2007–08 season | |||
Chairman | Rosella Sensi | ||
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Manager | Luciano Spalletti | ||
Serie A | 2nd | ||
Coppa Italia | Winners | ||
Champions League | Quarter-finals | ||
Top goalscorer | League: Francesco Totti (14) All: Francesco Totti (18) |
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During the 2007–08 football season A.S. Roma played the 75th Serie A season in its history. As in the previous season, Roma achieved second place in Serie A behind Internazionale, but had the chance to win the Championship until the last match.
Further, because giallorossi won the 2006–07 Coppa Italia, they played the Supercoppa Italiana for the second consecutive time against Internazionale, and won the trophy thanks to a 1–0 victory in the first match of the season in San Siro.
In the European competitions, Roma played 2007–08 UEFA Champions League and, starting from the group stage, beat Real Madrid in the Round of 16, but lost to the eventual champions Manchester United in the quarter-finals.
The last match of the season was the 2007–08 Coppa Italia final against Internazionale, the fourth consecutive final between the two teams. The giallorossi won 2-1 and achieved the trophy for the ninth time, a record shared with Juventus.
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Early pre-season was dominated by the protracted talks involving the renewal of Cristian Chivu's contract[1] and the many rumours that linked him to many other teams. In fact, the Romanian defender refused a new contract because he already knew he had an offer of about €4M from Internazionale.[2] For this reason in early June Roma extended Philippe Mexès' contract until 2011[3] and signed Brazilian 2007 Copa América winning defender Juan from Bayer 04 Leverkusen.
The speculation involving Chivu lasted almost two months, and after that he refused to extend his contract with AS Roma. The player also turned down offers from Barcelona and Real Madrid,[4] stating that if he was not transferred to Inter he would keep playing for AS Roma until his contract ran out the summer of 2008.[5] For this reason Roma's supporters saw him as a "traitor" and whistled him during a training session in Stadio Flaminio;[6] even Roma's director of football Daniele Pradé stated that the Romanian defender made "incalculable damage" to the club because Real Madrid's offer was higher than the others.[7] Eventually, on 27 July, when it seemed that Chivu would have been a giallorosso until the end of his contract period, Inter made a final offer of 14M€ plus the co-ownership of Marco Andreolli.[8]
Roma also signed Ludovic Giuly, Mauro Esposito and, at the end of August, Cicinho. The loans of Christian Wilhelmsson and Francesco Tavano were not renewed, while Vincenzo Montella was loaned to Sampdoria as he wanted more first-team football. However, Roma bought full ownership of David Pizarro, Mirko Vučinić and Marco Cassetti.
The signings of Matteo Brighi, Ahmed Barusso and Vitorino Antunes further enlarged the squad, while young players such as Aleandro Rosi, Ricardo Faty, Stefano Okaka, Valerio Virga, Alessio Cerci, Andrea Giacomini and Daniele Galloppa were loaned to lower league clubs to gain experience.[9][10]
AS Roma began the season 2007-08 on 19 August 2007 with the Supercoppa Italiana final in San Siro against Internazionale. In the previous season, Roma had lost that match 4–3, but on this occasion succeeded in winning (by 1–0) the second Supercup of its history thanks to a penalty by Daniele De Rossi after a foul by Nicolás Burdisso on Francesco Totti.[11]
The 2007–08 Serie A began with Roma as one of the favourites, after Internazionale, Milan and together with Juventus.[12] The first matches confirmed there expectations, in fact in their championship début Roma won 2-0 against Palermo with goals from Philippe Mexès and Alberto Aquilani, who also scored in the second match against Siena.
Roma were drawn from the second pot of the 2007–08 UEFA Champions League in Group F, together with Manchester United, Sporting CP and Dynamo Kyiv.
