AT ONE point in his news conference yesterday, Tuscan-born AS Roma coach Luciano Spalletti was asked if he would be offering a couple of bottles of good Tuscan wine to his opposite number, Alex Ferguson. Spalletti grinned, shook his head and to resounding laughter said: "No, no, I'm not making him any more presents . . ."
There is no getting away from it, the memory of last year's 7-1 drubbing at Old Trafford at this same stage of the Champions League still hangs in the Rome air. As Roma prepare to host Manchester United in their quarter-final, first-leg tie at the Olympic Stadium tonight, coach Spalletti is keen to wipe out the humiliating memory of "that game" last season. No more presents.
Yet, as if that uncomfortable historical precedent was not bad enough, the weekend did not bring good news to the Roma camp. First, they were held to a 1-1 draw by little Cagliari in a game they totally dominated and should have won. Thus they lost a chance to win back further points from league leaders Inter Milan, who are still four points clear of them and who stuttered to a 1-1 away draw with Lazio on Saturday night.
Worse still was the news that Captain Courageous, Francesco Totti, would be ruled out of tonight's game (and perhaps next week's return leg too) by a thigh injury. With his battered body ever more subject to injury, Totti tends these days to play with the handbrake firmly on. He rarely looks fully fit.
Yet, as he showed when creating the winning goal for Roma in the first leg against Real Madrid one month ago, he can still be relied on for a little magic. Roma will miss him and Spalletti knows it: "In percentage terms, we lose a lot because, as you all know, he (Totti) is capable of doing extraordinary things. However, I'm looking to the team to assume even more responsibility in his absence".
In truth, Spalletti will be without another important player in World Cup winner Simone Perrotta, suspended for tonight's game. In their absence, Spalletti will look to Serb Mirko Vucinic to lead the attack, in front of a three-man attacking midfield of Brazilian Taddei, Alberto Aquilani and Brazilian Mancini, with Chilean Davide Pizarro and Daniele De Rossi playing in defensive midfield in front of the back four.
In theory, this could guarantee a solid if not overly inventive Roma attack. Spalletti, too, points out correctly that his side (unlike the two Milan sides which both went out in the last round) is currently in excellent form. Furthermore, this year's Roma is a much more "mature and experienced" team. This latter observation might well be "coach speak" for how his team learnt a bitter lesson at Old Trafford last season. On top of all that, he expects his team to get a big boost from playing in front of a jam-packed Olympic Stadium on what is always a "special night".
It all sounds convincing but one suspects that, deep down, Spalletti has to be just a little worried. On paper, he says, United are the strongest team in the world. Then, too, they have a very strong squad, featuring "outstanding players" like Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo but "we have beaten them before and beaten other good teams too".
Spalletti expects a big game from Vucinic. Brought on in the second half of the return leg against Real Madrid, Vucinic was one of the heroes of a memorable win, causing the far from watertight Real defence huge problems down the left flank.
Whether the Serb will prove as effective in a central striker role, however, remains to be seen.
United, he says, are the sort of side who have no problems taking the game to you, even away from home. Yet, he expects them to be careful tonight, underlining the ability of such as Ronaldo and Rooney to use their pace on the counter attack.
As for the much discussed question of fan violence or just how the Rome police will treat the visiting fans, Spalletti strikes a confident note. This is a "very special" occasion and he does not anticipate more of the violence that marked United's last two Champions League games in Rome. Like everyone else at Roma, Spalletti knows that the designation of next season's Champions League final, currently awarded to the Olympic Stadium here, rides on this game. Were there to be fan problems tonight, Uefa might reconsider that designation. Here is hoping that Spalletti's optimism about fan behaviour proves well placed.
