Not only Florinel Coman and Zito Luvumbo : Gabriele Zappa will also miss Sunday's match (4pm) at the Olimpico against Roma, led by the great former player Claudio Ranieri. The defender underwent instrumental tests this morning in Cagliari, after a discomfort he suffered in yesterday's training at the Crai Sport Center in Assemini: his injury has been confirmed, with a muscle strain.
Recovery times are still to be assessed, but he certainly won't be at the Olimpico. The rossoblù medical staff will try to get him back on the pitch after the break, when bottom-of-the-table Monza will arrive at the Domus on Sunday 30th at 12:30 . Zappa will miss his first match this season: 28 appearances out of 28 in Serie A and 3 out of 3 in the Coppa Italia. Up until now he had only missed the second half of Lecce on 31st August, the last quarter of an hour against Lazio on 3rd February and the final 21' in the cup in Turin against Juventus on 17th December.
Zappa's absence is an additional problem for Davide Nicola, who will presumably be forced to lower Nadir Zortea to right back . But, given the absences of Coman and Luvumbo, the problem arises again on the wings: in the event of confirmation of the 4-2-3-1, the shift of Mattia Felici to the right cannot be ruled out, with Tommaso Augello high on the left and Adam Obert in defense. The alternative is a change of module, with the use of the 4-3-2-1 (with an extra midfielder and the presence of at least one between Gianluca Gaetano and Nicolas Viola).
Today – obviously without Zappa – morning training at the Crai Sport Center in Assemini. In the evening, at 18:45, Roma will play in Bilbao against Athletic Club in the second leg of the Europa League round of 16 : in the first leg, last Thursday, Ranieri's Giallorossi won 2-1 with a last-second goal by another former Cagliari player, Eldor Shomurodov.
