Roma were hoping to hit the ground running with Luciano Spalletti at the start of the new season. Unfortunately it wouldn't turn out that way as the first major blow came in the transfer market as Miralem Pjanic left for Juventus meaning the champions had been given a headstart before a ball had even been kicked. On the pitch, disaster struck in the first week of the season as a 3-0 home defeat against Porto saw the Giallorossi dumped out of the Champions League at the qualifying stage. Domestic defeats to Fiorentina and Torino were to follow in September before Spalletti was finally able to steady the ship. Roma lost just once in 15 matches from the end of September until a pre-Christmas crunch game against Juventus where Roma yet again couldn't get the job done when it counted and defeat left them already looking out of the title race by the new year. They quietly got back down to business after that disappointment though and went on a good run until March when things started to fall apart again. They were dumped out of the Europa League by Lyon and then suffered an even more painful exit against bitter rivals Lazio in the Coppa Italia semis. Their season was pretty much over in April and, although they did eventually manage to get the better of Juventus, it proved to be far too late to seriously challenge them. They were more concerned about Napoli being hot on their heels but they just about managed to fend off the Partenopei. Outside of the champions, Roma were the most well balanced side as Edin Dzeko finished as the Capocannoniere with 29 league goals, silencing some of the critics he's had in recent years. Radja Nainggolan remained a juggernaut in midfield meaning Pjanic's absence wasn't too keenly felt whilst Kostas Manolas, Antonio Rudiger and an improving Wojciech Szczesny meant that the Giallorossi kept the most clean sheets. However, the biggest sub-plot of the season was the farewell tour of club legend Francesco Totti. Spalletti was often maligned for not giving the captain enough game time and it was seemingly part of the reason the manager resigned despite leading the club to a record points total of 87. Nevertheless, nothing could prevent the emotional scenes at Stadio Olimpico on the final day when one of Italian football's greats said goodbye to the club he'd stayed loyal to his entire career.
