Serie A teams’ performances: AS Roma has strengthened a lot over the summer and will be a dark horse. Will it win the Champions League?

AS Rome has had a very interesting summer of transfers. In addition, last season they won the Conference League and Jose Mourinho as coach has brought a lot of passion to the club along with success and ambition. He will be a dark horse in the new season.

The management team

AS Roma has been led by the renowned Jose Mourinho since last season. He has brought ambition and passion back to the club. Moreover, he managed to win a trophy with the club after many years, and a European one at that. The fans love him, he clearly loves Italy. This combination simply goes together.

Nothing has changed in his management team over the summer. The only thing that changed was the playing staff, which a few names left, but other interesting names strengthened the team from the Italian capital. Already last season Rome under Mourinho played interesting matches, but now it will be even more fun.

Goalkeeper

Just like last season, Rui Patrício will be the number one goalkeeper in the current one. The experienced goalkeeper is reaching top quality and there’s no reason why he shouldn’t be catching. Moreover, he will have an interesting cover now that the talented Mile Svilar has arrived in Rome from Benfica and he will try to fight for a place.

Defence

In his first season in Rome, Mourinho used a three-stopper formation and given the composition of the team, it is obvious that this will not change. Chris Smalling, Gianluca Mancini and Roger Ibañez will form the basic trio. It will be complemented by 22-year-old Marash Kumbulla in case of emergency.

Two wing-backs will play on the flanks. Leonardo Spinazzola, who missed most of last season through injury, should play on the left. New signing Zeki Celik will start on the right. Viña and Karsdorp can alternate in their places.

Backup

It will be interesting to see what line-up the midfield will be. Although Veretout has left the team, experience combined with quality has come in the form of Nemanja Matic and Georginio Wijnaldum.

Bryan Cristante, who was one of the key players last season, should not be missing from the starting line-up. Wijnaldum is likely to start alongside him and will also be in charge of more defensive duties. But we have to count on Matic.

The more offensive duo will probably consist of captain Lorenzo Pellegrini, who is more or less assured of a place in the line-up, and new star Paulo Dybala. However, there is still the talented Nicollo Zaniolo in the team, who will be a big asset in the offensive line.

It is worth mentioning then that Mourinho also has wingers Justin Kluivert and Nicola Zalewski in the squad. Both of them complement the lineup perfectly and thanks to them, Mourinho can be a bit more creative in his lineup selection.

Attack

The choice for the spearhead is virtually unquestionable. Also in the new season, Tammy Abraham, who was firing last season, will be the clear attacking leader. In case he gets injured, Gyan and Shomurodov will be ready to replace him.

Ideal lineup:

Patrício
Mancini – Smalling – Ibañez
Celik – Wijnaldum – Cristante – Spinazzola
Pellegrini – Dybala
Abraham

Ranking tip:: 4th place

Source: AS Roma, Transfermarkt