Super tired from European exertions: Roma Women falls against Juve

Fatigue presented its bill and Roma paid it against Juventus. Roma Women lost 2-4 in the 12 matchday of Serie A; their last match in 2022 at Tre Fontane, keeping their top spot in the standings but seeing their lead over the same second-placed Bianconeri shrink to only three points. "It's a pity that this match comes at this time," coach Spugna had said on the eve: the pitch well explained the coach's regret. Still, Roma had started their seventh game in the last month as best they could have, finding the lead with Serturini (the only change in Wolfsburg's eleven) who perfectly finalized a quick counterattack after one minute of play. Juve was surprised by the change of play but was able to react immediately, hitting a crossbar in the 9th minute and then scoring the equalizer in the 14th minute through Beerensteyn. Those signs of fatigue that Roma had allowed glimpses of on the Champions' night in Germany showed up again right from that moment. When, deputed to keep the defensive line high, on the occasion of the Linari goal, she mistimed her intervention by getting the ball over her head. This is a mistake that is not like her, but being tired also means having little lucidity and ideas, and these were the same ones that were lacking in the offensive phase. In the 36th minute, from an imaginative free kick conceded to Juventus, came Girelli's 2-1 with Romanist protests attached.

Still in the game despite the goal conceded, Roma picked up the pace and as a result, at the beginning of the second half, they found the 2-2 with Andressa. She was good at throwing in a Giacinti shot that was repelled by the post, but then another defensive inattention and a great technical gesture by Beerensteyn put Juve back ahead just when the flow of the match seemed to be turning yellow and red. The rest was a lot of nervousness. There were attempts to recover the result that were unsupported by attention in the choices, and then Grosso's 4-2 sealed the contest with 10' to go. However, the real spectacle was provided by the Roma fans in the stands accompanying the team throughout the match and even turning up the volume after the triple whistle: chills.