Roma Femminile, the sense of achievement with Bayern Munich • Sportellate

The draw against Bayern Munich in their Women’s Champions League debut is a small masterpiece for the Giallorossi.

The atmosphere of Europe does not undermine Alessandro Spugna’s women’s Roma, the only Italian team admitted among the sixteen teams competing in the Champions League. Indeed, the 2-2 comeback in the opening match of the group stage is not only a result to be “David versus Goliath”but it could be another sign of maturation and growth of the Giallorossi team, on paper Cinderella of Group C but in their first field test capable of showing a technical and tactical level worthy, if not at times superior, compared to their opponents.

A level that Bayern Munich sets quite high, as the spearhead together with Wolfsburg of German women’s football. The Bavarians, in addition to being German champions and as such one of only four admitted to the group stage, are a team that has always reached at least the quarter-finals of the women’s Champions League since 2019. Last year, they were the only team to beat – in the group stage, to be precise – the future European champions Barcelona, ​​a team with which, in reference to the last three years, one hand could be enough to count the times in which they left the pitch defeated, both in the championship and in the cup. Roma also noticed this in the last Champions League, narrowly beaten 0-1 at the Olimpico but then overwhelmed 5-1 on Catalan soil.

Support Sportellate.it: associates Our work is based on the commitment and passion of a young editorial team. Through the association you help us to continue and always improve the quality of the contents. Join now! An even match

Yet, the match showed us a rather small picture of the gap between Bayern and Roma. Also in the statistics: ball possession, number of conclusions, attempted and successful passes, duels won; all values ​​almost equal. According to Fbref, Bayern only stands out on xG (2.2 compared to 1.3 for the yellow-reds), but it is nevertheless indicative that the highest value (0.53) for Bayern’s conclusions is Damjanovic’s first goal, which came from the development of a lateral free kick .

The two teams were essentially equal in performance, despite the feeling that Roma took the match to the ground they wanted, blocking Bayern in their most usual game concepts and forcing the Germans to make a large number of forced plays.

Bayern’s double advantage itself, which could have given the impression of an irremediably directed match, was essentially episodic. Aside from Damjanovic’s 26th-minute lead – a goal probably tainted by an offside, but the UWCL group stage does not include VAR -, the Germans only managed to develop effectively around half-time and towards the end of the match, moments of the match where Roma’s physical and mental suffering was at its peak and its defensive mechanisms were rusting.

While on the one hand it is true that the Giallorossi powerhouse Minamiin addition to having played an excellent match overall, he thwarted a couple of chances bordering on the unreal (save from the line against Lohmann in the 86th minute: four minutes later Giugliano made it 2-2), on the other the German doubled the lead thirty seconds from the end of the first half he arrived on an own goal with a double deflection, without Ceasar between the posts having, until that moment, seriously had the opportunity to get his gloves dirty, and in the end it was Roma who had created more dangerous offensive situations .

Bayern’s biggest regret, in addition to Lohmann’s chance, is perhaps in the start of the second half, with the two big chances thwarted by Ceasar himself which could have been worth the knockout. Upon returning to the pitch, Roma still appeared dazed by the 2-0, but after the skid where the Bavarians sinned badly in front of goal, the Giallorossi got back on track with their match plan. A plan to which Bayern, perhaps without fully realizing it, ended up adopting without taking countermeasures, thanks to the partial score and an apparent feeling of control.

Tactical analysis: pressure and external players

As match analyst Nicola Lozupone wrote for Waxing, a key to the match for Roma could have been to bring systematic pressure on the ball carrier, trying not to reveal half spaces. And that’s exactly what Spugna asked of her girls, where in the non-possession phase they were able to carry out very intense pressing over ninety minutes, directing it well and always keeping the lines between defense and midfield very tight and saturated. The aggressiveness of Roma’s forcing without the ball affected Bayern’s ability to find forward solutions, frustrated in their chances of receiving between the lines (the test of Kumagai defense screen) and only with difficulty capable of venting on the outside, thanks to the sophisticated systematic push of the fullbacks Naschenweng and Gwinn.

It is no coincidence that the other key to Roma’s match was the mismatch between the German flanks and their own offensive wingers, Emilie Haavi and above all Evelyne Viens, who was also the author of the temporary 2-1. The two wingers were the deus ex machina of Spugna’s tactical system: they played a game of enormous sacrifice, called upon to follow their rivals in retreat up to their own area, and despite this they managed to be an effective solution in the low exit, both in construction and in transitions. If Bayern, in line with its always offensive approach, has repeatedly managed to make high recoveries in the central area, on the sides it has often found itself exposed, thanks precisely to the ease in the 1vs1 of Haavi and Viens.

Evelyne Viens scores the momentary 2-1 goal

This factor was an untangled problem for Bayern: although it was a correct concept in the abstract, orienting Roma’s construction towards the wingers was a situation that favored the Giallorossi, who were capable of overcoming the opponent’s line of pressure precisely in that area. . This, both by taking the opposing fullbacks “in the middle” with combinations in numerical superiority (Di Guglielmo’s contribution in support on the right is important), and by dribbling, mainly with the athletic exuberance of Haavi.

A particular statistical data is very indicative in this regard, the only truly divergent one between Roma and Bayern: the 17 attempted and 10 successful dribbles by the Giallorossi, compared to just 6 and 2 successful by the Bavarians. On the one hand, Roma have shown that they have the quality to create numerical superiority, also managing to be more effective in finishing, on the other they have always been skilled and careful not to concede situations of this kind to their opponents, limiting their greater overall technical caliber.

Manu Giugliano, national excellence

In terms of quality, Manuela Giugliano’s match must be mentioned in the Roma ranks. The number 10 played in some respects a minimal match, at least in terms of her contribution in the dribble, yet decisive and not only because of the signature at 2-2.

For those who have regularly followed Roma and the women’s national team, it is strange to see Giugliano so little involved in the low build: in the last two years in the Giallorossi with Spugna, the evolution of the Venetian footballer into a metronome in front of the defense seemed to have been completed. Instead now, with the arrival of the Japanese Kumagai in the summer and her positioning herself as the bottom of Busquetsiana memory, the coach reviewed Manuela’s range and tasks. From playmaker to finishing midfielder: if possible, further enhancing his qualities.

The partial reduction of tasks in the retreat phase and the approach to the penalty area are highlighting Giugliano’s creative abilities. In yesterday’s match, the weight of his plays in the final third of the pitch was decisive: 1 goal, 1 assist, 5 key passes (two from open play), 7 Shot-Creating Actions. Giugliano skilfully floated in the half-spaces left uncovered by Bayern in the pressure phases, spaces highlighted by the dribbling of Roma’s wingers. And from there, looking at the goal, he often found the right holes and the right insertion times to hurt his opponents. All this, without skimping on its participation in the re-aggression phase, especially on the second balls, the cornerstone on which Spugna prepared the match. Order over chaos, some would say.

Against the widespread impression of littleness of Italian women’s football, Manuela Giugliano appears to be the only true excellence, matured and accomplished, that Italy can show off at an international level. She and Rome itself, thus showing itself capable of sitting with personality at the table of the greats, in the most prestigious of restaurants. Once the first course has gone, it remains to be discovered if and how the Giallorossi will be able to continue: Ajax and PSG are two dishes that could easily become indigestible. But however small it may be, there is a small margin so that this draw does not remain an isolated outburst worthy of applause, but the first piece of a new important European adventure.

2023-11-16 15:00:00
#Roma #Femminile #sense #achievement #Bayern #Munich #Sportellate