Mats Hummels came on for his second appearance for Roma, but did not make a good impression in the game-winning scene. The world champion promptly came under fire.
Claudio Ranieri took to the Roma bench for the first time. The 73-year-old did without Hummels in the starting lineup for his debut in Naples, who caught a cold during the week, but chose a more defensive approach for the second half. The former Dortmund player thus came on for striker Stephan El Shaarawy at half-time.
In the 54th minute, however, Hummels was a step too late in the decisive scene when Romelu Lukaku scored from a cross by Giovanni di Lorenzo. “Now you understand why Ranieri’s predecessor Juric didn’t play Hummels,” wrote the Corriere dello Sport, while the Corriere della Sera commented: “Hummels lets Lukaku run over him in front of goal. There is a reason why he has not played until now.”
The 2014 World Cup winner himself knows that Hummels is not yet at one hundred percent. ”I haven’t played for almost six months and need two to three games to get back to my level.” He wants to help the team as much as possible and as soon as possible, “but I need minutes in my legs to get there,” he said. Ranieri’s predecessor Ivan Juric unfortunately considered him unsuitable for his playing style, the defender added.
Ranieri sees the team on the right track
The Romans slipped to twelfth place in the table due to the 0-1 defeat, having only picked up one point in their last four competitive games. “We have to work and improve, but I’m happy with the basis we’ve seen tonight. We can’t give up,” said Ranieri. He has ‘worked to make the players more aware of themselves and to help them give more as a team,’ he added, but warned: ”I’m not just the third coach this season, I’m the fourth in 2024. We know that sometimes the players lose their confidence – we have to regain it and continue on the path we have taken.”
The coming days, however, still have extremely tricky tasks in store for Roma. On Thursday (9 p.m. CET) the Giallorossi face Tottenham Hotspur in the Europa League, and on Monday they host Atalanta Bergamo, who are second in the Serie A table, at 8:45 p.m.