After the pause for Italy's Euro 2008 qualifying matches against France and Ukraine in which Daniele De Rossi, Simone Perrotta, Christian Panucci and Alberto Aquilani played, Roma began to play a series of difficult games in a short lapse of time: in fact, from 16 September until 3 October, they played against Reggina (winning 0-2), Dynamo Kyiv(winning 2-0), Juventus (drawing 2-2), Fiorentina (drawing 2-2), Internazionale (losing 1-4) and Manchester United (losing 1-0).
Roma won 2-0 in the first match against the Calabrese team thanks to Juan's first goal, who volleyed the ball with his heel,[13] and the second goal by Francesco Totti, who also scored in the Champions League 2-0 victory against Ukrainian champions Dynamo Kyiv.
In the following two games against Juventus and Fiorentina, Roma were leading 2-1 but were not able to win, conceding the equalizer in the last minutes of both games. After the bianconeri on Sunday, the viola on Wednesday, Roma had to face, in only one week, even Internazionale on Saturday 29 September. The giallorossi lost that match 1-4, but the defeat was assisted by a hand ball in the penalty area from Ludovic Giuly who was sent off and cost Roma a penalty, after which the numerical inferiority and the disadvantage opened the nerazzurri's overwhelming victory.[14] -
After losing their position as Serie A league leaders, Roma had to face Manchester United for the first time since their débâcle the previous season at the hands of the English champions in the quarter-finals where they had lost 7-1 . Roma lost this time too, but missed many chances,[15] and even the scorer of the only goal of the game Wayne Rooney stated that "Roma deserved more".[16] In addition to ending the first match of the season without scoring a goal, the giallorossi lost Alberto Aquilani to a groin injury[17] that would keep him out of play for more than a month,[18] preventing him from playing the derby.
Roma won the next match 3-0 against Parma, thanks to two goals by Francesco Totti and one by Mancini, thus leaving behind a poor run of two draws and two defeats before the break for the Euro 2008 qualifying matches. The following match was, instead, very disappointing, firstly because Roma played the former Derby del Sole against Napoli only with the season-ticket holders, due to the high risk of fights between the Roman and Neapolitan supporters.[19] In the second place, the match finished in a thrilling 4-4 draw, that put the giallorossi 5 points from the top of the Serie A.
In the third Champions League group stage match, Roma had to face Sporting CP and, though Francesco Totti was injured, the team won thanks to goals by Juan and Mirko Vučinić, who dribbled two Portuguese defenders before firing[20] and assuring Roma second place in Group F, after three matches. The Montenegrin captain was also the protagonist of the second consecutive victory in San Siro against Milan, scoring the only goal of the game.[21]
On 31 October 2007 the giallorossi played the Derby della Capitale against Lazio without three important first team players (Francesco Totti, Alberto Aquilani and Rodrigo Taddei), all out with injuries. Despite this, Roma won 3-2 thanks to the third goal in three matches of Mirko Vučinić (evening the score after a goal from Lazio's Tommaso Rocchi), the second goal of Mancini and the winning goal by Simone Perrotta.[22]
