As far as entertainment goes, today’s Sampdoria vs. Roma had all the ingredients required of a soccer match: goals, cards (of various colours), and… oh yes, this is Serie A after all, reffing mistakes. For a Sunday morning, it certainly beats waking up to watch Chelsea vs. Manchester City I think… (bitter? who me?).
But in all seriousness, I got up early today primarily because I was curious on just how Spalletti would handle his injury crisis (as a Juve fan I can relate, you see…) and I have to say the Giallorossi can be pretty satisfied with their final 2-2 result, especially given the turn this game had taken after Motta’s red card. Can we talk about the “post-elimination aftershock” I was mentioning in Juve-Bologna? Partially. A draw certainly isn’t the best way to rebound from an Champions League elimination. It must also be said Roma’s roster featured nearly 1/3 of Primaveras.
Discussions aside, the match was also (very surprisingly) a game of redemption for Julio Baptista (who had been so terrible mid-week) and (less surprisingly) one of confirmation for Giampaolo Pazzini, whose entente with Cassano is screaming more and more of perfection.