Serie A: Inter’s to lose as Totti is out for the season
Inter Milan’s nervous 1-0 win at Torino on Sunday, thanks to a Julio Cruz’s header, may well be enough for them to retain their title, after second-placed AS Roma, who drew 1-1 at home to lowly Livorno on Saturday, and also lost Francesco Totti to a serious knee injury. Inter are now six points clear of Roma. With four matches left, Inter would have to completely screw up to lose the scudetto now, although a meeting with rivals AC Milan in two week’s time may caused them to lose points. But in recent time, the omen is for Inter to sweep their rival away as well.
Roma’s talisman Francesco Totti could miss the start of next season after undergoing a knee operation, the club doctor said on Sunday. He has been troubled by niggles all season, suffered a cruciate ligament injury in title-chasing Roma’s 1-1 draw with Livorno on Saturday. He was substituted after half an hour having tried for several minutes to shake off a knock.
‘I am a bit scared because I heard a crack,’ Totti told reporters as he arrived at the club clinic on Sunday. ‘I will definitely return stronger than before.’ Montenegro’s Mirko Vucinic, who scored on Saturday, looks poised to fill in for Totti in their remaining four league games.
‘Professor Pierpaolo Mariani will perform a surgical operation to reconstruct the anterior cruciate ligament, which will take place in the afternoon,’ Roma club doctor Mario Brozzi said in a statement. Brozzi also told reporters: ‘In the past Roma have dealt with these kinds of injuries. We remember in the cases of Emerson and (Eusebio) Di Francesco they returned to action after four months.’ A similar recovery time for Totti would mean he would be back in August but would miss most of pre-season training.
On the 1-1 draw against Livorno, Roma coach Luciano Spalletti did not blame the loss of his captain for the draw.
“We lack certain qualities. Sometimes we are able to find that bit extra, other times no. We have to be a bit nastier,” he told Sky television. “Inter have all the match points. We’ve wasted an opportunity.” Roma failed to create many clear-cut chances but broke the deadlock after 54 minutes when Montenegro’s Vucinic netted a looping header after David Pizarro’s clever chip into the area.
Livorno barely threatened but shocked the hosts seven minutes from time when substitute Diamanti curled the ball into the near corner of the net.
Livorno’s Italy reserve goalkeeper Marco Amelia then saved twice from Daniele De Rossi. De Rossi was in tears at the final whistle as Roma saw their chances of a first scudetto since 2001 become more remote.
