Opinion: 7 in a row is fantastic but the toughest test is still to come

Under Luciano Spalletti, Roma have been near flawless in Serie A since the end of January.

The side’s form has not gone unnoticed, with the coach being wildly praised as he guided the capital club into a free-flowing, goal-fest machine, notching seven consecutive wins in a row.

The side have not conceded more than a single goal per game in that Serie A span and scored at least twice in every single game (and at least thrive in five of them). The players have roared into life brilliantly.

Before January 30th, Stefan El Shaarawy had no league goals in 15 appearances with Monaco in Ligue 1; since then, he’s had five (freaking fantastic ones, to boot) in seven games in Italy.

Mohamed Salah had five in 17 games before – and six in seven since. Diego Perotti cannot stop finding pockets of space and slotting the ball wherever it needs to be, and Kostas Manolas, Lucas Digne, Antonio Rudiger, and Alessandro Florenzi have conceded just once to an opponent from open play in that time.

Those 21 points earned have been brilliant and deserved, but the real test lies ahead.

There are 10 more match days in Serie A – 30 more points to gain – and despite the team’s performance since January, there isn’t much room for error going forward.

The side sit in third right now on 56 points. Juventus are eight points ahead and Napoli five; Fiorentina are three behind, Inter five, and Milan nine. The margin here is clearly not very large – consider how a three-game losing streak for Juventus could see Roma actually challenging for first, while a three-game losing streak for Spalletti’s men could see the side fall down to sixth.

In short, nothing is decided.

And Roma’s schedule certainly will test the side’s mettle.

In the 10 remaining matches, Roma will visit the sides currently in 16th (Udinese), 8th (Lazio), 15th (Atalanta), 14th (Genoa), and 6th (Milan). Of those five sides, realistically, only Lazio have nothing to play for, being 12 points above the drop and 13 away from a European spot, but that of course is a massive Derby for Roma.

Otherwise, even Genoa cannot yet be assured of safety – though by the time Roma face them, with three weeks to go, they may well either be comfortably mid-table or fighting for survival.

Udinese’s loss to Frosinone last match day sees them sucked into the relegation mire and Atalanta are only four points above the drop as it is. Milan, meanwhile, will want nothing more than to beat the side to relaunch their Champions’ League hopes.

Home matches will be difficult as well. The side host Inter (5th) who will almost certainly need to pull off an away win to ensure that they have a chance to finish third, and still have to face Napoli (2nd) in a massive, massive clash that could well define how the season finishes for both of those sides.

In between all three and shortly after the latter, the team face a run of three sides comfortably mid-table via Bologna (9th), Torino (12th), and Chievo (10th) – though given how grueling the rest of the schedule seems, the pressure is certainly on for the side to snatch all three points.

From January 30th until March 7th, Roma have built a fantastic foundation from which to ensure the rest of the season is successful; given how the final ten weeks play out for the side, however, now is not the time to rest on laurels but to push on and ensure that the final 10 matches are as fruitful as the previous seven.