ROME, ITALY - MAY 05: AS Roma fans during the UEFA Conference League Semi Final Leg Two match ... [+]
Twice a year in the Italian capital, Roma and Lazio fans argue harder, their players slide in a little faster, and their coaches antagonise each other for the drama.
But three years of taunting remarks between Jose Mourinho and Maurizio Sarri are over. In 2024, the Derby della Capitale will have a fresh set of managers unwilling to engage in hostilities and die-hard fans are unsure how to handle it.
For the second time this season, AS Roma faces SS Lazio at the Stadio Olimpico. The Giallorossi are hoping to turn a corner after failing to win in any of the past four derbies under Mourinho, who was sacked in January following a shocking run of just one win in six league matches. With UEFA Champions League (UCL) elimination at the hands of Bayern Munich and a Serie A losing streak that culminated with defeat to Udinese, Sarri resigned after two years and nine months at Lazio.
The fortunes of both clubs changed rapidly after Mourinho and Sarri’s respective departures. At the time of their dismissals, Roma and Lazio had sunk to ninth place in Serie A with neither side playing an intelligent, attractive style of football. Following The Special One’s sacking, Roma has climbed four places up the standings into fifth (five points behind Bologna) and progressed to the quarter-finals of the UEFA Europa League. Accordingly, Lazio have experienced a bump of their own, winning two from two by pivotting away from Sarriball.
The New Faces Of The Roman Derby
2006 FIFA World Cup Champion Daniele De Rossi has already won seven of ten Serie A games since taking over at Roma, the club where he played 616 matches and scored 63 goals between 2001 and 2019. De Rossi is adored by the fans and, having lost twice in 14 matches between Serie A and the Europa League, it’s expected that the Friedkin Group will transform his deal from caretaker to head coach if La Lupa qualifies for the 2024-25 Champions League.
ROME, ITALY - FEBRUARY 22: Head coach Daniele De Rossi of AS Roma celebrates after the penalty ... [+]
With victory over Lazio, De Rossi will match Mourinho’s record of eight wins in Serie A this season, but in nine less games. He would also match Mourinho’s solitary derby triumph, where, in 2022, Tammy Abraham tapped in a first-minute rebound and then bagged a brace with his third touch. Since then, Roma hasn’t squeezed out a goal over the next four meetings.
Things need to change. Unlike Mourinho, who preferred a physical battle on the field and psychological warfare off of it, De Rossi appears ready to neutralise Roma’s disappointing record by taking the heat out of the affair.
"We don't have a positive past in recent derbies," De Rossi said in the pre-match press conference. "There is a desire for revenge, which we must fuel without exaggerating. There's a football game to prepare for and we have to stay clear-headed."
Clarity was regularly missing throughout Mourinho’s reign, demonstrated best when the former Manchester United boss was sent off during the Italian Cup defeat to Lazio. In contrast, De Rossi has displayed humility during his spell in the dugout so far.
"I think I'm a manager who can have a healthy discussion, not protesting like others, if one of my players kicks the ball out I don't say that it's our throw-in."
Roma's midfielder from Italy Daniele De Rossi celebrates with teammates after scoring during the ... [+]
De Rossi was born in Ostia - the beach district of Rome - and won 14 of the 31 derbies in which he played at the Olimpico. Having scored on two occasions against Le Aquile, and having received one red card and 12 more yellows, the 40-year-old is familiar with the heightened emotions surrounding this fixture.
"I played a lot of them, I remember with pleasure the fact that I suffered it in the first years,” De Rossi explained. “I entered the field tense, then I started to play them, for better or worse."
New Lazio manager Igor Tudor never featured in a Roman derby as a player, but the 45-year-old understands the pressures of city rivalries, scoring against Torino in the Derby della Mole in 2001. The Croatian, who spent two seasons at Siena and six more at Juventus from 1998 until 2007, inked an 18 month deal a few days before last week’s doubleheader against the Bianconeri. It began with a home Serie A victory and ended with an away Coppa Italia first-leg defeat.
No stranger to adversity, the former Hellas Verona manager faces two immediate challenges: preserve Lazio’s impressive derby streak, then get his side back into Champions League calculations for 2024-25.
Igor Tudor head coach of SS Lazio looks on during the Serie A TIM match between SS Lazio and ... [+]
With eight rounds remaining, Lazio occupies seventh spot, six points shy of Roma’s total of 52 points. Technically, this is an away game for Lazio, a six-pointer of unique significance which will have ramifications for the future. Yet, Tudor preferred to praise his direct rival in the lead-up.
“There is quality in their game, he’s done a good job,” Tudor said. “I must admit that it’ll be very difficult, two teams with these characteristics, who want to have the ball. I hope people have fun, but then we win.”
Fun was not a priority throughout the past six derbies presided over by Sarri and Mourinho, the latter deploying an aggressive style which saw three Roma players sent off in his last three games. With 38 expulsions in the 59 meetings since the three-points-for-a-win era began in 1994, it’s no wonder that the Roman Derby is categorised as one of the most hostile rivalries along with River Plate-Boca Juniors, a showdown that De Rossi experienced first-hand before his retirement as a footballer.
Hello, Neighbour
Do Tudor and De Rossi really want to hit the reset button?
While many Romans will be unwilling to embrace a mindset of amicability, understandably, the mutual respect between De Rossi and Tudor is the talk of the town.
“I knew him [De Rossi] as a player, he has always been someone with values,” Tudor told La Lazio Siamo Noi. “From the outside, he seems like a good person”.
While Tudor has taken the Ned Flanders approach, and despite the peaceful exchanges between coaches, expect fireworks in the stands, and, depending on who wins, much less camaraderie in the post-match press conferences.
Only after the 183rd Derby della Capitale is over will we know for certain if this truly was the dawn of a new era.
