Mats Hummels’ Roma debut did not materialize on Thursday evening either. The fact that the 35-year-old summer signing did not play was put down to a lack of training by coach Ivan Juric.
Mats Hummels was unable to prevent Roma’s 1-0 defeat to Swedish first division side IF Elfsborg Bora – yet again. On the second matchday of the Europa League, coach Ivan Juric again did without his new signing, who signed for the Italian capital exactly one month ago to the day – and is still waiting for his first minutes in the new jersey. In Gothenburg, the 78-time national player once again spent 90 minutes on the bench.
“We still have to decide. He joined us late and first has to get into the right shape,” said Juric, who only took over as coach from club icon Daniele de Rossi in mid-September, explaining the 35-year-old’s difficult situation. “As a defender, you have a difficult role. You have to be ready.”
Hummels plays down
In his podcast ‘Alleine ist schwer’ (Alone is hard), Hummels himself recently emphasized his hope of making his first appearance for Roma soon, but generally took a little wind out of the sails of the topic. “A bit too much has been made of the fact that I didn’t play the first few games, but to be honest it was the most predictable thing in the world for a 35-year-old to need three weeks to get back into shape after three months without team training,” said the center back.
Juric also took the same line after the Elfsborg defeat: “We’re putting pressure on him and he’s working hard, but he’s not 100 percent fit.” On Sunday, Roma – ninth in the Serie A after six games – will be guests of bottom-of-the-league Monza, managed by Daniel Maldini, who has been nominated for the Italian national team for the first time.
Will Hummels be there too? “I hope he gets there as quickly as possible,” said the Croatian.