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2007–08 AS Roma season

During the 2007–08 season Associazione Sportiva Roma played the 75th Serie A season in its history.

As in the previous season, Roma finished in 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 Inter, 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, their ninth Coppa Italia triumph.

Season review[edit]

Pre-season & transfers[edit]

Early pre-season was dominated by the protracted talks involving the renewal of Cristian Chivu's contract^[2] 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.^[3] For this reason in early June Roma extended Philippe Mexès' contract until 2011^[4] and signed Brazilian 2007 Copa América winning defender Juan from Bayer Leverkusen.

The speculation involving Chivu lasted almost two months, and after that he refused to extend his contract with Roma. The player also turned down offers from Barcelona and Real Madrid,^[5] stating that if he was not transferred to Inter he would keep playing for Roma until his contract ran out the summer of 2008.^[6] For this reason Roma's supporters saw him as a "traitor" and whistled him during a training session in Stadio Flaminio;^[7] 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.^[8] 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.^[9]

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.^[10][11]

First part of the season[edit]

Roma began the 2007–08 season on 19 August 2007 with the Supercoppa ItalianainSan Siro against Internazionale. In the previous season, Roma had lost the Supercoppa 4–3, but on this occasion succeeded in winning (by 1–0) the second Supercoppa in its history, thanks to a penalty by Daniele De Rossi after a foul by Nicolás BurdissoonFrancesco Totti.^[12]

The 2007–08 Serie A began with Roma as one of the favourites, after Internazionale, Milan and together with Juventus.^[13]

The first matches confirmed pre-season expectations of a successful campaign, as Roma started well with a 2–0 win against Palermo with goals from Philippe Mexès and Alberto Aquilani, who also scored in the second match against Siena.

Roma qualified for the 2007–08 UEFA Champions League after finishing second in the 2006–07 season, qualifying directly to the group stage, where they were drawn from the second pot into 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 entered a difficult period of fixtures over a short span of time: from 16 September until 3 October, the giallorossi played against Reggina (winning 2–0), Dynamo Kyiv (winning 2–0), Juventus (drawing 2–2), Fiorentina (drawing 2–2), Internazionale (losing 4–1) and Manchester United (losing 1–0).

Roma won 2–0 in the first match against the Calabrese team thanks to Juan's first goal, a volley with his heel, and the second goal by Francesco Totti, who also scored in the 2–0 victory against Ukrainian champions Dynamo Kyiv. In the following two games against Juventus and Fiorentina, Roma led 2–1 but failed to hold on for the win, conceding the equalizer in the last minutes of both games.

After having played Juventus on Sunday and Fiorentina on Wednesday, Roma faced champions Inter on Saturday, 29 September. The giallorossi lost 4–1, but the defeat was abetted by a handball 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 game's only goal, 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 their 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. After the international break Roma played out a thrilling 4–4 draw against Napoli.

In the third Champions League group stage match, Roma had to face Sporting CP and, though Totti was injured, the team won thanks to goals by Juan and Mirko Vučinić, who dribbled two Portuguese defenders before scoring 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.^[19]

On 31 October 2007 the giallorossi played the Derby della Capitale against Lazio without three important first team players (Totti, Alberto Aquilani and Rodrigo Taddei), all out with injury. Despite this, Roma won 3–2 thanks to the third goal in three matches from Mirko Vučinić (evening the score after a goal from Lazio's Tommaso Rocchi), the second goal of the league campaign for Mancini and the winning goal by Simone Perrotta.^[20]

Players[edit]

Squad information[edit]

