Roma fans left unhappy despite Champions League qualification

Paddy Agnew tells of unhappiness among Roma fans despite the Serie A giants qualifying for the knockout stages of the Champions League.

There are those who would say that it is all down to the “intervention” of Saint John Paul II. After all, just ask yourself what was the nationality of the man who guaranteed AS Roma’s Champions League qualification at the expense of Belorussian side BATE Borisov at the Olympic Stadium in Rome on Wednesday night.

Why, he is Polish of course, just like the late Pope John Paul II. Former Arsenal goalkeeper, Wojciech Szczesny, was the hero of the night for Roma as he pulled off at least two “miraculous” saves late in the game.

Szczesny played such a vital part in the Roma qualification that he was almost the only player not to be booed by his fans at the end of a disappointing 0-0 draw.

For that, indeed, was the surreal scene witnessed at the final whistle on Wednesday night. When it was announced over the stadium public address system that Roma had just qualified for the last 16 of the Champions League, the announcement was greeted with loud boos and jeers.

Just think about it. Your side has just qualified for the next round of the Champions League and you want to boo. So what are we to understand?

The Roma fans would have been happier with another 6-1 drubbing such as that meted out by Barcelona in their previous Champions League encounter.

Obviously, this is not the case. In theory, the Roma fans were bitterly critical of their team’s performance not just in this week’s match but in the entire qualifying group.

Roma closed the group on six points, along with German side Bayer Leverkusen, having won just one and drawn three of their six games.

Roma go into the last 16, however, thanks to the head-to-head count with Bayer with whom they drew 4-4 in Germany but whom they beat 3-2 in Rome.

Napoli fans recall ironically how two seasons ago their side failed (on goal difference) to qualify with 12 points from a group which contained Borussia Dortmund, Arsenal and Olympique Marseilles.

However, the Roma fan dissension with their club seems to go well beyond the club’s recent poor form and it’s all too patent defensive shortcomings.

Since the beginning of the season, the Roma (and Lazio) fans have been operating a “fan strike” in their curva (kop), the heart of their normally noisey and passionate support, essentially because they disapprove of new crowd barriers installed this season as a safety measure ordered by the new city Prefect, Franco Gabrielli.

The result is bewildering, bizarre and counter-productive. When it came to easily Roma’s most critical game of the season so far on Wednesday night, the Olympic Stadium was less than half full.

The game was played in a totally surreal atmosphere that was more like a reserve training game than an “in or out” Champions League decider.

There was a time, and a very good time it was too, when fans would get behind their side no matter how dissatisfied they were with the club’s management or performance.

Apparently, that sort of team loyalty does not apply to the Roma fans. One is also left with the impression that this ongoing strike situation owes more to factional fan “interest” than to new crowd barriers.

This story will run and run but, in the meantime, some of the hardine “Ultra” made themselves felt the other day by arriving at the Roma training ground of Trigoria with 50 kilos of carrots for the players, with the inscription, “Have A Good Meal, You Rabbits”.

When French coach Rudi Garcia arrived in the press room on Wednesday night, he understandably had the face of a much relieved man.

Pointing out that the club had been without its most passionate fans all season, he expressed the hope that this qualification might be a turning point that would get the side back to the quality of football it was playing at the beginning of the season, prior to that 6-1 Barcelona drubbing.

Significantly, Garcia singled out his goalkeeper Szecseny for particular praise. Szczesny had such a nightmare of a game in the first leg of this tie back in September (lost 3-2) that he ended up being dropped by Garcia in favour of the man he replaced in the Roma goal, Morgan De Santis.

Visibly satisfied with Szczesny’s performance this time, Garcia commented: “That’s what we bought him for last summer…”

Before Garcia can truly get the wheels back onto his Roma machine, however, he faces an immediate problem, namely an away encounter with second placed Napoli on Sunday.

The Napoli nerves, too, are likely to be just a little raw following an unexpected 3-2 defeat away to Bologna last Sunday, just one week after they had gone back to the top of Serie A for the first time in 25 years by beating Inter 2-1.

On a fascinating weekend, that is just one of two key games since champions Juventus meet second placed Fiorentina in Turin in one of the traditionally “hot” games of the season, made all the hotter this year by the sustained run of good form from Fiorentina.

At least, this is one game where both sides can count on 110% fan support.