Opinion: Roma can't stop now

It’s not over until the fat lady sings, as they say – or, at least, until the elder statesman comes on and does what he always does so well. Some clichés, when modified, ring true.

Roma, job done. Perhaps not terribly well done, but done nevertheless. With 76 minutes to go of Matchday 34, the gap between third and fourth was one goal away from becoming just one point. Inter were drawing against Genoa, giving the side a temporary point total of 62, and Roma were losing to Torino – a scoreline that, if it held, would have meant Roma remained on 65 points.

A goal for Inter would have sent them to 64 points, and thus blown open the race for third. Even if, at this point in the evening, Fiorentina were losing to Udinese – a match they did not lead even for a minute – everything was in a very precarious position.

In fact, Roma’s Champions League hopes were in a very precarious position.

Yet everything had changed by the final whistle, 14 minutes and three goals later.

First of all Sebastian De Maio grabbed a vital goal for Genoa, in the 77th minute of their game against Inter, which would turn out to be the match-winner.

Inter went from being a goal away from one point off third to needing two goals in 14 minutes to avoid defeat. Just like that everything shifted, and their Champions League hopes seemed to slip out of their grasp - beyond even the outstretched fingertips of Samir Handanovic, who has done everything humanly possible this season to keep Inter in the hunt.

Nine minutes later, Francesco Totti scored the fastest goal a substitute has scored in Italy all season, and then three minutes after that his penalty sent the stadium into shockwaves. From defeat to victory, Roma suddenly moved seven points clear of Roberto Mancini’s side.

Those fourteen minutes were the closest that Inter and Roma could possibly have come to a six-pointer without actually playing each other. The impact of those three goals cannot be understated; with 15 minutes remaining it looked possible the sides could be separated by a single point, yet by the end the gulf was wider than ever.

With four games left to play, that seven-point lead could be enormously significant.

But it is not good enough. Not just yet, anyway. There’s still so much left to play for and, with Inter winning at the weekend against Udinese, the gap is back down to four points.

Inter are not out of it but Roma now need to turn their attention upward. Not too far upward - first is now too far of a jump. Second, however, remains doable.

The five-point gap between Napoli and Roma can be shortened on Monday and, if Roma want to avoid the Champions League qualifying rounds, surely it must be.

If Roma are not seeded next season, which will not be known for sure until all of the sides involved are known, it is likely a Premier League side (like Arsenal) or Spanish team (possibly Villarreal) will stand between them and the lucrative group stage.

Both opponents would be tough. Far better would be to qualify for the group stage directly, by finishing second. That won’t be easy, but it is still possible.

Roma’s final three games of the season are against Genoa (10th place), Chievo (8th), and AC Milan (6th); only Milan truly have anything to play for, in the hunt for a Europa League spot, and that may well be decided by the final day of the season anyway.

Napoli, meanwhile, have to face Atalanta (13th), Torino (11th), and Frosinone (19th); by the same token, most of these sides are safe, and Frosinone’s relegation fate may well already have been decided before that final match day.

Winning on Monday could decide the momentum heading into that run. Despite thrashing Bologna by six goals, Napoli have lost two of their last four and have kept just two clean sheets in their last six, and just one in their last five away matches.

At the Olimpico they’ll find a Roma who have not lost at home since November, and have only failed to score more than once in two of their last six games in their own stadium. The lack of clean sheets during this span, with just a solitary one against Palermo, underlines what Roma will need to do: outscore Napoli.

That won’t be easy but, if Roma can accomplish it, they’ll cut the lead down to second place to just two points.

That won’t put destiny in their own hands, but it’ll ensure a dramatic and full throttle final three games for both sides.

So they can’t stop now.