Last updated on 18 May 2008

Appearances include league matches only

No.	Name	Nat	Position(s)	Date of birth (Age at end of season)	Signed from	Signed in	Apps.	Goals
Goalkeepers
1	Gianluca Curci		GK	(1985-07-12)12 July 1985 (aged 22)	Youth Sector	2004	29	0
25	Carlo Zotti		GK	(1982-09-03)3 September 1982 (aged 25)	Palermo	2001	14	0
27	Júlio Sérgio		GK	(1978-11-08)8 November 1978 (aged 29)	América	2006	0	0
32	Doni		GK	(1979-10-22)22 October 1979 (aged 28)	Juventude	2005	97	0
Defenders
2	Christian Panucci (Vice-Captain)		RB / CB	(1973-04-12)12 April 1973 (aged 35)	Monaco	2001	207	17
3	Cicinho		RB	(1980-06-24)24 June 1980 (aged 28)	Real Madrid	2007	30	2
4	Juan		CB	(1979-02-01)1 February 1979 (aged 29)	Bayer Leverkusen	2007	22	2
5	Philippe Mexès		CB	(1982-03-30)30 March 1982 (aged 26)	Auxerre	2004	113	7
13	Marco Andreolli		CB	(1986-06-10)10 June 1986 (aged 22)	Internazionale	2007	0	0
15	Vitorino Antunes		LB	(1987-04-01)1 April 1987 (aged 21)	Paços de Ferreira	2007	5	0
21	Matteo Ferrari		CB	(1979-12-05)5 December 1979 (aged 28)	Parma	2004	78	2
22	Max Tonetto		LB	(1974-11-18)18 November 1974 (aged 33)	Sampdoria	2006	65	1
77	Marco Cassetti		RB	(1977-05-29)29 May 1977 (aged 31)	Lecce	2006	55	2
Midfielders
7	David Pizarro		CM / DM	(1979-09-11)11 September 1979 (aged 28)	Internazionale	2006	63	4
8	Alberto Aquilani		CM / AM	(1984-07-07)7 July 1984 (aged 23)	Youth Sector	2002	88	7
11	Rodrigo Taddei		LM / RM / AM	(1980-03-06)6 March 1980 (aged 28)	Siena	2005	93	19
14	Ludovic Giuly		RW / AM	(1976-07-10)10 July 1976 (aged 31)	Barcelona	2007	32	6
16	Daniele De Rossi		DM / CM	(1983-07-24)24 July 1983 (aged 24)	Youth Sector	2001	155	17
20	Simone Perrotta		LM / CM / AM	(1977-09-17)17 September 1977 (aged 30)	Chievo	2004	128	21
30	Mancini		LW / RW / AM	(1980-08-01)1 August 1980 (aged 27)	Venezia	2003	154	40
33	Matteo Brighi		CM	(1981-02-14)14 February 1981 (aged 27)	Juventus	2004	24	1
Forwards
9	Mirko Vučinić		CF / ST	(1983-10-01)1 October 1983 (aged 24)	Lecce	2006	58	11
10	Francesco Totti (Captain)		AM / LW / SS / CF / ST	(1976-09-27)27 September 1976 (aged 31)	Youth Sector	1992	395	165
18	Mauro Esposito		RW	(1979-06-13)13 June 1979 (aged 29)	Cagliari	2007	8	0
36	Claudio Della Penna		RW / LW	(1989-05-12)12 May 1989 (aged 19)	Youth Sector	2007	0	0
Players transferred during the season
17	Édgar Álvarez		RM	(1980-01-09)9 January 1980 (aged 28)	Peñarol	2005	21	0
28	Aleandro Rosi		RB	(1987-05-17)17 May 1987 (aged 21)	Youth Sector	2004	37	2
29	Ahmed Barusso		CM	(1984-12-26)26 December 1984 (aged 23)	Rimini	2007	3	0
31	Samuel Kuffour		CB	(1976-09-03)3 September 1976 (aged 31)	Bayern Munich	2005	21	0

Transfers[edit]

In[edit]

—	MF	ROU	Adrian Piț (free transfer, from Bellinzona)[21]
—	MF	GHA	Ahmed Barusso (co-ownership from Rimini)[22]
—	GK	ITA	Carlo Zotti (loan return from Sampdoria)
—	MF	SUI	Daniel Unal (loan from Bellinzona)
—	MF	CHI	David Pizarro (full ownership from Internazionale)
—	MF	HON	Édgar Álvarez (loan return from Messina)
—	DF	BRA	Juan (full ownership from Bayer Leverkusen)[23]
—	FW	ITA	Keivan Zarineh (free transfer, from Rieti)[21]
—	MF	FRA	Ludovic Giuly (from Barcelona)[24]
—	DF	ITA	Marco Andreolli (co-ownership from Internazionale)[25]
—	DF	ITA	Marco Cassetti (full ownership from Lecce)
—	MF	ITA	Matteo Brighi (loan return from Chievo)
—	MF	ITA	Mauro Esposito (co-ownership from Cagliari)[26]
—	FW	MNE	Mirko Vučinić (full ownership from Lecce)
—	DF	GHA	Samuel Kuffour (loan return from Livorno)
—	FW	COD	Shabani Nonda (loan return from Blackburn Rovers)
—	DF	BRA	Cicinho (full ownership from Real Madrid)
—	DF	POR	Vitorino Antunes (loan from Paços de Ferreira)

