Roma vs. Udinese: 6 Things We Learned

Roma were made to suffer for their 3-2 win over Udinese at the Olimpico, but they showed plenty of the flair and industry that has marked their season to fight for a difficult—but deserved—win.

The victory gave the Giallorossi back their four-point lead over Napoli, who won a controversial game against Torino earlier in the evening. 

In Another Year, This Roma Would Be Deserved Champions

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Roma are currently on 61 points with 10 games to play. In another season, that kind of pace would be more than enough to take the Scudetto. 

Rudi Garcia has worked wonders at the Olimpico, but he was unlucky this year to come up against a special Juventus side that's all but unstoppable in the league. 

Several sides have won the league in Italy recently with 82 points—a number that the Lupi could easily reach. And back in 2003, the Bianconeri won the title with just 71, a tally Roma could easily have by the end of April.

There's Still Life Left in Udinese

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In recent years we've been used to Udinese producing exciting, attacking football that caused even the best sides plenty of trouble and that launched several high-profile players to stardom. 

This year's been a little underwhelming by comparison. The Zebrette have just 31 points, are a long way off European football and fell out of the Coppa Italia against Fiorentina. 

Despite that, this game suggested that there's life in Udinese yet, and if they can regroup over the summer then they could soon be back to their best. Francesco Guidolin's side put plenty of pressure on Roma and a performance like that would have almost certainly beaten any other Serie A side, save for Juve. 

The quality's obviously still there—they just need to find it consistently. 

Morgan De Sanctis Deserves a Place on the Bench at the World Cup

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Morgan De Sanctis's performance against Udinese was one of the best by a goalkeeper in Italy all season. Had it not been for the Guardiagrele native, the result could have been very different and the dramatic, diving saves he made to keep the Giallorossi in the game should live long in the memory of Romanisti. 

They should also have gotten Cesare Prandelli thinking. If fit, Gigi Buffon is unquestionably Italy's No.1 for the upcoming World Cup but on this form there's no better Italian keeper to deputise than De Sanctis. 

The 36-year-old announced his retirement from international duty last year while still at Napoli, but he has since been reborn in the capital. If he can be convinced to come along on one last adventure, he would be a valuable addition to Italy's squad in Brazil. 

Rudi Garcia Will Hope to Learn from This Game

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Garcia saw his side put under serious pressure by Udinese, and while they did come away with a win, without De Sanctis in goal it might have been very different. 

The French coach said as much after the game, speaking to Sky Sport Italia h/t football-italia.net):

"

We had done many great things, but also given away too many chances. We hadn’t suffered like this at home for 15 games. 

They say football is the art of making life difficult for yourself, but we got the three points and that was the important thing.

We could’ve scored more goals, but without a great Morgan De Sanctis performance we could’ve conceded more too.

We made mistakes and misplaced some very easy passes. That is the problem, as we must be always concentrated and never leave anything to the opposition.

We scored three goals and had the chance to score another two or three. We created a lot in attack, so I am happy with the performance of these players. We knew the captain couldn’t play a full 90 minutes, but he was truly illuminating tonight.

"

There's Always Room for Francesco Totti

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A thigh strain has been keeping Francesco Totti out of action for the last month, but he marked his return with a performance that had all the classic characteristics of the Roman No. 10.

Totti tracked back to defend, dictated his side's movement, created space for his team-mates and was typically cool under pressure—not least when the ball fell to him for his superbly-taken goal.

He also showed the kind of leadership and team spirit that makes him a vital part in Garcia's side by marking the goal with a dedication to Kevin Strootman, the Dutch midfielder who has been ruled out for the rest of the season—and the World Cup—with ligament injury.

Totti and Destro Deserve More Time Together

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Totti and Mattia Destro played together up front against Udinese, a pairing that's only been seen once before this season, back in December in a 4-0 win against Catania.

The combination left Roma with less obvious width—Alessandro Florenzi lost out and was on the bench—but there was so much obvious talent and attacking threat between the two that the sacrifice might be worth it. 

The Giallorossi were without Strootman, Daniele De Rossi and Maicon at full-back for this game but with those players in the starting XI there's more than enough energy and industry to make up for Florenzi's absence, even if it is regrettable to leave a player of his obvious talent on the bench. 

It will be interesting to see how this combination is used again now that both players are fit.