As of 22 December 2007:
In italics, players involved in transfer during the season
No. | Player | Pos | Lge Apps |
Lge Gls |
CL Apps |
CL Gls |
CI[23] Apps |
CI Gls |
Tot Apps |
Tot Gls |
First Match with AS Roma | Previous Club[24] | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Goalkeepers | |||||||||||||
1 | Gianluca Curci | GK | 1 (1) | -4 | 1 | -1 | 5 | -5 | 7 (1) | -10 | 19 December 2004 | AS Roma Primavera | |
25 | Carlo Zotti | GK | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 10 May 2003 | AS Roma Primavera | |
27 | Júlio Sérgio Bertagnoli | GK | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | América FC | |
32 | Doni | GK | 37 | -34 | 9 | -10 | 3 (1) | -1 | 48 (1) | -45 | 23 October 2005 | EC Juventude | |
Defenders | |||||||||||||
2 | Christian Panucci | RB | 21 (6) | 5 | 5 (1) | 1 | 5 (1) | 0 | 31 (8) | 6 | 23 September 2001 | AS Monaco FC | |
3 | Cicinho | RB | 17 (12) | 2 | 4 (3) | 0 | 5 (2) | 0 | 26 (17) | 2 | 26 August 2007 | Real Madrid | |
4 | Juan | CB | 19 (3) | 2 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 29 (3) | 3 | 2 September 2007 | Bayer Leverkusen | |
5 | Philippe Mexès | CB | 30 (1) | 1 | 9 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 43 (1) | 2 | 12 September 2004 | AJ Auxerre | |
15 | Vitorino Antunes | LB | 0 (5) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 (5) | 0 | 12 December 2007 | Paços de Ferreira | |
21 | Matteo Ferrari | CB | 16 | 0 | 3 (2) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 23 (2) | 0 | 19 September 2004 | Parma FC | |
22 | Max Tonetto | LB | 33 (2) | 1 | 6 (2) | 0 | 5 (3) | 0 | 45 (7) | 1 | 9 September 2006 | UC Sampdoria | |
77 | Marco Cassetti | RB | 21 (6) | 0 | 7 | 1 | 6 (1) | 0 | 34 (7) | 1 | 24 September 2006 | US Lecce | |
Midfielders | |||||||||||||
7 | David Pizarro | PM | 28 (3) | 3 | 7 (3) | 2 | 2 (3) | 0 | 36 (9) | 5 | 9 September 2006 | Inter Milan | |
8 | Alberto Aquilani | MF | 11 (10) | 3 | 4 (1) | 0 | 5 | 1 | 20 (11) | 4 | 10 May 2003 | AS Roma Primavera | |
11 | Rodrigo Taddei | W | 25 (1) | 6 | 6 | 1 | 3 (1) | 0 | 34 (2) | 7 | 28 August 2005 | AC Siena | |
14 | Ludovic Giuly | W | 18 (14) | 6 | 5 (4) | 2 | 6 (1) | 1 | 29 (18) | 8 | 19 August 2007 | Barcelona FC | |
16 | Daniele De Rossi | MF | 34 | 4 | 9 (1) | 0 | 7 | 1 | 50 (1) | 5 | 30 October 2001 | AS Roma Primavera | |
20 | Simone Perrotta | MF | 25 (4) | 5 | 6 | 1 | 5 (1) | 1 | 36 (5) | 7 | 12 September 2004 | Chievo Verona | |
26 | Adrian Piţ | W | - | - | - | - | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 19 December 2007 | AC Bellinzona | |
29 | Ahmed Barusso | DM | 0 (3) | 0 | 1 (1) | 0 | - | - | 1 (4) | 0 | 7 October 2007 | Rimini CFC | |
30 | Mancini | W | 27 (4) | 8 | 9 | 2 | 5 (1) | 3 | 41 (5) | 13 | 31 August 2003 | Atlético Mineiro | |
33 | Matteo Brighi | MF | 6 (18) | 1 | 0 (2) | 0 | 3 (3) | 0 | 9 (23) | 1 | 19 August 2007 | Chievo Verona | |
Forwards | |||||||||||||
9 | Mirko Vučinić | FW | 24 (9) | 9 | 4 (4) | 4 | 6 (1) | 1 | 34 (12) | 14 | 22 October 2006 | US Lecce | |
10 | Francesco Totti | FW | 24 | 14 | 6 | 1 | 3 (1) | 3 | 31 (1) | 18 | 28 March 1993 | AS Roma Primavera | |
