While speaking in an interview with Kicker recently, Roma’s Paulo Dybala, said that he was fascinated by the city and once he got to Rome, he realized that football is beyond everything else. He was taken aback by the people’s warm welcome and greetings and he hadn’t experienced anything like this before.
Dybala injured his ankle during the game against Atalanta due to a clash with Jose Palomino, due to which he missed the penultimate Serie A match against Florentina and he was a doubt for the Europa League final against Sevilla. Roma manager Jose Mourinho said during the pre final press conference that the Argentine might be fit enough to play for 20-30 minutes. But the Argentine has been Roma’s top scorer, scoring 16 goals and 7 assists across all competition. He has scored 4 times in the Europa League as well, with his goal against Feyenoord in the quarter-finals proving to be a turning point in the season.
Roma have lacked some attacking verve whenever they miss Dybala. Sevilla, being the Kings of the Europa League for winning the competition 6 times, will have an upper hand against Roma on Wednesday if Roma’s main forward will be on the bench for 60 minutes.
The ex-Juventus man has started 20 times out of 25 games he has played in the Serie A this season and Roma have only lost thrice when he has started, winning 17 games. If he hadn’t featured against Feyenoord, Roma may not have come this far in the competition. His presence on the pitch has proven to be a valuable asset for Joes Mourinho’s side, who rely a lot on quick breaks on playing through opposition lines quickly. If he starts, it will be a huge boost for Roma from a morale as well as a footballing point of view against Sevilla on Wednesday, which will probably be Roma’s most vital match European game since their Champions League quarter final against Barcelona in 2017/18.
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Krishnatreya Bhattacharya | GIFN