Out[edit]

—	FW	NGA	Adewade Dauda Wahab (loan, to Bellinzona)
—	FW	ITA	Alessandro Simonetta (full ownership, to Arezzo)
—	FW	ITA	Alessandro Tulli (co-ownership renewed, to Lecce)
—	FW	ITA	Alessio Cerci (loan, to Pisa)[27]
—	MF	ITA	Andrea Giacomini (loan, to Vicenza)[28]
—	MF	SWE	Christian Wilhelmsson (end of loan, to Nantes)
—	DF	ROU	Cristian Chivu (toInternazionale)[29]
—	DF	ITA	Damiano Ferronetti (full ownership, to Parma)
—	FW	ITA	Daniele Corvia (full ownership, to Siena)
—	MF	ITA	Daniele Galloppa (co-ownership, to Siena)[30]
—	DF	ITA	Daniele Magliocchetti (loan, to Cagliari)[31]
—	FW	ITA	Francesco Tavano (end of loan, to Valencia)
—	DF	ITA	Gianluca Comotto (full ownership, to Torino)
—	MF	ITA	Gianluca Galasso (co-ownership, to Bari)[28]
—	DF	CRC	Gilberto Martinez (end of loan, to Brescia)
—	DF	ITA	Giuseppe Scurto (full ownership, to Chievo)
—	MF	SEN	Ricardo Faty (loan, to Bayer Leverkusen)[32]
—	DF	BRA	Rodrigo Defendi (end of loan, to Tottenham Hotspur)
—	MF	ITA	Simone Palermo (loan, to Rimini)[33]
—	FW	ITA	Stefano Okaka (loan, to Modena)[34]
—	MF	ITA	Valerio Virga (loan, to Grosseto)[35]
—	FW	ITA	Vincenzo Montella (loan, to Sampdoria)[36]
—	FW	ITA	Keivan Zarineh (toCisco Roma)[37]
—	FW	COD	Shabani Nonda (toGalatasaray)[38]
—	MF	HON	Édgar Álvarez (on loan to Livorno)
—	DF	ITA	Gianluca Freddi (toGrosseto)[39]
—	GK	ITA	Pietro Pipolo (on loan to Potenza)[40]
—	DF	GHA	Samuel Kuffour (on loan to Ajax)
—	DF	ITA	Dario Polverini (loan to Prato)

Competitions[edit]

Overall[edit]

Last updated: 24 May 2008

Supercoppa Italiana[edit]

InternazionalevRoma

19 August 2007	Internazionale	0–1	Roma	Milan
20:45 CEST (UTC+02:00)			De Rossi 78' (pen.)	Stadium: San Siro Attendance: 34,898 Referee: Roberto Rosetti

Serie A[edit]

League table[edit]

Results summary[edit]

Last updated: 18 May 2008.
Source: Competitive matches

Results by round[edit]

Matches[edit]

PalermovRoma

26 August 2007 1	Palermo	0–2	Roma	Palermo
20:30 CEST (UTC+02:00)	Barzagli  17' Guana  53' Bresciano  64'	Report	Mexès 4' Aquilani 27' Brighi  76'	Stadium: Stadio Renzo Barbera Attendance: 32,202 Referee: Emidio Morganti

RomavSiena

2 September 2007 2	Roma	3–0	Siena	Rome
15:00 CEST (UTC+02:00)	Aquilani 17' Giuly 82' Totti 89' Cassetti  90+4'	Report	Galloppa  51' Codrea  55'	Stadium: Stadio Olimpico Attendance: 35,000 Referee: Antonio Damato

RegginavRoma

16 September 2007 3	Reggina	0–2	Roma	Reggio Calabria
15:00 CEST (UTC+02:00)	Cascione  30' Tullberg  50' Valdez  53' Ceravolo  84'	Report	Tonetto  23' Taddei  45' Juan 51' Totti 85'	Stadium: Stadio Oreste Granillo Attendance: 14,030 Referee: Gianluca Rocchi

RomavJuventus

23 September 2007 4	Roma	2–2	Juventus	Rome
15:00 CEST (UTC+02:00)	Mancini  18' Totti 30', 36' De Rossi  49'	Report	Trezeguet 17' Iaquinta  18', 88' Criscito  23' Chiellini  80'	Stadium: Stadio Olimpico Attendance: 62,241 Referee: Emidio Morganti

