Roma lost another man against Monza, as Stephan El Shaarawy subbed off in the second half with an apparent thigh injury. Chris Smalling and Diego Llorente are on the mend with a strain, while Marash Kumbulla tore his ACL in the previous game. Paulo Dybala and Georginio Wijnaldum were on the bench against the Brianzoli but were unavailable. Andrea Belotti fractured a rib cartilage over the weekend.
According to Sky, the Giallorossi fear the versatile attacker suffered an adductor lesion, which could sideline him for the rest of the season given the short time left. José Mourinho took stock of who could be fit for Saturday’s clash with Inter (via SOSFanta).
“The only sure one is Nemanja Matic since he was suspended. Smalling, Llorente, and Wijnaldum have zero percent chances. As for Dybala and Belotti, I don’t say 0, but they aren’t 50/50 to play either. They are closer to 0 than to 50.”
The Special One addressed the Roma squad.
“We aren’t like Inter, where Edin Dzeko and Lautaro Martinez start in one game, and Joaquin Correa and Romelu Lukaku in the following one. Another team performed very poorly in Europe and plays once a week now. That’s not who we are either. Others didn’t have the cups.”
“We are the only side that doesn’t have the roster to be where we are. We reached the Europa League semifinals and had to go through the playoffs against RB Salzburg to qualify. It’s normal that fatigue piles up when you compete for the top positions. For instance, El Shaarawy and Smalling weren’t used to playing this much in past seasons. Working with this group is a source of pride for me.”
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