Heading into Wednesday's match with Manchester City, Roma know a goalless draw might be enough to reach the Champions League knockout stages.
But the weekend was not great preparation as a second string side dropped two points in a 2 - 2 draw with Sassuolo in Serie A, which prevented Rudi Garcia's side from capitalising on Juventus's slip up at Fiorentina.
"This was a great chance for them to close the gap on Juve," said Ben Lyttleton on our Monday night European football slot.
"It's all set up for Wednesday night when Totti, Astori, Nainngolan and Maicon will be back in the starting lineup."
Ben highlighted Totti's eternal brilliance and the fact that he is a big game player who is being cleverly rotated, and may have a huge impact at home to City.
Meanwhile, Ashley Cole is playing less often than Roma's captain and icon.
"He's not quite used to the tactical and technical requirements. He's played four of the last six games but he was on the pitch when Roma got hammered against Bayern 7 - 1 in October. Since then, he hasn't played that many times. He's in and out of the side."
Ben also feels that Roma are not the type of team that know how to play for a 0 - 0 draw - the exact result they need to knock out City.
But he also explained why Roma have the potential to break into the group of European superclubs under Garcia in the same way that Borussia Dortmund and Atletico Madrid have done to an extent recently.
Ben also gave his take on Romanian champions Steaua Bucharest, who have lost their identity after a legal battle with the army.
He also explained whether Marseille can continue to the title race with PSG in Ligue 1.
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