What was Francesco Totti thinking as he walked off the pitch at the Stadio Olimpico on Sunday, hand stroking at his stubble? Was he saying goodbye, in his own head, to the fixture that has meant the most to him? Was he asking, like the rest of us, ‘can it really end like this’?
We had been reminded, in the week leading up to the Derby della Capitale, of the impact he has made on this city. Totti’s boot sponsors, Nike, had prepared a special set of golden footwear for him to wear against Lazio. At a decidedly cheesy release event, they placed him on top of a throne. The steps leading up to his seat carried the names of the seven monarchs who ruled over Rome from 753 BC to 509 BC.
Fans and journalists have long referred to Totti as the ‘eighth king’ of his city. From his debut to today, his reign has endured for a little over 24 years, longer than 32% of Serie A players have been alive.
Before Sunday, Totti had played in 43 derbies. He had left his mark on them with goals and perhaps even more with the celebrations that followed. His 25-yard ‘cucchiaio’ to seal a 5-1 win in 2002 will not soon be forgotten, and nor will the various T-shirts, sucked thumbs, simulated childbirths or the selfie under the Curva.
This latest derby, though, he might wish to discard from his memory as quickly as possible. Totti had spoken at his boot launch about how games against Lazio felt different, saying that you do not set out to beat your neighbours but to “destroy” them. It was his team, though, that would wind up getting obliterated at the weekend.
Roma began the day with faint title hopes. Juventus’s draw with Atalanta on Friday had opened the door for them to close to within six points of the league leaders – who they still have to host next month. The Giallorossi were in form, too, having won seven of their last eight games (and drawn the other one) as they kicked out of a March slump.
Lazio, by contrast, seemed to have lost a little momentum, defeat to Napoli effectively ending their ambitions to finish in the top three. They suffered a further blow in the build-up to kick-off on Sunday, when top scorer Ciro Immobile was ruled out with a fever.
In his absence, Keita Baldé was left to start alone up front. Perhaps that was a blessing in disguise, or perhaps Simone Inzaghi simply has Roma’s number. He already outwitted Luciano Spalletti in the semi-final of the Coppa Italia, and he did so once again here.
Lazio’s 3-5-1-1 was perfectly structured to counteract opponents with a tendency to overcommit, allying defensive solidity with varied options on the break. Jordan Lukaku and Dusan Basta offered tireless running on the flanks, but Lucas Biglia was just as effective carving straight through the middle of Roma’s midfield. Keita’s pace forced Roma’s defenders back on their heels, and left space for Sergej Milinkovic-Savic to dictate play between the lines.
After a brief moment of Roma pressure to start the game, it was Keita who put Lazio in front, teasing Federico Fazio on the edge of the box before drilling a shot through Emerson’s legs and into the bottom corner. Were it not for some horrible refereeing, the game might already have been won.
After dismissing a strong penalty shout from Lazio, referee Daniele Orsato compounded his mistake by awarding one to Roma after Kevin Strootman dived shamelessly on the stroke of half-time. Daniele De Rossi’s slow-mo conversion briefly put the match back in the balance. But Basta would restore Lazio’s lead just five minutes into the second-half, before Keita made it 3-1 late on.
Totti entered the game in-between those last two Lazio goals. He had been warming up from midway through the first half, bouncing and stretching in the spring sunshine.
As he jogged on in place of De Rossi, the TV cameras picked out fans with tears in their eyes. Totti has never confirmed that this will be his final season as a player, but Roma’s general manager Mauro Baldissoni suggested as much when reminded reporters before kick-off that the captain has a six-year contract to serve as a club director waiting for him, “so he’ll get to live many more derbies, only they’ll be off the pitch.”
Surely, though, such an iconic player could not go quietly. Totti has started just a single league game for Roma this season, but so what? Was there not one last flash of magic to be found in those golden boots of his?
Alas, no. The closest Totti came to making any real impact on this game was a shot charged down outside the box. If there was an image to capture his afternoon, it was probably the one of him being nutmegged by Biglia in midfield.
