Roma starlet set to make Roma debut against Real Madrid
Di Francesco wants his team fully concentrated on the match against Real Madrid with no disruptions. They trained yesterday behind closed doors; even the families of the players couldn’t attend the training. The ongoing debate between the Roma manager and the coaches is the problem of the defense this season. He’s concerned about his defense and thinks that this year his defense is much weaker than last year. This season’s defense is almost the same as last season’s apart from the goalkeeper and Marcano who featured for 45 minutes only against AC Milan. Di Francesco stressed on this point yesterday with the team in training and he wants them to be as solid as possible when it comes to defending.
Today, the starting 11 will consist of experienced players who also performed on a high level in training. Compared to the match against Chievo, Fazio will come in the starting 11 instead of Juan Jesus; De Rossi will also play in the 4-3-3 as well as N’Zonzi who will play as a Mezzala. The World Champion is yet to fully adapt to his new team but he will need minutes to get back in shape. The third midfielder will be 19-year-old Zaniolo who will debut for Roma today after moving from Inter. Di Francesco sees that Zaniolo will give balance in the midfield against Madrid which will be covering the defense too.