When AS Roma were drawn against Brighton & Hove Albion in the Europa League, the Italian media went into overdrive to hype up the clash, with a lot of attention being placed on Roberto De Zerbi.
The genius manager, as he was often called, was going up against Daniele De Rossi, brought in by the Italian side to try and salvage a poor first half of the season under José Mourinho, and there was a lot of excitement.
What happened on the pitch in the first leg on Thursday night, however, few could have predicted, and we now see Gazzetta dello Sport tear into three Brighton players after their performances.
They immediately focus on Lewis Dunk, whom they label ‘The Worst’ of the bunch on the Seagulls side, describing how ‘awful’ his missed control was to allow Romelu Lukaku through on goal.
Lewis Dunk
He was given a 4/10, which is the same grade handed to Jan Paul van Hecke, who was ‘full of carelessness’, deciding to ‘senselessly’ wander into midfield for AS Roma’s fourth goal.
As for Igor (4/10), the former Fiorentina player, now at Brighton, was ‘careless’ on the 1-0 as he watched Paulo Dybala sprint off without him, also making the ‘wrong move’ at the end for their opponent’s final goal.
The Brazilian’s most colorful critic, though, comes from Corriere dello Sport, who likewise score him a 4. They point out that the Brazilian committed the same error—calling an offside and doing nothing about it—for his former club in the Conference League final against West Ham.
They then discuss the “festival of horrors and mistakes” he made during the game.
It was not a good night for Roberto De Zerbi’s team, and they now face an almost impossible job in Brighton to even attempt to win this match.