18 | Mauro Esposito | WF | 0 (8) | 0 | 1 (5) | 0 | 1 (1) | 0 | 2 (14) | 0 | 26 September 2007 | Cagliari Calcio | |
36 | Claudio Della Penna | FW | - | - | - | - | 0 (1) | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 | 19 December 2007 | AS Roma Primavera |
1 | Palermo | 0–2 | Roma | |||
Mexès 4' Aquilani 27' |
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2 | Roma | 3–0 | Siena | |||
Aquilani 17' Giuly 82' Totti 89' |
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3 | Reggina | 0–2 | Roma | |||
Juan 50' Totti 84' |
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4 | Roma | 2–2 | Juventus | |||
Totti 30', 35' | Trezeguet 17' Iaquinta 88' |
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5 | Fiorentina | 2–2 | Roma | |||
Gamberini 24' Mutu 80' (pen.) |
Mancini 19' Giuly 37' |
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6 | Roma | 1–4 | Inter | |||
Perrotta 53' | Ibrahimović 29' (pen.) Crespo 56' J. Cruz 60' Córdoba 68' |
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7 | Parma | 0–3 | Roma | |||
Totti 2', 82' Mancini 21' |
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8 | Roma | 4–4 | Napoli | |||
Totti 30' (pen.) Perrotta 42' De Rossi 52' Pizarro 80' |
Lavezzi 29' Hamšík 46' Gargano 64' Zalayeta 85' |
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9 | Milan | 0–1 | Roma | |||
Vučinić 70' | ||||||
10 | Roma | 3–2 | Lazio | |||
Vučinić 19' Mancini 42' Perrotta 57' |
Rocchi 12' Ledesma 69' |
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11 | Empoli | 2–2 | Roma | |||
Vannucchi 57' Giovinco 90+1' |
Giuly 13' Brighi 32' |
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12 | Roma | 2–0 | Cagliari | |||
Taddei 28', 35' | ||||||
13 | Genoa | 0–1 | Roma | |||
Panucci 90' | ||||||
14 | Roma | 2–1 | Udinese | |||
Juan 11' Taddei 27' |
Quagliarella 13' | |||||
15 | Livorno | 1–1 | Roma | |||
Tristán 6' | De Rossi 5' | |||||
16 | Torino | 0–0 | Roma | |||
17 | Roma | 2–0 | Sampdoria | |||
Totti 18' (pen.), 90' | ||||||
18 | Atalanta | 1–2 | Roma | |||
Ferreira Pinto 17' | Totti 38' Mancini 44' |
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19 | Roma | 2–0 | Catania | |||
Giuly 8' De Rossi 57' (pen.) |
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20 | Roma | 1–0 | Palermo | |||
Mancini 58' | ||||||
21 | Siena | 3–0 | Roma | |||
Vergassola 12' Tonetto 42' (o.g.) Frick 83' |
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22 | Roma | 2–0 | Reggina | |||
Panucci 21' Mancini 76' |
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23 | Juventus | 1–0 | Roma | |||
Del Piero 45' | ||||||
24 | Roma | 1–0 | Fiorentina | |||
Cicinho 54' | ||||||
25 | Inter | 1–1 | Roma | |||
J. Zanetti 88' | Totti 41' | |||||
26 | Roma | 4–0 | Parma | |||
Aquilani 27' Falcone 51' (o.g.) Totti 80' Vučinić 84' |
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27 | Napoli | 0–2 | Roma | |||
Perrotta 2' Totti 49' |
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28 | Roma | 2–1 | Milan | |||
Giuly 79' Vučinić 81' |
Kaká 57' | |||||
29 | Lazio | 3–2 | Roma | |||
Pandev 44' Rocchi 58' Behrami 90+2' |
Taddei 31' Perrotta 62' |
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30 | Roma | 2–1 | Empoli | |||
Tonetto 36' Panucci 63' |
Giovinco 50' | |||||
31 | Cagliari | 1–1 | Roma | |||
Ferrari 3' (o.g.) | Totti 44' | |||||
