Roma undoubtedly had the craziest of seasons. They only managed to avoid a serious disaster 5 minutes before the final whistle of the campaign as, drawing 2-2 at Spezia, they achieved qualification to the newly-born European Conference League. Had Mkhitaryan not scored, Sassuolo would have made the European spot in their place.
Having been handed a 0-3 defeat away at Hellas Verona in week 1 due to some administrative issue, Roma actually did very well between weeks 2 and 8, playing bright football and scoring at will. Then, in week 9 they suffered the first of many heavy defeats on the road, at the hands of Napoli. While it did not bear any consequences then, it should have set off alarm bells that they were prone to unpredictable defeats.
Between weeks 10 and 26, coach Fonseca and his boys continued their march, slipping occasionally but with their feet solidly set in the top 4, while also enjoying a great Europa League campaign.
Then, everything started going downhill. Between weeks 27 and 34 they won only once, against Bologna, while suffering absurd defeats to the likes of Parma, Torino or Cagliari. In the meantime, their European run also came to an end in the semi-finals as they were thrashed 2-6 away at Manchester United in the first leg.
The main reason for such a fall is certainly represented by an incredible array of injuries that plagued all the departments, in particular the defence and the midfield. At some point, the coach had to make do without 12 players.
Fonseca tried to stop the hemorrhage in the final weeks adopting a 4-2-3-1 formation instead of the 3-4-2-1 that had characterized their campaign that far and it worked out. Roma lost only 1 out of the last 4, winning 2, but seriously risked watching the next European competitions from home.
Veretout and Mkhitaryan were the heroes of the campaign with 10 goals and 2 assists and 13 goals and 11 assists respectively. Karsdorp did well on the right while Borja needed some time before leaving a mark. On the other hand, Zaniolo never played and Dzeko fell out with Fonseca at some stage.
Fonseca represented another disappointment for Roma, whose new owners aimed at a top 4 finish, and so the Portuguese will be let go with Mourinho expected to lead the Wolves to a new winning era.
