Can Roma Mount Serious Title Challenge?

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The 2022/23 Italian Serie A season begins on the 13th of August with a meeting between Udinese and defending champions, AC Milan.

The Rossoneri caught many people by surprise to lift the title last season and they are going to have a difficult task to retain the Scudetto.

City rivals, Inter Milan plus Juventus will be challenging but there may be further complications thanks to Roma. Can Jose Mourinho take the Giallorossi all the way to the top this season?

We must go back to the 2000/01 season to find the last time Roma won the Serie A title. They have finished in second place on no fewer than 9 occasions since then and have often been in the mix for the Serie A title.

However, the last few years have been disappointing in terms of a title challenge and since 2017/18, Roma’s best finish has been 5th place.

Last season Roma amassed a total of 63 points, which is fewer than in the 7 of the previous 8 seasons. Only 3 times in the past 16 seasons have Roma finished with 62 points or fewer and based on that information, it seems unlikely a title challenge is on the cards for the upcoming campaign.

Perhaps some clever moves in the transfer market will give Roma a boost and they can push the top teams this coming season.

The last time Roma won the Serie A title, they had an Argentine striker in their ranks by the name of Gabriel Batistuta.

The former Fiorentina striker scored 21 goals for Roma and he was a major reason the Giallorossi finished top of the pile in Italy. Batistuta joined the club in the summer and went on to win the title with Roma that season.

There is a similar feeling in Rome this season with the arrival of Paulo Dybala from Juventus. Dybala plays in a deeper role than Batistuta and is not a striker but the Argentine could have a similar impact on the team.

Batistuta scored 20 league goals in 28 appearances for Roma when they last won the title. Dybala is unlikely to reach that figure but he could have a massive impact in terms of both goals and creativity.

For example, in the 2019/20 season, Dybala scored 11 goals and had 11 assists, which is 22 goal contributions. Last season, the Argentine reached double figures in terms of goals for Juventus and in the 2017/18 campaign, Dybala scored 22 goals in Serie A, so he can find the back of the net with regularity.

Dybala can become an icon in Rome and much will depend on how he manages the pressure. The additions of Georginio Wijnaldum and Nemanja Matic will add quality to the midfield and make Roma a better team than they were last season.

The third fixture of the 2022/23 season sees Roma travel to Turin to play Juventus. A good performance and win from that match could be the springboard for a title push this season.