Roma - Sassuolo 2-1 and CSKA Sofia.

It is a victory to the last breath with ElSha’s beautiful round shot propitiated by Mancini’s long throw and Eldor’s accommodation. Even in the winning goal there is the hand of this Roma of Mou, with Eldor choosing altruism, not exactly obvious for a central striker. Mou celebrated his thousandth game with a painful and at times epic victory. Due to his extremely positive karma (I dare not imagine his previous life), it could not be otherwise.

Mou had already put his signature on the game with a well thought out scheme that had inspired the goal of the momentary advantage of the Giallorossi with Pelle (excellent game) that puts Bryan in front of Consigli. The match was extremely close, especially in midfield. Sassuolo played excellently. The best of them is Berardi who after a couple of dribbles puts in an excellent assist for the temporary equalizer of the neroverdi with Djuricic. I understimated Berardi with the assist with right at the end of the pitch, but the azzurro was very good. Then we attack and attack. Pellegrini touches the goal 2/3 times. Sometimes Consigli is the one to say no. The stake says no to Abraham. Like in Boga on the other side. And then ElSha's goal and the crazy joy of being a Roma fan.

Sofia is the capital of Bulgaria, the southernmost country of the old Warsaw Pact, bordering Serbia, Macedonia, Greece, Turkey and Romania. It combines Slavic origins with Ottoman and Greek influences.

In World War II, Bulgaria was allied with Nazi Germany, but when they revealed their intentions to round up the Jews in 1943, the Vice-President of Parliament and leader of the opposition, Dmitri Pesev, and the major Bulgarian Orthodox patriarchs opposed it and didn't. they allowed. We Italians also have to reflect on this, because the fascist hierarchs and the Catholic Church were complicit in the tragedy of the Shoah, while the Bulgarians had the courage to say no.

When we challenged the CSKa Sofia the last year, in the prematch I spoke of the political situation in the Eastern countries and therefore also in Bulgaria with the conflict between conservative and pro-European parties and socialist and pro-Russian parties. The solution could be to get Russia to join the EU. It would be a decisive step for Altiero Spinelli's dream of a world government and then Russian culture is a profoundly European culture.

There are actually two kind of very high obstacles. The first is of a geopolitical nature. The countries of the EU (including Bulgaria) are part of NATO which has as its foundation the opposition to Russia. This mainly diplomatic conflict has its roots in the 1900s, when Russia was the USSR, it had a political, economic and social system completely opposite to the West. Now this opposition no longer makes sense. Indeed, Russia (but also China) and NATO must face together a more current and more significant enemy such as Islamic terrorism.

The second kind of obstacle is, for me, even more important. Russia is a democracy only on a formal level. In fact, opposition demonstrations are often ended by police violence and arrests. Currently, Navalny, the real leader of the opposition, is in jail. He is a controversial character. Amnesty has recognized in some of its nationalist statements a clear incitement to hatred, but if Russia wants to enter Europe, it must be an accomplished democracy, which recognizes the right to opposition. There is no alternative.

Mladenov lines up 4411 and they will have a very defensive attitude. The best attacks come from their right, our left, when Yomov talks to Carey (left). On the left, we will have to watch out for the Congolese left-back, Mazikou. Catakovic should play as center striker because Caicedo is disqualified. On corner kicks from their left they can look for the near post. From their right, Carey also beats them to go down to the far post. Another very interesting player is the Argentine attacking midfielder, Varela, with an excellent left foot, but he only plays with that foot.

In general, we are superior, but if we approach the game superficially, the Bulgarian reds could take courage. Mainly they will be defensive. It will be important to unlock the game and then keep your head to break through them multiple times. On paper, it's an easy match. As mentioned, we can break them several times, but woe to play without concentration. Daje Roma!

Giordano Sepi