Numerically deficient Roma exited with a scoreless draw against its host Como, in a match that lasted more than half an hour with ten players, within the sixth stage of the Italian Football League.
The capital team was hoping to stay the same distance with Inter, which beat Parma 2-0 on Saturday, but remained behind it by two points (16-14), while Como raised his score to 11 points.
It is Roma's third draw in the last four matches in various competitions.
The point may be satisfactory for coach Jean Piero Gasperini's team. Because his team played with ten players since the 53rd minute, after Dutch striker Donyiel Malen was directly sent off after a harsh intervention on Brazilian Kaikeyi.
Despite Como's many attempts to open the scoring by taking advantage of the numerical deficiency, Roma kept a clean sheet, and it is the second best defense line in the league in partnership with Lazio temporarily (3), after Cagliari (2).
The team will have a difficult task ahead of its guest, Real Madrid, led by their former Portuguese coach, Jose Mourinho, on Wednesday, in the Champions League, after the disappointing opening draw in Türkiye against Fenerbahce.
On the other hand, Como, who is participating in the Champions League for the first time, will play against its Dutch host Feyenoord after its great victory in the first round over Leipzig 4-1.
Roma was close to opening the scoring with captain Lorenzo Pellegrini's shot from the outskirts of the penalty area, which bounced off the post (11).
Malin wasted an opportunity before the end of the first half, with a shot that hit the side netting from a narrow angle.
After the Dutchman was sent off, Como sought to take advantage of his numerical superiority, so he tried Argentine Nico Bas with a shot over the crossbar, and another player similarly tried with a shot into the side netting.
Then goalkeeper Pierluigi Golini blocked two attempts from Bas (70 and 77), without coach Cesc Fabregas' team being able to win despite the control.
Uli Hoeneß, honorary president of the German football club Bayern Munich, criticized the bodies responsible for football due to the international match schedule, stressing that his club is the most affected by the pressure of the calendar.
Hoeness said - in statements to the Bild TV channel today (Sunday) - that some Bayern players had a very short rest period between the end of the World Cup and the beginning of the new season, which then witnessed, for the first time, an international break lasting three weeks.
“We are the most affected by this long World Cup,” Hoeneß added. “Our players came back very late and then had to go on vacation.”
Bayern's stars: Harry Kane, Dayot Upamecano and Michael Oliseh, participated in the World Cup until the final weekend of the tournament, on July 18 and 19.
Bayern played its first official match in the German Super Cup on August 21, before starting its campaign in the German League on the 28th of the same month.
Hoeneß also expressed his dissatisfaction with the long international break for European Nations League matches, which began on September 21, after the extended period replaced two separate international breaks in early September and mid-October.
He said: “I think that what the European Football Association (UEFA) did represents a disaster, when it decided to stop the competitions only 4 weeks after the start of the German League season. “We had 18 players with their national teams, so it is completely normal for them to lose their rhythm.”
Hoeneß stressed the need for clubs to “finally defend their interests,” explaining that they are the ones who pay players’ salaries, not the national teams.
He added: “Then a ridiculous tournament like the European Nations League is created here, which is the joke of the year.”
Bayern Munich president Herbert Hainer agreed with Hoeneß's statements, saying: “Uli Hoeneß is certainly right about that. I don't think there is another team under more pressure than us in the German League, as well as at the international level. Because our squad includes almost only international players, and they all participated with their teams during the summer.”
Hainer explained that participation in the European Nations League and frequent travel impose additional burdens on professional players, something that “may have been noticed” during Bayern’s 2-2 draw with Augsburg in the German League yesterday (Saturday).
Hainer confirmed: “I completely agree with Uli Hoeneß on this matter. However, I strongly believe that what matters in the end is the team that comes out on top at the end, and that will be Bayern Munich.”
Manuel Neuer, the goalkeeper of the German football team Bayern Munich, did not wish to add this number to his long record, but he became the unwanted record holder for the fastest goal received by a goalkeeper in the history of the German football league.
To make matters worse, the goal came as a result of a fatal error by Bayern Munich's veteran goalkeeper, after he allowed Augsburg's Robin Wielhauer to open the scoring after only 8.4 seconds, in the match that ended in a 2-2 draw.
Neuer (40 years old) said in a low tone: “I did not plan that before the match,” describing what happened as a “ridiculous mistake,” after the ball he tried to clear hit Wielhauer’s foot and landed in the net.
Neuer also did not appear well in Augsburg's second goal, scored by Rodrigo Ribeiro, and he merely said, in reference to the possibilities of his starting participation against Norwegian Viking Stavanger on Tuesday in the Champions League: “I have a prior feeling,” without clarifying whether he would guard the goal or whether his expected successor, Jonas Orbig, would participate.
Neuer is considered one of the most prominent goalkeepers in the history of football, having been crowned the best goalkeeper in the world five times, winning the World Cup, two Champions League titles, and 13 German League titles, during a busy career that is expected to end at the end of the current season.
On the other hand, Orbig (23 years old) gets regular opportunities to participate, and he recently left his first two matches with the German national team without conceding a goal.
Orbig appears to be a candidate to take over the starting goalkeeper position in Bayern Munich, and perhaps the German national team as well, but that does not necessarily mean keeping Neuer out of the starting lineup at the present time.
Bayern Munich president Herbert Hainer said in statements to Bild TV on Sunday: “Manuel Neuer was and remains one of the best goalkeepers in the world.”
Hainer stressed that Neuer's mistake "has absolutely nothing to do with aging," adding: "Manuel Neuer has excellent physical fitness, and he could have easily made the same mistake when he was twenty years old."
Bayern coach Vincent Kompany was also quick to stress that he was not worried about the goalkeeper, saying: “Manuel is the same age as me, and he knows how to deal with such situations.”
Bayern, which aspires to continue competing for titles, does not want to get into a controversy over goalkeeping, while Max Eberl, a member of the Board of Directors for Sports Affairs, confirmed that Neuer and Orbig deserve praise.
"There is no justification to doubt Neuer's abilities just because he made a mistake," Eberle said. “Jonas is developing exceptionally, and Manuel played a very big role in that, and he is still our main goalkeeper.”
Hainer praised Orbig, saying: “It is difficult to imagine a better successor to a world-class goalkeeper like Manuel Neuer.”
Bayern could have avoided the goalkeeping controversy if they had scored more than the two goals scored by Ismail Sibari and Nathaniel Brown, and emerged victorious from the Augsburg Stadium.
But the team failed to do so, not only because of wasting many opportunities, but also after four goals were disallowed due to offside, while two attempts by Harry Kane and Serge Gnabry hit the post and the crossbar.
Kompany said: “We are not happy because we did not win,” describing the match as “consecutive emotional fluctuations,” in the team’s first appearance after the three-week international break.
The coach added: “That's how football works.” Players are normal human beings, and they don't always get everything right. It hurts right now, but we have to move forward. Fortunately, we have many matches ahead of us, so we must overcome what happened.”
Immediately after the match, Kompany headed to Munich to receive an honorary award from Markus Söder, Prime Minister of the State of Bavaria, during the Bavarian Sports Awards ceremony.
The coach said about the Augsburg match: “We cannot change what happened anyway,” before turning his focus to the match against Viking Stavanger.
