Roma veteran Franscesco Totti celebrated his 40th year old birthday this week.
Just after the celebration, Totti inspired Roma to a 4-0 victory over Astra in the Europa League. Totti was exceptional in the game, providing three assists.
The Giallorossi have started the campaign on a shaky note. They crashed out of the UEFA Champions League play offs after they played a 1-1 draw with Viktoria Plzen. Roma have also lost the last two of three Serie A games. Totti was in the staring squad despite crossing over the age of 40. Daniele De Rossi and Eemrson Palmieri were not available as they were suspended with Mario Rui. Antonio Rudiger’s injury ensured he missed the match. Former Arsenal and Barcelona defender Thomas Vermaelen was out injured as well.
Roma have been concerned with Vermaelen’s injury concerns. The 30-year old Belgian has been diagnosed with athletic pubalgia. Since returning from international team duty in September, he has missed five major games for Roma. There is no time frame for his recovery yet as there are various types, coach Luciano Spaletti said. The club doctors blamed their counterparts in the Belgium national team who forced him to play by giving him pain-killing injections. Reports say he is not able to even run, and it seems as if the injuries might force him to retire early.
Totti’s free kick helped Kevin Strootman get the first goal. He also provided assists to Mohammed Salah. Juan Manuel Iturbe but they failed to convert them. Totti was involved in goals from Federico Fazio. After the break, Diego Perotti forced Fabricio to cause an own goal in the 47th minute. Salah rounded up the 4-0 score line when he scored in the 55th minute. The manager said he was happy with the team’s performance after the game.
