Juventus beat Roma to finish the first round of Serie A at the top of the standings.

One player from each side had to leave the game early due to serious injury (2-1).

The big game in the Italian capital grabbed the attention of the soccer public immediately after the Spanish Super Cup match. For some, a separate battle between the two Madrid teams was not mandatory to watch, and preference was given to the game in Rome's Stadio Olimpico, where in the nineteenth round of the local Roma under Paulo Fonseca tried to protect their position in the standings from the encroachment of Atalanta Bergamasque.

And the picture for the "wolves" was, let's face it, far from reassuring. Of the teams in the top four of Serie A, only Roma and Juventus had disappointing statistics in the stretch of five previous meetings. And so, in a match that began exactly one day before the Inter-Atalanta clash, both the Zebrette and the Romans were given unexpected opportunities.

For Paulo Fonseca's men, there was a clear danger of losing control of the standings and letting the same Gian Piero Gasperini's side move ahead of them. But for the reigning champion, another misfire of a direct rival in the fight for the first line meant only one thing - Juventus will be able to forget the failures of the beginning of December 2019 if they manage to beat Roma, which would raise Maurizio Sarri's wards in the position of the leader of the race. Agreed, this is already enough for a quality match in the Apennine peninsula.

Every epochal game must begin loudly. From the outset, the Turin club tried to force their opponents into their own half of the pitch. It proved to be very productive. Ronaldo had no trouble winning a free kick on the left flank for Paulo Dybala, who had no trouble sending a cross into the far corner of the goalkeeper's box. And here you can guess what Smalling and Kollaroff were doing when they chose their positions. Demiral celebrated his first goal in Serie A by calmly slotting the ball past the two opponents guarding him.

It was as if Roma had not woken up and immediately scored a second goal in their own net. In truth, the "did not wake up" characterization can only be attributed to Veret, who gave Paulo Dybala hope by starting to fumble with the ball in his own penalty area. The Argentine played like a true maestro, making a successful tackle and immediately setting up under Veretu's attempt to eliminate the threat. In addition to the caution for the midfielder, the Romans were awarded a penalty in their own half, and Cristiano Ronaldo had no trouble finding the bottom right corner.

By the end of the match, it felt as if we could no longer watch the grass at Italy's most important sports arena, as the teams were in no mood to joke and literally ploughed the turf with their kicks to fight for the ball. And if it wasn't for the way they managed to "extinguish" these passions... I would like to see bright performers without injuries. Demirall has just started to find his form and become the backbone of the Juventus defense, but an unfortunate landing after a tackle risks knocking him out indefinitely.

Nicola Zagnolo, however, suffered a more serious injury. The youngster had been working his way through Juventus' half before De Ligt's backheel brought him down as he approached the penalty area. There was no question in the visitors' minds that the threat had to be dealt with, but this was unlikely to appease Zagnolo. When it became clear that the player was unable to hold back his tears, and at the same time had no option but to stand on the turf, there was no need to think about increasing the level of confrontation. At too great a cost, Roma tried to take the opponent's goal by storm.

Against the backdrop of these events, Alexandar Kolarov's unsuccessful game became even more conspicuous. The Serbian played an extremely inexpressive game, and we did not even remember his trademark serves from the flank - their accuracy was extremely low. With his teammates failing to deliver the ball to Dzeko in the box, the Bosnian had to find his own ways of approaching the opposition goal. After receiving the ball from Szczesny, Edin immediately fired a shot towards the left post and then continued his involvement in the play by cutting back to the left flank, where he sent a precise pass towards the head of Ünder. The Turkish midfielder unleashed an angled header that was blocked by Alex Sandro. The moment immediately raised a lot of questions, and the referee was even forced to watch the replay.

Guida returned with a clear penalty for Juve, Sandro deliberately putting his hand under the ball's trajectory. Perotti's precise strike from eleven yards into the left corner doubled the hosts' lead, but that was as close as Fonseca's men came. At the same time, Juventus launched several counterattacks, one of which culminated in Gonzalo Iguain's goal that was disallowed for offside. In the end, Turin survived in a duel that all the "gladiators" failed to finish. Zagnolo and Demirallo - good health!

In the next round, Roma travel to Genoa and Juventus host Parma at the Allianz Stadium.

Roma 1 - 2 Juventus

Goals: Perotti, 69 (penalty) - Demiral, 3, Ronaldo, 10 (penalty).

Roma: Pau Lopez - Florenzi, Mancini, Smalling, Kolarov - Veretu (Cristante, 66), Diawara - Zagnolo (Under, 36), Pellegrini, Perotti (Kalinic, 82) - Dzeko.

Juventus: Szczesny - Cudrado, Demiral (De Ligt, 19), Bonucci, Alex Sandro - Rabiot, Pjanic, Matuidi - Ramsey (Danilo, 70) - Dybala (Iguain, 69), Ronaldo.

Warnings: Veretu, Kolarov, Mancini, Kalinic, Cristante, Florenzi - Pjanic, de Ligt, Cuadrado.

Koeman refused to take over in Barcelona

Koeman refuses to take over at Barcelona

Koeman turns down Barcelona job Dutch national team coach Ronald Koeman has turned down an invitation from Barcelona. The former Blaugrana player has decided to continue working for his home team, according to Marca. Barcelona prepare two options to replace Valverde after Xavi's refusal Barcelona are preparing two options to replace Valverde after Xavi's refusal. After the failure with Xavi, Barcelona made Koeman an offer to replace Ernesto Valverde immediately, but the Dutch specialist refused. He plans to play with the Dutch national team at Euro 2020 and only then consider returning to the Camp Nou as a coach. Koeman's contract with the Orange has a special clause that allows him to end his cooperation prematurely if he receives an invitation from Barcelona. As a reminder, the Dutch national team are Ukraine's rivals in the group stage of Euro 2020. Leicester suffered a defeat in the match against Southampton Leicester City 1 : 2 Southampton. The match is…