GIALLOROSSI YORKSHIRE BLOG
Riccardo Calafiori has been called up to the senior Roma squad for the first time, just a year after a serious injury threatened his career.
The 17-year-old defender suffered a devastating knee injury in the UEFA Youth League last October, but after making a scoring return to action for the Under-19s recently, Calafiori has now been brought into the first team fold by Paulo Fonseca, as several members of the squad look to overcome injury issues of their own. With the squad further depleted by the absences of Bryan Cristante (ruled out until 2020), Nikola Kalinic (out for around two months) and Davide Santon (battling flu), Fonseca has had to turn to the youth sector to complete a 19-man squad for Thursday's Europa League tie with Borussia Monchengladbach, with promising midfielder Alessio Riccardi also included. There is a chance that the 18-year-old, who made his senior debut in a Coppa Italia game in January, could play some part in the match, given that the midfield options are very limited. Jordan Veretout is the only fit natural central midfielder, while Javier Pastore played there for most of the game against Sampdoria at the weekend - although his ability to play three games in a week is questionable. Nevertheless, it is Pastore who is expected to start alongside Veretout on Thursday. Roma have one win and one draw from their Europa League campaign so far, most recently being frustrated in Austria by Wolfsberger. Monchengladbach, meanwhile, have just one point after drawing with Istanbul Basaksehir - although they currently lead the way in the Bundesliga, with one point more than Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund or RB Leipzig. The game gets underway at 5:55pm UK time, and will be available to watch via the BT Sport red button service.
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samuel bannister
Founder and editor of Giallorossi Yorkshire, who is also a columnist for Roma's official website about the women's team. Categories
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October 2019
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