Catania, sitting bottom in Serie A, still have a slim chance of avoiding the drop, but to do it, they will have to beat Roma. Earlier in the season that would've been considered impossible, but today it's... slightly less impossible.
Catania vs. AS Roma: Preview and TV Schedule
Sitting dead last, five points away from safety, Catania are heavily favored to spend next season in Serie B. But desperation can do funny things to a side...
Injuries have taken a toll on this Roma side, who are missing key players in every position. Fortunately, Rudi Garcia and his staff built a side with enough depth - except at central defense. There we might see an extremely young central pairing of Alessio Romagnoli and Tin Jedvaj, or the use of Daniele De Rossi as a defender.
The elefanti may also be helped by the fact that Roma are more or less out of the running for the title. Juventus haven't yet clinched the scudetto, but they've got an eight point lead over Roma, so unless they slip up against Atalanta tomorrow, the Old Lady will be planning a party - and Roma will need to wait another year.
Meanwhile, there are celebrations in Sicily, but they're for Palermo, who've already clinched first in Serie B and will be back up in the top flight next season. They're almost certain to not face their rivals, as Catania just haven't been good enough this season. The club that was once a rare example of stability in Italian football has now, oddly enough, channeled their inner Palermo. They've changed coaches three times this season, but it's never helped, and they remain dead last.
But teams fighting relegation tend to get desperate, performing better than they usually do. Avoiding the drop is huge motivation - not just for reasons of pride, but much more practical ones, too, like the automatic drop in players’ wages.
Because of that, Catania will give all they have against Roma, and, hopefully, make the last two rounds of the Serie A season very interesting. Considering that all their relegation rivals have tough games on their hands, the chance for survival is slim, but it still exists.
Catania injuries and suspensions
Mariano Andujar, Giuseppe Belusci, Nicolas Spolli, Sergio Almiron (injuries), Nicola Legrotaglie (in doubt)
AS Roma injuries and suspensions
Kevin Strootman, Federico Balzaretti, Rafael Toloi (injured), Mehdi Benatia, Leandro Castan (doubtful), Mattia Destro, Radja Nainggolan (suspended)
Projected line ups
Catania (4-3-3): Alberto Frison; Fabian Monzon, Norbert Gyomber, Alexis Rolin; Fabian Rinaudo, Francesco Lodi, Jaroslav Plasil; Pablo Barrientos, Gonzalo Bergessio, Sebastian Leto
Roma (4-2-3-1): Morgan De Sanctis; Vassilis Torosidis, Alessio Romagnoli, Daniele De Rossi, Douglas Maicon; Miralem Pjanic, Rodrigo Taddei; Gervinho, Adem Ljajic, Alessio Florenzi; Francesco Totti
Match date/time:
Sunday, May 4 at 3 p.m. local, 9 a.m. ET
Venue
Stadio Angelo Massimino, Catania
TV
beIN Sport USA, beIN Sport en Español, RAI International (USA, Canada); BT Sport 2 (UK); Sky Sport 1 HD Italia, Sky Calcio 1, Premium Calcio 1 (Italy)
Online
beIN Sport Play, bet365.com
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