Totti: Roma can only hope for top-four fight in Serie A

Roma great Francesco Totti shared his thoughts on the Italian club's chances this season.

Published : Aug 29, 2019 10:35 IST

Roma celebrate a goal in Serie A
Roma celebrate a goal in Serie A
lightbox-info

Roma celebrate a goal in Serie A

Francesco Totti believes Roma can only hope to fight for fourth place in Serie A as he raised concerns over the state of the team.

Roma opened its league campaign with a thrilling 3-3 draw at home to Genoa after surrendering leads in the Italian capital last week.

It was a busy off-season for Roma, which hired head coach Paulo Fonseca and signed Leonardo Spinazzola, Amadou Diawara, Pau Lopez, Jordan Veretout and Gianluca Mancini following last season's sixth-place finish.

Roma, meanwhile, lost star defender Kostas Manolas, Luca Pellegrini, Daniele De Rossi, Stephan El Shaarawy and Steven Nzonzi.

Club great Totti – who left his role as Roma director in June after a 30-year association with the Giallorossi – said Fonseca's side has a battle on its hands to qualify for the Champions League.

"Simone Inzaghi has put together an excellent Lazio, even if Roma are stronger on paper. They are to be feared," Totti told Radio Radio ahead of the Derby della Capitale on Sunday.

 

'Juventus the team to beat'

"This is certainly a different type of season for me, as watching Roma play on television on Sunday made me think. It's my decision and I continue to stand by it, but as a fan I hope the club can do something more in the final few days of the transfer window to ensure Roma can at least compete for a place in the Champions League.

"I hope that I'm wrong, but when you've been in football for 30 years, you have a good eye. I think many fans like me hope to see a great Roma that can get back into the Champions League and hope the club is working in that direction.

"I still maintain Juventus are the team to beat this season, as they are strong both as a team and a club, but this year Inter and Napoli reinforced and I see a different type of campaign.

"I think the top three are already decided, then anything can happen after that. Unfortunately, Roma can only hope to fight for fourth place. That is the reality of the situation, seeing what happened in pre-season.

"Napoli and Inter can trouble Juve to the end, but we all know that when they need to step on the gas, Juve do it all the way."

Sign in to unlock all user benefits
  • Get notified on top games and events
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign up / manage to our newsletters with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early bird access to discounts & offers to our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide to our community guidelines for posting your comment