I'll put something proper up a little later, but I just wanted to get this out there. Paolo Maldini has put forth his thoughts on Roma and the legend himself is one of the very few people that I will listen to intently and heed his words blindly. One who has earned such respect from the masses and a man who, quite frankly, knows what the hell he is talking about. He talks, you listen:
"We are expecting a real struggle against the Giallorossi," the legend conceded.
"They play the best football in Italy and have managed to find some consistency, even after a few delicate moments recently.
"They progressed in the Champions League where we didn’t and showed that they have a stronger character than Real Madrid.
"We will be up against a strong unit with big players such as Francesco Totti, Mirko Vucinic and Amantino Mancini and we will need to chase everything down."
To hear that Roma plays the "best" football and not the "prettiest" or most "beautiful" is something we've been waiting to hear for quite some time. It speaks volumes that Roma is the only Italian team left in the Champions League and have earned every last drop of praise they've acquired over these last few weeks. With Inter stumbling (losing 3 of 6 and winning only 1 of 6) and Roma attacking the scudetto mountain with vigor, it's high time to get excited again. Especially when an iconic man of such class bestows that label upon your squad.
Stronger character than Real Madrid? I believe so:
"I won things with that shirt and I know what it means. In no other city does a victory mean as much as in Rome."
Quite simply, Roma has more to win than Real Madrid. Real just wants another trophy, Roma wants oh so much more.
And last, but not least, how far has Mirko Vucinic come to be lumped in with Francesco Totti and Amantino Mancini as an attacker who we assumed (stupidiotically) was playing out of position? An absolute European monster for Roma this season, and if I recall correctly, a man who scored a pretty meaningful goal against Milan the last time around. Here's to a repeat performance.
(After the 70th minute or so, of course.)