After his debut with defeat in Naples in the championship, Claudio Ranieri he will make his debut tonight on the Roma bench also in Europe. The complicated match in London against Tottenham is scheduled for 9pm. The Giallorossi are looking for a turning point and a positive result could help a lot. “Yes, it would be important both for morale and for the standings,” said the Giallorossi coach in a press conference the day before. “Tottenham is – continues Ranieri – in an excellent moment. The last games they have played have been incredible. Tottenham grind, play, hammer you, press. I love that type of football. The coach is doing an excellent job. I congratulate you.”
In Rome everyone is wondering if Mats Hummels and especially Paulo Dybala will be involved. “Dybala doesn’t suffer from any pain. But I repeat: it’s one thing to have Dybala – the coach underlined again in the press conference – and it’s one thing not to have him. That’s why I put him in those minutes. He asked me to stay with the team, otherwise I would never have brought him to Naples. I just asked him not to get hurt.” And Hummels instead? Will there be or not? “Hummels is an incredible player, he has experience in Europe, which is why he showed up at the conference. He played the first 45 minutes, let’s see if he has recovered. I’m calm from this point of view”, Ranieri’s words.
In addition to the coach, Hummels himself spoke at the press conference and sent an important message regarding the Roma choice: “The main reason is that when I came I hadn’t trained for three months. I expected something different. Now there will come moments to demonstrate what I’m doing in training. What matters now is to reverse the trend not only on a personal level but also that of the team. I don’t regret coming here.”