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Five things we learnt from Tottenham Hotspur and Roma’s first competitive meeting
Blogs

Five things we learnt from Tottenham Hotspur and Roma’s first competitive meeting

29/11/24 13:36

What did we learn from Spurs 2-2 Roma?

Tottenham Hotspur hosted AS Roma in the two teams’ first ever meeting outside of friendly pre-season games last night in North London. The score ended 2-2 with Roma’s injury time equaliser punishing Spurs for all the chances they did not take. Here are five things to take away from the matchday five Europa League fixture:

1 - Mats Hummels had a dramatic day at the office

At the age of 35, Mats Hummels is now a legend of German football making over 600 appearances for Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, as well as being world champion with his country. This summer marked his first move away from his homeland, with Rome his final destination. Hummels had been limited to two appearances off the bench this season until last night when he completed his first full 90 for Roma.

It was an eventful first start for the centre half, giving away a penalty within the opening five minutes for a mistimed challenge on Pape Matar Sarr. However, he had a true stereotypical ‘zero to hero’ moment when he prodded home an unmissable open goal chance in the 92nd minute of the game to bring the scoreline to 2-2. It was an unforgettable evening on the German’s first full club debut in over 15 years.

2 - Fullbacks changed the game

Watching the game, it was clear that both sides utilised their fullbacks as one of their biggest strategies going forward. With Roma, it was Angelino, Zeki Çelik and later Nicola Zalewski on either side of Ranieri’s three centre-halves (when defending) who would galavant forward and look to cross the ball to target man, Artem Dobvyk. This move was executed for Dobvyk’s offside goal in the second half when Çelik received the ball in a high position on the right wing, proceeding to hit a low-driven cross right to the Ukrainian striker’s feet.

Ange Postecoglou also used his fullbacks in advanced positions despite installing a back four formation. If Archie Gray or Pedro Porro wanted to progress forward, the likes of Sarr could provide cover on the left and Radu Dragusin on the right. This led to Porro and the aforementioned Angelino having a combined eight shots, a high total for a pair of fullbacks. The four starting wide defenders ended up having a combined total of 22 attempted crosses, with Angelino picking up an assist for Roma’s second equaliser.

3 - Dejan Kulusevski is (still) a baller

Dejan Kulusevski is having a brilliant season in North London, whilst he does not have a lot of goal contributions (2 goals & 3 assists in the Premier League, 0 goals & 1 assist in the Europa League) it is his playstyle which has such a huge influence on any of Spurs’ success. An absolute joy to watch, Kulusevski finds freedom as part of a midfield three behind the front three.

Last night playing alongside Rodrigo Bentancur - who was happy to sit back often as far as the defensive line - the Swede could join in every attack and slot in on either wing whenever Brennan Johnson or Son Heung-Min found themselves out of position. Spurs’ second goal last night highlighted this brilliantly after Son tracked back to win the ball back deep into his own half, Kulusevski drifted out to the left wing and found the space to provide a perfect pass into the box for Johnson to latch onto.

His influence is also reflected in statistics, having the most progressive carries (47) out of the whole Tottenham squad in the Premier League. He also has the most shot-creating (61) actions for Spurs in the Premier League and 307 touches in the attacking third.

4 - Claudio Ranieri is not ready to retire

In May of this year, Claudio Ranieri announced that he would be leaving Cagliari and that it would be the final club he’d coach. Fast forward six months and the 73-year-old manager could not stay away from the game, becoming Roma’s third manager already in a disastrous start to their 24/25 campaign. His first two games in his third spell as the club’s manager have seen an instant improvement losing narrowly to league leaders Napoli last weekend, and now getting a result away at Tottenham. His tough 3-4-3 formation proved to be strong enough to fend off Spurs’ 21 shots and limit the scoreline to a draw whilst creatives like Paulo Dybala and Stephan El Shaarawy created the chances at the other end of the pitch.

Ranieri’s challenge in Italy’s capital will not be easy, the club are sitting at a lowly 12th in the Serie A with three wins from 13 games, seeing themselves 16 points off the top spot and 15 points away from a Champions League place. That being said Roma’s first XI is not weak and the right manager could soon have the club performing week in and week out.

5 - Both sides still face uncertain futures in the competition

The exciting nature of the new league phase means that it looks like most teams will not know their fate in the competition until the final day. With just three matchdays left Spurs are in 9th and outside of the top eight automatic qualifying spots. They’re joined on 10 points by four other clubs and just a single point behind Galatasary in 4th. Only games against Rangers, Hoffenheim and Elfsborg remain with two wins from three potentially all it will take for a bye to the round of 16.

AS Roma on the other hand are in a much more dire position in 21st with one win from five games. This would currently qualify them for the first knockout round which looks a likely outcome as the Wolves are four points and 12 spots away from the top eight. With matchups against Braga, AZ Alkmaar and Eintracht Frankfurt remaining Roma will have to be careful that they do not slip below 24th and out of the competition completely.

Benji Kosartiyer
Journalist
James McLeish

Writer

UEFA Europa League
24/10/24 16:45
AS Roma

AS Roma

Dynamo Kyiv

Dynamo Kyiv

8/5
Roma to Win to Nil
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