Roma seek derby revenge

| Fri, 04/27/2007 - 05:27

AS Roma will be out to avenge the 3-0 beating and the leg-pulling they suffered from Lazio in December when they take on their cross-town rivals again on Sunday afternoon.

"What some of the Lazio camp did after that game is not worthy of comment," said Roma right-back Christian Panucci.

"You shouldn't take the mickey out of your opponents".

Roma also want to consolidate second place and automatic qualification for the group stage of next season's Champions League.

A win would put them 14 points ahead of Lazio, who are third at the moment with 57 points, and out of reach of them with four games to go.

Panucci believes the bad experience of the capital's first derby of the season will help Roma adopt the right approach this time.

"Maybe we thought we were better than them and, subconsciously, we were too sure that we would win," said the 33-year-old.

"They put so much anger and intensity into the game that they did not let us play. That won't happen this time.

"The mental image of the last derby will help us be more humble".

Neither side go into the game in the best of form.

Roma lost 2-1 to Atalanta (9th) last week, while Lazio have picked up just two points from their last three games.

Roma captain Francesco Totti is struggling for fitness because of back problems.

But the life-long Roma fan is expected to do everything to make the fixture he most loves to feature in.

Totti is also keen to score more goals to tighten his grip on the Serie A top-scorer crown.

The 30-year-old leads the top-scorer standings with 21 goals, three more than his closest rival, Livorno's Cristiano Lucarelli.

On Sunday night Inter Milan will toast the club's 15th scudetto, clinched last week with a 2-1 win at Siena, at home to fifth-placed Empoli.

With the title in the bag, Inter are now seeking to beat the Serie A points record of 94, which belongs to the great Torino side of 1947-48 (if their tally is calculated with the present system of three points for a win).

Fourth-placed AC Milan (56 points) are aiming to put pressure on Lazio for third place with victory over strugglers Torino (14th) on Saturday evening.

Torino are two points above the relegation zone after picking up only two points from their last five matches.

Milan are expected to rest most of their first-choice stars in view of Tuesday's Champions League semi-final return against Manchester United.

Palermo (6th) travel to Tuscany for Sunday afternoon's clash with Livorno (11th) under new coach Renzo Gobbo.

Francesco Guidolin was dumped from the Palermo bench after last Sunday's 3-4 home defeat to relegation-threatened Parma. Palermo have not won a game since the start of February.

The home side are without danger man Lucarelli, who is suspended.

Sicilian rivals Messina (second-from-bottom) are also in the hands of a new coach, Bruno Bolchi, for the home game against Atalanta, following Bruno Giordano's dismissal.

Bottom club Ascoli entertain fellow strugglers Reggina (18th) and there will also be a relegation battle at Parma (17th) with Cagliari coming to town.

The Sardinian side are in 13th place, but they are just three points above the relegation zone.

Parma have won three of their last four games.

There are three more Serie A matches this weekend: Fiorentina (7th) - Chievo Verona (16th) on Saturday night; and Siena (12th) - Sampdoria (10th) and Udinese (8th) - Catania (15th) on Sunday afternoon.

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