It was easy to forget how brilliantly the capital club has been playing over the previous several weeks, especially after Roma's 1-0 loss to AZ Alkmaar in Thursday's Europa League match, where the Giallorossi were easily frustrated by their Dutch opponents. Prior to their disappointing loss on Thursday, Roma crushed Genoa in a 3-1 thumping at the Stadio Olimpico, their sixth straight win in the league.

Claudio Ranieri's team continued to move up the ladder, reaching ninth position prior to today's encounter against Udinese, despite Roma having to walk a tightrope in many of those games. Ranieri made a number of changes from Thursday's team to give Paulo Dybala, Mats Hummels, and Alexis Saelemaekers some much-needed rest in preparation for their Europa League match against Eintracht Frankfurt, which is a win-or-go-home match the following week.