Pellegrini against Cataldi: Roma-Lazio is a derby of captains-fans

Stefano Cieri – Andrea Pugliese

November 6
– Roma

Two captains, two souls, two hearts of the capital. On the one hand Lorenzo Pellegrini, on the other Danilo Cataldi. Two, among other things, who struggled to establish themselves with their favorite teams, but precisely because there was an infinite love for those colors involved, they never gave up, nor moved back an inch. They both went straight to their goal and today they will try to harvest everything they have previously sown. Leaving a mark, possibly even a trace, which if it were indelible would be even better. Because if you live a Roma-Lazio as a Roman it is different from everything else. And if you also experience it as a captain, then it can be one of those games to be kept tight in your heart. And, perhaps, also to tell to children or future grandchildren.

The Giallorossi

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For Lorenzo Pellegrini this afternoon will be his third time with the armband. And maybe he will want to celebrate it with another third time, the one linked to the goals, considering that in his seven matches against Lazio so far Lollo has found the way of the net in two circumstances. Among other things, two authentic magic: the heel strike of 29 September 2018 and the masterful free-kick of last season, in the derby. If he then scores, Roma wins: exactly 3-1 and 3-0, not even a little. Here, Pellegrini today would gladly do the trio, just like he will do it – and here is a certainty – with the armband. Of those seven challenges, in fact, only two he played as captain, the return matches of the last two seasons. Of course, totem poles such as Totti (32 captain derby) and De Rossi (9) are light years away, but in the meantime today Pellegrini will leave behind the last recent Roman and Romanist captain, Alessandro Florenzi, who is a symbol of man’s derby. he only played two.

That Lorenzo is not very well, this is known, he has been playing with a problem in his left flexor for more than a month, he would need to stop but he will only do it during the World Championship break. The derby, after all, is too important and Lollo knows it on his skin, considering that the blue triumph at the European Championship was played precisely to grit his teeth and not miss a match with Lazio. He regrets that lack of victory, of course, he doesn’t always happen to be able to become European champions. But it is not a regret, because it was a choice made with the heart. Only as a Roman and Romanist captain can he do. Here, if fate has a justice of him, maybe today it will give him back something of what the derby took away from him precisely in that challenge of 2021.

The biancoceleste

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For Cataldi it will be the first derby as captain. An incredible emotion that is a gift of fate because the band is handed over to him by the injury of the “owner” of the Immobile grades (who will not even go to the bench today, he is still not well) and the disqualification of deputy Milinkovic. Cataldi would obviously have preferred to play it, the derby, with those two there. And not because he doesn’t feel ready to face the derby as captain of his Lazio. But why, without Immobile and Milinkovic, it is obviously not the same thing. To help the biancoceleste team not to think about it, not to feel too much these two huge absences will have to provide him and the other leaders of the locker room. Like Pedro who scored one of the three goals with which Lazio overcame Roma in last year’s first leg derby. Or like the other former Giallorossi Romagnoli, who will make his debut in a derby, crowning – he, a very Lazio fan – the dream he had as a child. Or like Vecino who, after those he lived in Milan, will also know the atmosphere of a Roman derby.

Being the captain, as well as of his team, also of all these champions is a satisfaction and satisfaction for Cataldi. However, it is also such a great responsibility. As a Roman and Lazio fan, he already feels the derby a lot. With the arm band even more. But he can’t wait to take this responsibility. It will be his sixth derby. In the five played so far he has a slightly negative balance: 2 wins and 3 defeats. He wants at all costs to bring him a draw, perhaps doing as in the derby of March 2, 2019, when he scored his first (and so far only) goal in a derby, setting the score at 3-0 for Lazio in the final. That day, however, he started off the bench and then entered the final part of the match. Three years later he is a staple of Lazio. An essential owner and now also a captain. To experience a derby with strong emotions.