FiorentinavRoma

26 September 2007 5	Fiorentina	2–2	Roma	Florence
20:30 CEST (UTC+02:00)	Gamberini 24' Donadel  45'  85' Mutu  76', 80' (pen.) Montolivo  90'	Report	Mexès  16' Mancini 19' Giuly 37' Ferrari  79'	Stadium: Stadio Artemio Franchi Attendance: 36,056 Referee: Mauro Bergonzi

RomavInternazionale

29 September 2007 6	Roma	1–4	Internazionale	Rome
18:00 CEST (UTC+02:00)	Giuly  29' Perrotta 53' Pizarro  73'	Report	Ibrahimović 29' (pen.) Samuel  45' Crespo 57' Cruz 60' Córdoba 68'	Stadium: Stadio Olimpico Attendance: 51,150 Referee: Nicola Rizzoli

ParmavRoma

7 October 2007 7	Parma	0–3	Roma	Parma
15:00 CEST (UTC+02:00)	Couto  3' Corradi  17'  26' Paci  32'	Report	Totti 2', 82' Vučinić  15' Mancini 21',  55' De Rossi  54'	Stadium: Stadio Ennio Tardini Attendance: 16,922 Referee: Luca Banti

RomavNapoli

20 October 2007 8	Roma	4–4	Napoli	Rome
18:00 CEST (UTC+02:00)	Totti 30' (pen.) Perrotta 42' De Rossi 52',  62' Ferrari  53' Pizarro 80'	Report	Lavezzi 2',  29' Hamšík 46',  59' Cupi  58' Gargano 64' Zalayeta 84'	Stadium: Stadio Olimpico Attendance: 27,313 Referee: Paolo Tagliavento

MilanvRoma

28 October 2007 9	Milan	0–1	Roma	Milan
15:00 CET (UTC+01:00)	Ambrosini  12'  80' Nesta  40' Pirlo  52' Favalli  82' Seedorf  89'	Report	Vučinić  38', 72' Mexès  67' Panucci  85' De Rossi  87'	Stadium: San Siro Attendance: 60,205 Referee: Roberto Rosetti

RomavLazio

31 October 2007 10	Roma	3–2	Lazio	Rome
20:30 CET (UTC+01:00)	Vučinić 19',  20' Mancini 42' Cassetti  45' Perrotta 56' De Rossi  61' Pizarro  84'	Report	Rocchi 12',  61' Pandev  61' Ledesma 69' Mutarelli  88'	Stadium: Stadio Olimpico Attendance: 54,860 Referee: Gianluca Rocchi

EmpolivRoma

4 November 2007 11	Empoli	2–2	Roma	Empoli
15:00 CET (UTC+01:00)	Raggi  55' Saudati  62' Vannucchi 67' Marchisio  76' Giovinco 90+1'	Report	Giuly 13' Brighi 32',  64' Ferrari  64' Barusso  82' Cassetti  84'	Stadium: Stadio Carlo Castellani Attendance: 9,657 Referee: Luca Banti

RomavCagliari

5 December 2007 12	Roma	2–0	Cagliari	Rome
20:30 CET (UTC+01:00)	Taddei 28', 36',  64'	Report	Bianco  22' Agostini  90+1'	Stadium: Stadio Olimpico Attendance: 31,000 Referee: Daniele Orsato

GenoavRoma

24 November 2007 13	Genoa	0–1	Roma	Genoa
18:00 CET (UTC+01:00)	Danilo  45' Paro  51' Bovo  79' Bega  86' Jurić  89'	Report	Ferrari  72' Panucci 90'	Stadium: Stadio Luigi Ferraris Attendance: 24,106 Referee: Roberto Rosetti

RomavUdinese

2 December 2007 14	Roma	2–1	Udinese	Rome
15:00 CET (UTC+01:00)	Juan 10' Taddei 26',  48' De Rossi  43' Tonetto  65'	Report	Quagliarella 11' D'Agostino  25' Pepe  71' Pinzi  78' Dossena  79'	Stadium: Stadio Olimpico Attendance: 32,323 Referee: Massimiliano Saccani

