Page 4 - AS Roma
- November 30, 2015
Week five of the UEFA Champions League 2015/16 began to bring the next phase of the competition into clear focus, as 10 of the round of 16 slots are now confirmed. Week six of the group stage, which the UEFA has scheduled for December 8th and 9th, will see several on-the-fringe clubs battling for last-minute advancement. For the most part, though, the big title contenders have already secured their round of 16 spots.
The First Qualifiers
When we last checked in with the Champions League, following week four of competition in early November, three teams-Real Madrid, Manchester City, and Zenit St. Petersburg-had already guaranteed themselves advancement into the next round. Zenit St. Petersburg continues to carry the - November 12, 2015
Serie A 2015/16 week 12 saw Fiorentina maintaining their top slot, Inter Milan retaining a strong second-place position, and Juventus continuing their climb up the table, among other things. All of the "major contenders" in Italy won their matches this past weekend, ratcheting up the competitive tension at the top of the table even further. Now, with a break this coming weekend for Euro 2016 play, each of these clubs will have a chance to take a deep breath and reassess their plan of attack for the remainder of the calendar year.
Fiorentina continue to impress in the 2015/16 Serie A. Though they've lost three of their 12 games so far, the Lilies have also won nine-more than any other soccer team in the league. The football club's win this past weekend-a 2-0 away game triumph against Sampdoria-kicked their goal difference up to +15 and served as insurance to protect their leading position. - November 07, 2015
AS Roma may currently be contending for the top spot in the 2015 2016 Serie A, but the Italian football club have been anything but dominant in the UEFA Champions League so far. Qualifying for the tournament based on a second-place Serie A finish last season, the Wolves have been disappointing in the event so far. Coming into the fourth week of UCL competition, Roma were at the bottom of Group E, with zero wins, two draws, and one loss. They needed a win against Bayer Leverkusen, and win they did meaning that Roma keep Champions League hopes alive.
The Group E Standings
AS Roma beat Bayer Leverkusen 3-2 in a Wednesday home fixture to boost their Group E stock. In fact, the victory was enough to boost the Wolves into second - November 05, 2015My what a difference a week makes. In the Italian Serie A, the 2015 2016 season has been thoroughly unpredictable so far, and this past weekend's fixtures did nothing to solidify things at the top of the table. Last week, AS Roma were leading the way following a 3-1 home win against Udinese. This weekend, Inter Milan top Roma in one of this season's key Serie A fixtures to take 2nd place in league standings, forcing AS Roma into 3rd.
Indeed, unlike in other European soccer leagues, where clear frontrunners have begun to emerge (Manchester City and Arsenal in the Premier League; Real Madrid and Barcelona in the La Liga; Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga), the Serie A is a jumble of four clear contenders at the top of the table. Roma and Inter Milan are two of them while the others are Fiorentina and Napoli.
- October 29, 2015
The downfall of Juventus has created something of a vacuum at the top of the 2015 2016 Serie A league standings table-a vacuum both Fiorentina and AS Roma are out to fill. The two high-ranking Italian football clubs met for the first time this season on Sunday, October 25th. And while Fiorentina came into the match as the Serie A point leaders, it was AS Roma that left the fixture with that distinction. It seems that the battle for the Serie A top spot 2015/16 is set to be one of the highlights of this season's football action.
The Season So Far
Roma and Fiorentina-along with Napoli, Internazionale, and Lazio, all of which are in the Serie A's closely-ranked top five-have played strong football - September 29, 2015
Ask anyone in the soccer community who they expect to top Champions League 2015 - 2016 Group E, and the answer will be Barcelona every time. Not only are Barca the tournament's defending champions this year, but they also haven't lost many players since beating Juventus to take the title this past spring. Indeed, other than former team captain Xavi Hernandez and common late-game substitute Pedro, Barcelona have held on to almost all of their core talent for the 2015 2016 season.
A Slow Start for Barcelona
That fact didn't save Barca from a surprisingly slow start in this year's Champions League, though. The defending UCL champs laced up their cleats to face AS Roma in their first game of the 2015 2016 competition. The game, - September 24, 2015
Well, this is certainly an unexpected turn of events. A month and four matches into the 2015 2016 Italian Serie A, reigning league champions Juventus FC are nowhere to be found in the top 10, and Inter Milan are in the lead. Juve, of course, have won the past four Serie A titles. They are coming off a great season where they clinched the Coppa Italia and the Supercoppa Italia and reached the finals in the UEFA Champions League. Internazionale, meanwhile, came in eighth place last season and have experienced a real rough path over the past few years. Everything, after month one of 2015 - 2016 Serie A appears to be upside down.
The Downfall of Juventus
It was pretty clear Juventus were headed toward trouble this summer when three of their best players-Carlos Tevez, Arturo Vidal, and Andrea Pirlo-all transferred to different football clubs. The Zebras still held on to a few of their biggest names (Gianluigi Buffon, Paul Pogba, - September 19, 2015
FC Barcelona were just about perfect in the 2014 2015 UEFA Champions League. After winning five of their six group stage matches (they lost one, to Paris Saint Germain), Barca went on to easily edge out each of the football clubs they played in the knockouts. From their round of 16 triumph over Manchester City, to their 5-1 revenge against PSG in the quarters, all the way to their expert takedown of Bayern Munich in the semis, it was clear Barcelona were the frontrunners to win the tournament. By the time Barca were beating Juventus 3-1 to take the trophy, their victory felt like it had been a long-foregone conclusion. Now it is the beginning of the 2015 - 2016 season and Barcelona kick off UCL defense with an away game at AS Roma.
Because of their glorious run in last year's Champions League, Barcelona were the strong favorites to win their first match of this year's tournament. The game, played against AS Roma on Wednesday, September 16th, was the first step in Barca's - August 24, 2015
Ever since the Serie A schedules were announced for the 2015 2016 season, Italian football fans have been looking forward to the second to last weekend of August for the league's big opening weekend. But while the idea of Italian football starting up again has certainly been something to look forward to, at Soccer Box, we're actually more excited for week two than for week one, thanks solely to the Roma V Juventus 2015 fixture that is on the schedule for Sunday, August 30th.
Indeed, the week two battle is like the clash of the titans for the current Italian football scene, a duel between last year's top Serie A finisher and runner-up. And while conventional wisdom would put Juventus as the favorite heading into the match, the fact is that the game could end up being a good deal closer and more competitive than many might think. - August 15, 2015
Though he's earned his keep since the fall of 2011 Manchester City's Edin Dzeko set for AS Roma transfer. Despite a delay due to AS Roma exceeding their quota of non-EU players, Dzeko will be joining the Serie A club on a year long loan, with the option of a permanent transfer later. The details are vague but it seems as though a permanent transfer will be for a fee of around £14 million (plus a reported £2.6 million in add-ons). That's a good deal less than what City paid to bring Dzeko to England four years ago--£27 million, to Germany's Wolfsburg-but not altogether surprising considering Edin's diminished role at Etihad Stadium last season.
Still, despite the reduced price, Edin Dzeko is likely to be the biggest transfer of the summer for AS Roma, who have mostly been modest with their signings as of late. He's also the only forward to join the club yet this summer-surprising, considering that Roma didn't exactly set the scoreboard on fire during the 2014 2015 season. Indeed,
