Plenty of reasons to be thankful as Roma avoid group stage perils

Thanksgiving might be primarily an American holiday, but Roma certainly have much to be thankful for following their 4-1 win over Viktoria Plzen in the Europa League.

First and foremost, emerging from the Europa League group stage unscathed (and especially as group winners) is not something to take for granted. Roma's 11 points from five matches bests many of the premier sides from England and Spain in the competition, including Manchester United (nine points), Southampton (7), Villarreal (6), and Celta de Vigo (6).

Of all 32 teams in the group stage, only five have amassed more points than Luciano Spalletti's men. Thus far, Roma have been one of the more impressive sides in the Europa League; only Shakhtar Donetsk have scored more goals in total, while only Athletic Club’s Aritz Aduriz heads Edin Dzeko in the individual charts.

If Roma's record compares favorably to other sides from other countries, it stands head and shoulders above where the other Italian teams have performed in the Europa League. Take Inter Milan: five goals scored, ten allowed, just one win out of five and dead last in a group with Sparta, Hapoel Be'er Sheva and Southampton. The Nerazzurri have already been eliminated from knockout contention.

Sassuolo managed to be marginally better – they are just as eliminated, alas, but with five points instead of three, and nine goals scored and as many conceded allowed along the way.

Only Fiorentina could still join Roma in the deeper stages of the competition; la Viola currently top their group and are in a strong position but nevertheless could yet be denied qualification by a dramatic final game slip-up.

In context, then, Roma stand as one of the strongest sides remaining in the Europa League. An attack spearheaded by a completely rejuvenated Dzeko, with the pace and guile of Mohamed Salah supporting him, is a threat to any defence. As Thursday showed, add in the sheer audacity and brilliance - accidental or not - of Diego Perotti, or the driving threat of Stephan El Shaarawy, and the side has no shortage of options up front - and that's without Francesco Totti stepping off the bench.

Behind them, Leandro Paredes is stamping his authority on the Europa League, completing more passes than any other player as he continues to grow into his role. The rest of the midfield offers the steel and platform that Serie A has seen so well for the past few seasons, and the defence, anchored by Brazil's No. 1 Alisson, continues to see more options return (could Mario Rui be back for the final game against Astra Giurgiu?) to give the coach different choices to make.

An important caveat here: nothing has been accomplished yet. No one at the club will be satisfied if this is the furthest the side can manage in Europe, and no-one will be thinking that this achievement is any more than par for the course. This is, however, quite a good position to currently be in, brief stumbles aside.

Roma are demonstrating a care and quality in the Europa League that Italian sides have historically lacked until very recently; Spalletti's men need only to look at Atletico Madrid to see how success in Europe's second competition can engender success in the first, and that's without taking into account that the Europa League winner gains entry into the group stages of the Champions League directly.

Then there is the potential for prestige - and a trophy - after a long knockout run, which would be a massively fitting way to send off Francesco Totti in his final season.

So no, there wasn't any real turkey and ham at Trigoria yesterday - but by looking at Roma's current standings in the Europa League, there's plenty of reasons to be thankful for a successful, efficiently negotiated group stage campaign.