32 | Roma | 3–2 | Genoa | |||
Taddei 14' Vučinić 17' De Rossi 79' (pen.) |
M. Rossi 58' León 59' |
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33 | Udinese | 1–3 | Roma | |||
Di Natale 51' | Vučinić 64' Taddei 71' Giuly 90+1' |
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34 | Roma | 1–1 | Livorno | |||
Vučinić 55' | Diamanti 83' | |||||
35 | Roma | 4–1 | Torino | |||
Pizarro 17' (pen.) Vučinić 19' Mancini 26', 31' |
Ventola 50' | |||||
36 | Sampdoria | 0–3 | Roma | |||
Panucci 74' Pizarro 75' Cicinho 85' |
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37 | Roma | 2–1 | Atalanta | |||
Panucci 23' De Rossi 67' |
Bellini 88' | |||||
38 | Catania | 1–1 | Roma | |||
Martínez 85' | Vučinić 8' | |||||
1 | Torino | 3–1 | Roma | |||
Recoba 12', 50' Comotto 88' |
Mancini 46' | |||||
2 | Roma | 4–0 | Torino | |||
Mancini 59' Totti 61', 73' Giuly 89' |
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1 | Sampdoria | 1–1 | Roma | |||
Ziegler 61' | Vučinić 68' | |||||
2 | Roma | 1–0 | Sampdoria | |||
Mancini 61' | ||||||
1 | Roma | 1–0 | Catania | |||
Totti 46' | ||||||
2 | Catania | 1–1 | Roma | |||
Silvestri 29' | Aquilani 27' (pen.) | |||||
Roma | 2–1 | Inter | ||||
Mexès 36' Perrotta 54' |
Pelé 60' | |||||
1 | Roma | 2–0 | Dynamo Kyiv | |||
Perrotta 9' Totti 70' |
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2 | Manchester United | 1–0 | Roma | |||
Rooney 70' | ||||||
3 | Roma | 2–1 | Sporting | |||
Juan 15' Vučinić 69' |
Liédson 19' | |||||
4 | Sporting | 2–2 | Roma | |||
Liédson 23', 65' | Cassetti 4' Ânderson Polga 89' (o.g.) |
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5 | Dynamo Kyiv | 1–4 | Roma | |||
Bangoura 62' | Panucci 4' Giuly 32' Vučinić 36', 77' |
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6 | Roma | 1–1 | Manchester United | |||
Mancini 71' | Piqué 34' | |||||
1st Leg | Roma | 2–1 | Real Madrid | |||
Pizarro 24' Mancini 58' |
Raúl 8' | |||||
2nd Leg | Real Madrid | 1–2 | Roma | |||
Raúl 75' | Taddei 73' Vučinić 90+2' |
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1st Leg | Roma | 0–2 | Manchester United | |||
Ronaldo 39' Rooney 66' |
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2nd Leg | Manchester United | 1–0 | Roma | |||
Tévez 70' | ||||||
MF | Adrian Piţ (free transfer, from Bellinzona)[25] | ||
MF | Ahmed Barusso (co-ownership from Rimini)[26] | ||
GK | Carlo Zotti (loan return from Sampdoria) | ||
MF | Daniel Unal (loan from Bellinzona) | ||
MF | David Pizarro (full ownership from Inter) | ||
MF | Edgar Álvarez (loan return from Messina) | ||
DF | Juan (full ownership from Bayer Leverkusen)[27] | ||
FW | Keivan Zarineh (free transfer, from Rieti)[25] | ||
MF | Ludovic Giuly (from Barcelona)[28] | ||
DF | Marco Andreolli (co-ownership from Inter Milan)[29] | ||
DF | Marco Cassetti (full ownership from Lecce) | ||
MF | Matteo Brighi (loan return from Chievo) | ||
MF | Mauro Esposito (co-ownership from Cagliari Calcio)[30] | ||
FW | Mirko Vucinic (full ownership from Lecce) | ||
DF | Samuel Kuffour (loan return from Livorno) | ||
FW | Shabani Nonda (loan return from Blackburn Rovers) | ||
DF | Cicinho (full ownership from Real Madrid) | ||
DF | Vitorino Antunes (loan from FC Paços de Ferreira) |
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