the extra man of Roma mourinhana
Unfortunately, Dybala and Wijnaldum are in the infirmary. Zaniolo is disqualified. It’s up to Lollo (and to Abraham too, hopefully) to take this plastered Rome by the hand to continue to take it around that Europe which, just a few months ago, gave him and us a forgotten and unforgettable joy. Imagine if Lorenzo Pellegrini, the Captain, is one who is scared to take on his responsibilities. He will do it, as he always did in a career where, often and unwillingly, he had to deal with criticisms probably illegitimate daughters of a legacy called Francesco Totti and Daniele De Rossi.
After all, he’s used to having his eyes on us since he was little more than a kid. Since he was the following talent of that economic and technical bank that has always been the Giallorossi youth sector. A predestined, they said. They were right. For those who still weren’t convinced, a certain Josè Mourinho thought about it last season to sweep away the doubts (not at all, but we will make a reason) explaining that if he had had three Lorenzo Pellegrini he would have always sent them on the field. all three, one in defense, one in midfield, the third in attack, underlining, in fact, the size of a player across the board.
More or less history is repeating itself in this second mourinhana season as well. If he is well and even if he is not exactly one hundred percent, the first jersey of the starting lineup, the Special One, will be handed over to his and our Captain. Almost that the technician could not do without Lollo. There is to understand. The Giallorossi last season is the best career of his still young for the career years last June, leader and goalscorer of a Roma that after fourteen has returned to win a trophy and how handsome Lollo was when he lifted the Conference in the sky of Tirana in the delirium of the Giallorossi fans and of a city that was taking to the streets overwhelmed by a joy for too long postponed.
Now, in this moment of more European difficulty than in the league, with Dybala, Celik and Wijnaldum returning next year, with Zaniolo who will not be there tonight in Seville for the behavioral nonsense in the final of the first leg against Betis, it will touch to the Captain indicating the way to his Rome on how to get back in the running to build a future in the Europa League. Moreover, for Pellegrini, Europe is already a well-known and popular dimension. And it is a dimension that he has always liked, confirming a caliber that is also certified by the twenty-three appearances in the Azzurri jersey (with five goals scored, one scored by a winger) with which he did not become European champion just because before the away, a cursed injury prevented him from leaving and thus participating in that extraordinary ride that ended with the triumph of Wembley.
Tonight, to say, in Seville, Pellegrini will play his fifty-first match in the European cups. The first five with the Sassuolo shirt (in the Europa League and first European goal scored at Genk back in 2016 when he had just turned twenty); the remaining forty-five with his shirt and our heart (14 in the Champions League with a goal at CSKA, 19 in the Europa League with 4 goals, 12 in the Conference with 5 goals for a total of eleven goals scored, basically one every five games) . And perhaps it is no coincidence that in this season in which he is not having the same confidence with the opponent’s goal (and dear Lollo it would be better if I did not make a problem of it) demonstrated in the past (fourteen total goals, personal best of the player), so far the only goal he has scored has been in Europe, according to the Finns at the Olimpico, one of the least beautiful, with the ball that hit him and then ended up in the net almost without Lollo leaving notice.
But goal or not goal, Pellegrini tonight is called to take back that role of leader that is not assigned only for a matter linked to the captain’s armband. There is a need to go back to seeing the European Roma of last season and to see them again, one cannot help but think of a protagonist Pellegrini. With Wijnaldum, Celik and Dybala absent, tonight in Seville we will see the same Roma on the pitch (probably apart from Matic), the one with two strikers and Lollo as support to go and hurt the opposing team. Mourinho said something that was perhaps trivial, yesterday that to win games you need to score. Here, against Bere Pellegrini and Roma, continue that confidence with the goal necessary to return to breathe the scents.