Euroscene: Tomorrow night, your correspondent will register a first in his football-chronicling life and times, when watching a Champions League tie played behind closed doors. Roma versus Bayer Leverkusen promises to be an intriguing game with surreal overtones.
It comes about, of course, because of UEFA sanctions imposed on the Italian club after the coin-throwing incident at Roma's home tie with Dinamo Kiev in early September. Hit and badly cut just over the eye by a coin thrown from the stands at the beginning of the half-time break that night, Swedish referee Anders Frisk decided to abandon the game.
Victory and the three points were subsequently awarded to Kiev while Roma were "punished" by being obliged to play tomorrow night's game and their other remaining home tie, against Real Madrid, behind closed doors.
The principle of the "closed doors" sanction is obvious enough. The home club are doubly penalised since they not only lose out on the valuable revenue generated by a Champions League tie but also lose out on the potentially more valuable "12th-man" element provided by passionate home crowd support.
Ironically, though, one is tempted to suggest Roma's loss tomorrow night will be exclusively pecuniary. Such is the tense nature of relations between Roma and their fans the players may well be perfectly happy to play a big match with no supporters present.
For example, when the Roma team bus pulled into the Olympic Stadium on Sunday afternoon before an emphatic 5-1 drubbing of Cagliari, it was met with a cheerful little barrage of eggs. Other fans had hoped to distribute carrots by way of underlining the Roma players were merely "cowardly rabbits".
Later, when the Roma team trotted out for the pre-match warm-up, they were greeted with a cacophony of whistles. Even two goals in the opening six minutes from Greek defender Traianos Dallas and captain Francesco Totti, were met with almost total indifference.
Only when Cagliari's Honduran striker David Suazo pulled one back for Cagliari, did the Roma fans warm to their task, booing and jeering their own goalkeeper, reserve Carlo Zotti. Later when Italian football's very own boy wonder, Roma's Antonio Cassano, was substituted, he too was greeted with jeers and whistles.
For the uninformed, the explanation for this bizarre fan behaviour was there to be seen, written in large letters on several banners among the Roma faithful in the Curva Sud. "Turin, 28-10-04, Unworthy Roma Players" was written on one barrier, while another, more pointedly read: "All Of You, Just Go And Play For Juventus".
October 28th, of course, referred to Thursday evening when Roma were beaten 2-0 at the Stadio Delle Alpi in Turin by runaway league leaders Juventus. In case you still have not understood, there is only one thing a Roma fan hates more than losing to Juventus - losing to city rivals Lazio.
Roma's summer of three coaches (Cesare Prandelli, German Rudi Voeller and current incumbent Gigi Del Neri), not to mention a poor start in Serie A (joint 9th, 13 points behind Juventus after just nine games) and an even worse start in the Champions League (three straight defeats to Dinamo Kiev, Real Madrid and Bayer Leverkusen) have all left the fans less than happy.
At other clubs, this would be the moment for the fans to come together and get behind the team. At Roma, this is the moment to throw eggs and carrots, to jeer and whistle.
Hence, the Roma players may not be too upset at playing behind closed doors tomorrow night. In any event, the game risks being entirely irrelevant. After three defeats and with the other three teams tied on six points, Roma are already out of the Champions League all but mathematically.
But what about Bayer Leverkusen? Will it help their quest for a place in the next round to find themselves playing in an empty stadium, peopled only by 150 team officials and about 200 journalists? Will the lack of atmosphere, the lack of buzz undermine Bayer? Whatever the answers, it promises to be an evening to remember at the Olimpico tomorrow night.