LivornovRoma

9 December 2007 15	Livorno	1–1	Roma	Livorno
15:00 CET (UTC+01:00)	Tristán 6',  47' Balleri  18'	Report	De Rossi 5' Taddei  27'	Stadium: Stadio Armando Picchi Attendance: 8,254 Referee: Nicola Rizzoli

TorinovRoma

16 December 2007 16	Torino	0–0	Roma	Turin
15:00 CET (UTC+01:00)	Bjelanović  7' Dellafiore  8' Lanna  38' Comotto  90'	Report	De Rossi  23' Panucci  38' Mexès  72'	Stadium: Stadio Olimpico di Torino Attendance: 18,501 Referee: Gianluca Rocchi

RomavSampdoria

22 December 2007 17	Roma	2–0	Sampdoria	Rome
20:30 CET (UTC+01:00)	Totti 18' (pen.), 90' Pizarro  38' Cassetti  38' De Rossi  85'	Report	Gastaldello  17' Lucchini  18' Volpi  48'  57'	Stadium: Stadio Olimpico Attendance: 30,000 Referee: Andrea Gervasoni

AtalantavRoma

13 January 2008 18	Atalanta	1–2	Roma	Bergamo
15:00 CET (UTC+01:00)	Carrozzieri  12' Ferreira Pinto 17' Guarente  52' Langella  54'	Report	Totti 38' Panucci  42' Mancini 45' Mexès  55' Doni  67' Tonetto  70' Aquilani  90+3'	Stadium: Stadio Atleti Azzurri d'Italia Attendance: 7,662 Referee: Massimiliano Saccani

RomavCatania

20 January 2008 19	Roma	2–0	Catania	Rome
15:00 CET (UTC+01:00)	Giuly 8',  74' Mexès  22' De Rossi  27', 57' (pen.)	Report	Terlizzi  56' Sardo  59' Baiocco  73' Mascara  85'	Stadium: Stadio Olimpico Attendance: 33,378 Referee: Daniele Orsato

RomavPalermo

26 January 2008 20	Roma	1–0	Palermo	Rome
20:30 CET (UTC+01:00)	Cassetti  48' Mancini 59'	Report	Simplício  20' Rinaudo  57'	Stadium: Stadio Olimpico Attendance: 32,618 Referee: Christian Brighi

SienavRoma

3 February 2008 21	Siena	3–0	Roma	Siena
15:00 CET (UTC+01:00)	Vergassola 11' De Ceglie  15' Tonetto 43' (o.g.) Manninger  74' Frick 83'	Report	Totti  74' De Rossi  77' Mancini  86'	Stadium: Stadio Artemio Franchi – Montepaschi Arena Attendance: 10,158 Referee: Paolo Dondarini

RomavReggina

9 February 2008 22	Roma	2–0	Reggina	Rome
20:30 CET (UTC+01:00)	Panucci 21' Aquilani  27' Cicinho  63' Mancini 76'	Report	Valdez  74'	Stadium: Stadio Olimpico Attendance: 31,635 Referee: Luca Banti

JuventusvRoma

16 February 2008 23	Juventus	1–0	Roma	Turin
20:30 CET (UTC+01:00)	Del Piero 45' Chiellini  55' Nocerino  85'	Report	Mexès  40' Mancini  77'	Stadium: Stadio Olimpico di Torino Attendance: 21,139 Referee: Massimiliano Saccani

RomavFiorentina

24 February 2008 24	Roma	1–0	Fiorentina	Rome
15:00 CET (UTC+01:00)	Cicinho 54',  85'  90+2' De Rossi  66' Perrotta  90'	Report	Vieri  45+1'	Stadium: Stadio Olimpico Attendance: 34,254 Referee: Emidio Morganti

InternazionalevRoma

27 February 2008 25	Internazionale	1–1	Roma	Milan
20:30 CET (UTC+01:00)	Burdisso  51' Zanetti 88' Balotelli  90+1'	Report	Totti 38' Taddei  58' Mexès  83'  84' Perrotta  90+4'	Stadium: San Siro Attendance: 48,717 Referee: Roberto Rosetti

RomavParma

1 March 2008 26	Roma	4–0	Parma	Rome
18:00 CET (UTC+01:00)	Aquilani 27',  34' Falcone 51' (o.g.) Totti 80' Vučinić 90+4'	Report	Gasbarroni  45+1' Castellini  54' Rossi  76' Dessena  90+1'	Stadium: Stadio Olimpico Attendance: 31,788 Referee: Gianluca Rocchi