AS Roma vs Genoa Preview: Ranieri feeling the heat
Posted Sunday, February 20, 2011 by PA
Roma manager Claudio Ranieri is under increasing pressure to get a result at Genoa on Sunday after the disappointment of their Champions League loss to Shakhtar Donetsk.
Roma's European campaign is hanging by a thread after Wednesday's 3-2 home reverse to the Ukrainian champions left them needing an unlikely victory at the Donbass Arena next month.
Their midweek setback was Roma's third straight defeat having previously lost to Inter Milan and Napoli in Serie A.
Last weekend's 2-0 defeat to Napoli saw them lose further ground on league leaders AC Milan and all but ended their title challenge.
Roma lie eighth in the standings, 13 points behind Milan.
"We have to continue to work together," said Roma midfielder Daniele De Rossi.
"We are all under observation, not just Ranieri, and we will all come out of this situation together.
"It's not normal for us to lose 3-2 at home.
"We can understand that the fans are disappointed and they have a right to voice their discontent.
"But we have to be optimistic in order to come out of this difficult situation."
Ranieri will be forced to make some changes to his team this weekend with De Rossi, Aleandro Rossi and Marco Cassetti all serving a one-match ban.
To complicate matters for Ranieri, striker Mirco Vucinic is likely to miss the game at the Luigi Ferraris stadium with a knee injury.
Rivals Genoa head into the match reinvigorated by their 1-0 triumph over Sampdoria in Wednesday's city derby.
Rafinha's second-half goal was enough to earn Davide Ballardini's men all three points.
The victory allowed Genoa to leapfrog Samp in the table and climb to 11th place, seven points behind Roma.
"This win means a lot," said Ballardini, whose side had drawn its previous two games.
"It's fantastic to win the derby and to give some joy to our fans.
"We have managed to move up in the standings and this is important.
"We still have to improve a lot. We create a lot of opportunities but we fail to finish them off."
The Grifoni have scored just two goals in their last four games.
Fortunately for Genoa, Roma have struggled defensively, giving away 10 goals in their last three matches.
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