Perhaps he will yet play in another derby. Asked as he left the stadium whether this was his last one, Totti suggested that “other people” were the ones making such claims. But he has also never given any clear indication that he does intend to return. And the decision, in any case, might be taken away from him if the club do not offer another playing contract.
Either way, this defeat felt like the end of an era. Spalletti, having brought such optimism when he returned to Roma last January, has fallen short of his stated goal of winning a trophy this season. He might regret his past proclamation that “I will win something, or I will go”, but it does appear that the club are preparing to start over.
Monchi’s appointment as sporting director has been confirmed, and already he has been linked with a move to bring his former Sevilla colleague Unai Emery in as manager. Whether Totti retires or not, the playing squad can likewise be expected to undergo a significant overhaul.
That is a contrast with Lazio, who should be doing everything in their power this summer to keep their existing group together. They might have stumbled into something good by accident – Inzaghi earning a promotion from caretaker to full-time manager last summer only after the club contrived to hire and then lose Marcelo Bielsa in the space of two days – but there is a lot to like about this team.
The back four (counting goalkeeper Thomas Strakosha) on Sunday were all 25 or under, with Wesley Hoedt bringing the average age down further when he came off the bench to replace fellow Holland international Stefan De Vrij. Milinkovic-Savic, enjoying a breakout season in the No10 role, is 22 years old, and Felipe Anderson, deployed as an impact sub despite leading Lazio in assists, is still just 24.
Inzaghi has shaped them into something more than the sum of their parts, a team that is dynamic, exciting, and flexible – having switched formations regularly to fit their opposition. The Champions League might be beyond them this season, but they are looking forward with relish to a Coppa Italia final with Juventus.
By beating Roma on Sunday, furthermore, Lazio ended a run of four-and-a-half years without a derby win in Serie A. We cannot say that this group of upstarts ended the reign of the eighth king of Rome. But they certainly refused to kneel down before him.
Talking points
A grim spectacle in Sardinia, where Sulley Muntari walked out of Pescara’s 1-0 defeat to Cagliari after being racially abused by a section of the crowd. He had responded to initial provocations by going to speak to a group at half-time, and apparently giving his shirt to a young fan in an attempt to set an example. But when the abuse persisted, with a different group getting involved, he called on the referee and fourth official to stop the match. Instead, he wound up getting shown a yellow card. “That’s where I got angry,” said Muntari afterwards. “Why, instead of stopping the match, did he turn on me? The fans messed up, but the referee should have done something different - not accuse me. I am not a victim. But if you stop the matches I am convinced that these things won’t happen any more.”
That Atalanta draw with Juventus was the first point that they have taken off the Bianconeri in eight years. They were fortunate not to give away a penalty when Rafael Toloi handled in the area (and this feels like an opportune moment to note that, for all the chatter about Juventus getting favourable decisions, Roma have now received 10 more penalties than the champions in Serie A this season) and required an 89th minute equaliser, but this still felt like a result earned rather than stolen. There is no greater testament to the work Gian Piero Gasperini has done in Bergamo than the fact that his players now feel confident enough to stand toe-to-toe with their opponents in games such as this.
Crotone continue to rage against the dying of the light, and after drawing at home to Milan have now taken as many points from their last five games as Juventus. Milan, meanwhile, have won just once over the same stretch.
That’s still better than Inter, whose defeat to Napoli means they have taken one point from their last five games. It was no surprise to see them outplayed by Napoli at San Siro, but this team’s capacity for self-inflicted harm was also highlighted yet again as Yuto Nagatomo gifted the ball to José Callejón for the game’s only goal.
Results: Atalanta 2-2 Juventus, Bologna 4-0 Udinese, Cagliari 1-0 Pescara, Crotone 1-1 Milan, Empoli 1-3 Sassuolo, Genoa 1-2 Chievo, Inter 0-1 Napoli, Palermo 2-0 Fiorentina, Roma 1-3 Lazio, Torino 1-1 Sampdoria
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