Roma starving to beat Chelsea, old rival Conte

Published on: 17 October 2017

There are few things that Roma fans like more than getting one over on a Juventino. And if in recent years Juve have merrily stomped on the Giallorossi as they have the rest of Serie A, Wednesday night's Roma-Chelsea match offers Romanisti the chance to down one of their oldest and most loathed enemies -- manager Antonio Conte. And it's one of the players Conte most admires who will be key in deciding whether Roma return to the Eternal City as victors.

Radja Nainggolan rebuffed Chelsea's advances just before Conte made his Premier League-winning trip to London, and in June the "Ninja" claimed that the former Italy manager hadn't spoken to him since he decided to remain in the Italian capital, where he has settled with his Sardinian wife, Claudia, and young daughter. If fellow Belgian Dries Mertens is an adopted Neapolitan, Nainggolan is his Roman equivalent, and he's not been shy about showing it.

"I think he's still a bit angry with me for last year, maybe," Nainggolan said to Mediaset's Tiki Taka programme. "I keep saying the same thing: I get attached to the clubs where I am and, if you gain a certain degree of respect there, it's because you've given something to the club. I have a good life here, I like playing where I am."

Either that or Conte took objection to Nainggolan's fierce anti-Juve outburst that was secretly filmed by Roma fans. Conte might be holding the coaching reins at Chelsea but he is Juve through and through. Over 13 years as a Juventus player -- during which time he had two spells as team captain -- he won five league titles, the Champions League, the UEFA Cup and a host of other minor trophies. His combative playing style has passed over into his coaching, and it was his admiration for physically tough players that brought him to Nainggolan's door.

That the Old Lady is the Queen of Italy is thanks in large part to Conte, as when he arrived at Vinovo in 2011 he (helped by the newly inaugurated Juventus Stadium and sporting director Giuseppe Marotta) reinvigorated a moribund team that had finished seventh two seasons in a row and took them to three straight Scudetti, smashing league records and laying the groundwork for successor Massimiliano Allegri to re-establish Juve as a European force.

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For the last six years, Roma -- like the rest of Italy -- have only been able to watch on as Juve made the league title their personal property. That has been deeply frustrating for Romanisti -- and therefore Nainggolan -- who saw their team create new club points and goal-scoring records last season but never lay a glove on Juventus. Wednesday is a chance to both give a bloody nose to the architect of that dominance and make some headway in Europe.

Roma go into the Stamford Bridge clash knowing that the next two matches are crucial for their Champions League survival. Atleti are stuck on one point after failing to capitalise on their dominance at the Stadio Olimpico and being given a football lesson by Chelsea at the Wanda Metropolitano, but Diego Simeone's side are sure to pick up maximum points from their two matches with minnows Qarabag, meaning that by the time that Roma travel to Madrid in late November Los Colchoneros will have seven points.

One win over Chelsea this month, or even two draws, would give Roma a fighting chance of qualifying for the round of 16, with their following match at home to Qarabag while Chelsea and Atleti face off at the Bridge.

Conte confirmed on Tuesday that Alvaro Morata is back in contention for a starting place, and given Chelsea's dip in form without the Spanish striker, you'd have to bet on him being in the first XI come kick off. That makes Roma's task that much more difficult, and it brings up the fearful prospect of Eden Hazard taking on the erratic Bruno Peres on the same flank that, in tandem with Morata, the Belgian did so much damage against Atleti on matchday two.

Where Roma can hurt Chelsea, and where Nainggolan (and Kevin Strootman, assuming he's fully recovered from his thigh injury) becomes crucial, is the midfield, where coach Eusebio Di Francesco has his strongest players. N'Golo Kante's absence for Chelsea is a huge boost for the Giallorossi, as it leaves the Blues' back three that little bit more exposed. Cesc Fabregas has shown on numerous occasions that he can be bullied by physical midfielders, and Di Francesco must surely be thinking about using his Ninja to rough up the Spaniard and break up Chelsea's rhythm.

Source: espn.co.uk

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