Juventus will overtake Roma in case of victory. Giallorossi have a chance to strengthen the Scudetto ambition.
The main match of the 21st round of the Italian Serie A will take place in Turin: Juventus will host Roma – teams that have a long history behind them and who do not like each other. Also, this season both are fighting for the ‘Scudetto’, and for many, it may come as a surprise that Roma are ahead of Juve in the tournament table. However, with only 1 point and the game has held more.
Roma
Overall, Roma are making a good impression this season – if not for the spoiled atmosphere in the team lately. Head coach Paulo Fonseca had a conflict with the now former captain of the team Edin Dzeko. So, the Bosnian did not train with the team for some time. Two days ago, they talked, and Dzeko returned to the training process, but the captaincy was temporarily taken away. Although the Bosnian is unplayable, with Juventus, he will probably still be in the main. On the other hand, his replacement Borja Mayoral is in great shape, who no longer leaves the field without a goal.
Roma started the crisis period with a painful defeat to Lazio (0: 3), which was followed by a loss to Spezia in the Italian Cup. However, 4 days after this loss, Roma defeated the same Spezia in Serie A with a last-minute goal (4: 3). In the previous round Verona, who had previously conceded the fewest goals in the entire league, scored 3 goals in half an hour and won easily. In short, Roma do not really look wrong and are only 6 points away from leader Milan. Another issue is that sometimes Giallorossi is unstable, which is what often characterizes this team.
Juventus
On the other side is Juventus, who cannot reduce the gap (7 points) with the Milan teams but have 1 game in stock. Juve played terribly and lost to Inter on 17 January. But they have since won five games in a row, including a visit to the same Inter final in the Italian Cup semi-final and the Italian Super Cup against Napoli.
In general, it is difficult to criticize Juve in 2021. Maybe the quality of the game sometimes leaves a desire for better. But the results this year are very good – 10 matches and 9 wins (including against Milan, Inter, Napoli). Pirlo’s team has a very hard calendar, with a close one: Inter have already played. Now Roma, on Tuesday again in the Inter Cup return semi-final, Napoli in the next round of Serie A and then already in the Champions League quarter-final with Porto!
It matters a lot how the Turin Grand overcomes this really tough schedule. By the way, Pirlo managed to play against Inter and rested 6-7 potential members of the main squad (Chiellini, Bonucci, Arthur, Chiesa, Morata, Szczesny). Now it is not ruled out that Juan Cuadrado will rest, who is an irreplaceable figure of Juve. But ahead, as we have said, is a tight calendar.
Juventus have Paulo Dybala, and Aaron Ramsey injured, while Rodrigo Bentancur has been disqualified. The situation is similar in Rome. Nicolo Zaniolo and Chris Smalling will not play due to injuries, while Lorenzo Pellegrini will be disqualified. The first match of these teams ended 2: 2. Adrien Rabiot was sent off. Still, Juve saved a point with a double by Cristiano Ronaldo.