Roma

The offseason purchases of Mirlalem Pjanic from Roma (€32 million) and Gonzalo Higuain from Napoli (€75.3 million) haven’t debilitated the selling clubs, but they have had the desired effect for Juventus. Higuain has scored 19 goals, tied with Edin Dzeko for the most in the league, and no Juventus player has more assists than Pjanic.

Even more importantly, Napoli, the team that ran them closest last season, will come short of last season’s total of 82 points while Juventus look poised to surpass their own total of 91. There’s no surer gauge of the impact of that transfer.

Citing a desire to not be the coach that’s guilty of retiring Francesco Totti, Roma’s Luciano Spalletti has threatened to quit if Totti is not offered another one-year contract extension this summer.

The 40-year-old Roman has neither confirmed nor denied a desire to play next season, but the future of the personal embodiment of the club trumps all other focuses, according to Spalletti.

Francesco Totti appeared in his seven millionth Serie A match for AS Roma on Sunday, failing to add to his total of 1,306,478 goals for the club but appearing for a 25th successive calendar year — a streak that first began in 218 BC when Totti helped defend Rome from the invading Carthaginian army led by Hannibal.

Over the course of the streak, Totti has helped Rome gain dominance over the Western Mediterranean, assist Caesar in his conquest of Gaul, witness the collapse of the Western Roman Empire and win the 2008 Coppa Italia.

There’s no escaping the fact that the draws for the Champions League and the Europa League are ridiculous. These hugely overdone gala affairs take three hours to achieve what could be done in ten minutes. The saving graces - scowling club directors, getting to see Clarence Seedorf again - are vastly overshadowed by the ludicrous complexity of everything and UEFA’s willingness to blow their own trumpet at every conceivable opportunity. The entire event is comical, but it doesn’t really matter.

The Derby della Capitale was drenched in narrative. In a sporting context, the word narrative might well be overused to the point of meaninglessness, but there’s not many other ways in which to focus on the 90-minute battle between Lazio and Roma that took place on Sunday.

In purely sporting terms, it was a fascinating game. Roma, second in the league and easily fulfilling their role as perpetual also-rans, came up against arch-rivals Lazio, who were themselves only a point behind. 

It's no secret that Serie A’s UEFA coefficient has been in decline for over 15 years. The UEFA coefficient, used to determine how many teams from each domestic league are entered into competitions such as the Champions League and Europa League, is based on the European success of a club within the last five years.

In an interview with Corriere dello Sport, Roma captain Francesco Totti shocked many by naming a somewhat controversial figure as his best teammate ever. The player Totti named was Antonio Cassano, the maverick who's appeared for seven different clubs in his career.

Francesco Totti celebrated with 40th birthday on Tuesday, a milestone that encapsulates 25 seasons at one club, AS Roma. Totti has been as effective as ever for the Giallorossi, scoring two goals and registering two assists in just 192 minutes of Serie A action this season.

His league play was rewarded with a start and rare 90 minutes of action in Thursday’s Europa League encounter with Romanian opposition Astra Giurgiu. The Roman delighted supporters at the Stadio Olimpico with another vintage performance. 

There was a practice in Ancient Rome whereby a victorious general would be welcomed back into the city by throngs of celebrating citizens. As the triumph marched through the streets, with compliments and adoration showered upon the commander by the men and women of Rome, there was always a slave stationed beside his ear.