Roma hunting more glory

After sensationally grabbing the Serie A title last season, the 2001/02 season in Italy and Europe has left AS Roma with a lot to live up to.

Serie A triumph
Long renowned as the great under-achievers of Italian football, Fabio Capello concentrated all his attention on winning the scudetto last season - the sixth of his career as a coach - and many of the clubs supporters initially detected something of a hangover following that spectacular triumph.

Batistuta off-colour
Goals have been harder to come by, and part of the reason behind that is the form of Argentinian striker Gabriel Batistuta. A sensational 2000/01 season saw him at his peak, but a recurring knee injury has taken its toll on Batistuta's form. One man who has shown no sign of letting up is Italy star Francesco Totti, who remains a threat whenever he plays.

Skilful midfield
Defensively, they remain a fearsome prospect but while their reputation as hard workers may be impressive, there is no shortage of skill in the Roma side with Emerson da Rosa and Marcos Assunção developing an excellent understanding in midfield.

Losing their first Champions League home game was an uncomfortable start for AS Roma, and Capello was left with doubts over his side's mental strength. Goals from Luis Figo and Guti early in the second half did the damage for Real Madrid CF, though Roma rallied after a Totti penalty.

Fortunate goals
Happily for Capello, that was the only game that Roma lost in the first stage, but his low-scoring side rode their luck a little as they qualified for the second group stage. Two wins against FC Lokomotiv Moscow - both due in part to lucky goals - were enough to see Roma through, but three draws including two with Group A's bottom club RSC Anderlecht suggested that Capello's
side lacked a killer instinct.

Sadly for Roma, the early games of the second group stage have confirmed their reputation as draw specialists. A spectacular overhead kick from midfielder Emerson da Rosa earned Capello's side  a 1-1 draw at Galatasaray SK, but they failed to break down Liverpool FC at the Olimpico stadium and had to settle for a 0-0 draw in their second Group B game.

Their two draws have surprisingly seen Roma rise to second place in Group B, but they will need to start scoring goals if they are to remain in the competition. However, with two games against FC Barcelona looming in February, starting with an away leg at the Camp Nou stadium, Capello will be up against it. Two draws would doubtless suit him well, provided that Roma can earn results at Liverpool and at home to Galatasaray in their final Group B matches. With Vincenzo Montella and Batistuta both expected to be injury free by February, they still have an excellent chance of making the quarter-finals.

From the same area around Udine in the north of Italy as former national coach Dino Zoff, Capello has earned a reputation as one of the greatest coaches in modern football and has worked with some of the biggest sides in Europe including Milan AC and  Madrid. However, his achievements with perennial nearly-men Roma have arguably been his greatest yet.

Maximum effort
An uncompromising, dour figure, Roma supporters may question his tactics at times, but they have never doubted his credentials. The key to his style is getting maximum effort out of his players and adapting his tactics in accordance with his opponents. This season, that has involved playing with a variety of different formations to the occasional bewilderment of his players and supporters.

Uncompromising style
However, Capello knows his mind and rarely compromises, and with improving performances as the season goes on, it seems that the players at the Olimpico stadium are beginning to come to terms with the coach's demands again.

He may be known as the dead-ball specialist in the Roma side, but those who have watched the Brazilian midfielder this season will know that there is more to Assunção than his free-kick skills. The archetypal modern midfield player, Assunção is both creative and rugged - he rarely concedes possession and has formed an impressive partnership with fellow countryman Emerson da Rosa which has frequently got Roma out of trouble.

Disappointing start
Assunção started his career in his homeland with RÃo Branco and went on to play for Santos FC as well as CR Flamengo before making the move to the Olimpico stadium in the summer of 2000. After initial successes, he was struck down with an injury and struggled to regain his form in the 2000/01 season and was a peripheral member of Roma's scudetto-winning squad.

Vastly improved
Now Roma fans wonder how they ever did without the 25-year-old who is finally living up to his initial billing and, as he almost proved against Liverpool with a free-kick which missed the target narrowly, beginning to show the form in the Champions League that he has shown in Serie A.

Roma continue to challenge for domestic honours in Serie A after winning last season's domestic title, and after a slow start are starting to look more impressive by the week. They have lost just one game all season, conceded a miserly number of goals and, after a 5-1 win against US Lecce in October, have finally begun to score regularly.