Daniele De Rossi will return to the Stadio Olimpico on Sunday evening with Genoa, facing the club whose shirt, captaincy and coaching role made him one of Roma’s defining figures. The visit follows José Mourinho’s own return as an opponent, but De Rossi’s connection with the Giallorossi carries a different weight: he arrives as the man responsible for Genoa’s results and their position in the table.
A former captain returns with Genoa
Speaking at Genoa’s Gianluca Signorini training centre in Pegli, De Rossi insisted that the emotional significance of the occasion will not alter his preparation. He has already faced Roma once as an opposing coach, an experience which he believes may help him approach this meeting with greater calm.
- De Rossi said he treated last season’s first meeting with Roma less effectively than he should have.
- He felt the return fixture was prepared better, while maintaining that every match requires the same concentration.
- For Sunday’s game, he sees a Roma side stronger than the one Genoa encountered in December last year.
- He also pointed to Roma’s performance against Real Madrid the previous day as evidence of their level, describing the side as extremely formidable.
Roma conceded three times from corners against Real Madrid, but De Rossi refused to frame set pieces as a weakness belonging only to his former club. He noted that statistics regularly show roughly 30 per cent of goals come from dead-ball situations, making them a central part of the game for every team.
Genoa will still seek to make use of such moments, as they did during a difficult spell in the previous campaign. Yet De Rossi warned that Roma are well equipped to defend them, citing their aerial strength and goalkeeper Gollini. Some outcomes, he said, can also turn on circumstance rather than a single tactical flaw.
Fiorentina win changes the mood in Genoa
The trip to Rome comes after Genoa’s first league victory of the season, secured against Fiorentina on Saturday. The result eased immediate pressure on De Rossi and gave his side a needed lift in front of their own supporters.
- Genoa beat Fiorentina in a match De Rossi believed his team deserved to win.
- He accepted that key incidents fell in Genoa’s favour, contrasting it with the Frosinone match, when he felt his side had started well but were harmed by adverse moments.
- De Rossi repeated that responsibility for Genoa’s league record rests with him.
- The victory was especially meaningful because the club needed a day of happiness at their stadium.
The coach said talk about Genoa having failed to win since the Pisa match had bothered him, while also noting that there had been a three-month period without football. He compared the appreciation shown to Vanoli in Florence for last season’s work with the recognition he feels Genoa earned through a similarly demanding period.
Support beyond the noise
De Rossi said he deliberately avoided online discussion during the difficult run. “When I felt tempted to open social media, I stopped myself,” he explained, saying that much of the criticism came from there.
His experience in Genoa itself has been different. “Walking around the city, I did not feel hostility or resentment,” he said. “I found encouragement and support, and I will remember that forever.”
Sunday’s return to Rome therefore arrives at a delicate but steadier moment for Genoa: a coach tied deeply to the opposition, a team revived by one important league win, and a demanding test against a Roma side De Rossi believes has grown considerably.
