2-2 Roma

Form guide: Fiorentina (L W W W L) Roma (D L W L W)
Fiorentina (probable): Frey; Zauri, Dainelli, Gamberini, Pasqual; Semioli, Montolivo, Donadel, Kuzmanovic; Gilardino, Jovetic

Roma (probable): Artur; Motta, Diamoutene, Panucci, Riise; Pizarro, De Rossi; Brighi, Perrotta, Baptista; Totti

Roma have to beat Fiorentina. They have no choice really.

if roma still believe they have a chance for the CL spot then they must win this
it will be a very excitin game

I seriously wish the team, for once in this whole season .. learn from their mistakes. we have a depleted defence because of Mexeses fucking tantrums and Juan is the new mr.Glass. so a back line of Riise and Diamontene or Panucci is on the books.

we MUST score first, bare in mind Fiorentina are a much different side without Mutu.

they r different without Mutu but IMO still players like Gilardino , Montolivo n especially Jovetic can make the difference

Fiorentina r a team that have a very strong midfield IMO with Montolivo , Melo and Kuzmanovic or Donadel so it will look easier for the team that will take control of the midfield battle

possession will win this game, neither teams can do well under pressure from the opposing teams. this will be an exciting match, but i can only hope, it isnt 'too exciting', if you get what i mean.

Srour wrote:possession will win this game, neither teams can do well under pressure from the opposing teams. this will be an exciting match, but i can only hope, it isnt 'too exciting', if you get what i mean.

inorder to keep the CL 4th spot race exciting i guess a draw is not an option or else Genoa will keep on going , and i really hope Roma is the team to win n make the CL cause they r better than Genoa to represent Italy in such a grand european stage , as we saw teams like Fiorentina n Lazio fail terribly when they made the CL n also Udinese so i want italian teams to be at full strength next season n ready to make bigger impact in CL than last 2 seasons

True, Fiorentina lost to Ajax at home this season, that's just embarrassing ffs !! we need teams with expierience to represent Italy at the european stage. Though i give credit to Genoa, they have been very consistent all season but i dont see them coping with the CL pressures.

Neither will fiorentina, though they have a roster of magnificent players yet they arent performing half as good as last years semi-final uefa cup team. i think its because they sold Vieri

Roma might not have as much experience as Milan but Spalletti and the rest of the team have proved they are capable of dealing with 3 matches a week before, and have shown promise in the past. its just a shame we couldnt live up to our expectations this year, not only have are the tifosi unhappy but on the large scale we have dissapointed Italy.

i agree with u yasser
and we also see why the english representators doesnt change in CL at all
Man utd , Arsenal , Chelsea n Liverpool r the same English teams that participate in CL every season while in Italy we see new teams participate every year and unfortunatly the crush out as soon as group stages n i really dont wanna see that happen next season

i'd love to see roma make it n if not let it be Fiorentina then , they have a deeper roster n they have CL experience at least not like Genoa who will give it the 1st shot

waw i never expected Roma to give up that easy
i think now we can say that Roma is totally out of the CL 4th spot race and that Fiorentina completely deserve respect and deserve the place they lay in now and prove again that last season wasnt a coincidence.

i'm very sorry for the Roma fans and i feel so bad towards what happened to them this year but i just hope they get the support needed and come back stronger next season cause this is the spirit they need.