The Outsider in the Serie A Survival Race
Roma's turbulent season has been well documented, but the next two games are especially critical.
Taking stock of the developing relegation scraps across the top five European football leagues reveals legitimate distress for one of the continent’s bigger clubs. Roma, one of Italy’s “seven sisters” in Serie A, are just two points above the drop zone after 14 matches.
The Giallorossi are part of what’s shaping up to be another packed and erratic fight for safety in the Italian top flight. Eight sides are within three points of relegation after more than a third of the campaign and the entire bottom half is within four.
Adding intrigue, the teams occupying ninth and 10th are frequent strugglers Udinese and Empoli, both capable of sputtering in the second half of the season and seeing their slim cushion dissipate.
Elsewhere on the continent, bottom-of-the-table congestion is naturally widespread at this stage but nothing is as alarming as Roma’s plight.
Spain’s LaLiga also features eight clubs within three points of relegation while 12th to 17th in France are similarly separated by a win. It’s looking like the battle for salvation will once again be more interesting than the title race in Ligue 1, as new-look Paris Saint-Germain don’t have a massive lead but are still in control.
The Premier League’s bottom five are within two points of each other, excluding wayward Southampton. Crystal Palace should stabilize and the trend of the promoted teams going right back down could very well continue, although Everton, Wolves and West Ham might have something to say about that.
Germany has far fewer sides involved in the scrap thus far, as Holstein Kiel and Bochum have settled into the two automatic relegation places.
Back to Italy, where Roma (15th) are level on 13 points with Lecce (16th), one ahead of Verona (17th) and two clear of Como in 18th. Also in the mix are the pair at the bottom, Monza (10 points) and Venezia (eight), while Cagliari (13th) and Genoa (14th) are both above the Giallorossi by a point.
It’s just as congested at the top and Roma would have thought they’d be in that group of contending teams after significant investment in the squad over the summer. The big spending produced some flashy names on the team sheet and a disjointed squad on the pitch.
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The lack of cohesion and identity in Roma’s play is largely thanks to them already being on their third manager of the term.
For those who missed the football world’s first major sacking of 2024-25, club legend Daniele De Rossi was relieved of his post after just four matches. More perplexing is the fact that it came after Roma’s American owners, the Friedkins, handed him a three-year contract extension in the summer.
Fan protests followed, unabated by the appointment of Ivan Juric as the replacement, and the briefest of new manager boosts preceded a run of two wins in seven league games which led to Juric’s swift dismissal.
This prompted Claudio Ranieri to come out of retirement and try to save his beloved Giallorossi, who haven’t finished outside of the top eight since 1996-97. Improved spirit and intent can be seen in the three matches since, but difficult fixtures haven’t yet produced results.
And now the real test begins. Roma’s next two Serie A outings are against two of their peers towards the bottom: Lecce and Como. Ranieri’s men are expected to win both, and maximum points are required to maintain their dignity.
A pair of victories in these upcoming clashes would put Roma on 19 points which could easily bring them back into the top 10. But, with Verona-Empoli and Venezia-Como also on tap in the next round, a loss to Lecce could see the 2023 Europa League finalists actually hit the drop zone.
Chances are the club with the fourth-highest wage bill in the league won’t be languishing in 15th come March and April, but it’s one of many interesting plots to follow in Serie A.
Regardless—as was the case last season, when Udinese and Empoli saved themselves with wins on the final day—the survival saga in Italian football will remain one of the most entertaining in Europe.