jérémy menez has regained his form at as roma this term and after scoring his first uefa champions league goal last time out has "no fear" about facing fc bayern münchen.
as roma forward jérémy menez's first serie a goal since october 2009 prompted claudio ranieri to claim that the france forward has "not yet realised how big his potential is".
menez, a man on a high after stylishly scoring his first serie a goal this year in the giallorossi's 2-0 win against udinese calcio on saturday, has another chance to enhance his worth when roma host fc bayern münchen at the stadio olimpico on tuesday. signed in summer 2008 from as monaco fc, menez had a promising debut campaign, followed by a testing second. his third, though, is once again providing justification for roma legend bruno conti's claim that "he is better than me".
menez himself is just glad to be back on track. "we had a few problems last season," he said. "but we managed to solve them by talking a lot, and since then i have worked hard. i feel at home here. i'm very calm because i feel i'm finally on the right path even if i know that i have done nothing yet. i'm still very far from 100%. i'm not a child but i'm only 23, i know i must grow in football and in life but i'm working hard to improve. when i arrived i could only speak french. now everything is much easier."
menez scored his first uefa champions league goal when opening the scoring in the crucial 3-2 win at fc basel 1893 on matchday 4. that success ensured that roma sit second in uefa champions league group e – three points clear of the swiss side but six adrift of qualified bayern – as they prepare to tackle the german titleholders. "they are a great team, but we have no fear," added menez. "especially if we play as we have done recently."
while his technique and dribbling ability are widely lauded, menez takes on board a widespread criticism that he does not get off as many shots as he should, despite those recent strikes against basel and udinese. "it's true," he said. "if i want to play with the french national team for a long time, i will have to start scoring more goals." after giving menez his international debut against norway on 5 august, france coach laurent blanc is sure to be one of many tracking his continued development with great interest.
yardımcı hakemler: fermin martinez ibanez (esp), juan carlos yuste jiménez (esp)
4. hakem: ignacio iglesias villanueva (esp)
çizgi hakemleri: césar muñiz fernández (esp), carlos clos gómez (esp)
roma: júlio sérgio (gk), philippe mexès, mirko vučinić (dk. 82 david pizarro), daniele de rossi (c), john arne riise, marco borriello, leandro greco (dk. 46 fábio simplício), nicolás burdisso, matteo brighi (dk. 75 francesco totti), marco cassetti, jérémy menez
teknik direktör: claudio ranieri (ita)
bayern münih: thomas kraft (gk), daniel van buyten, martín demichelis, franck ribéry (dk. 77 hamit altıntop), andreas ottl, philipp lahm (c), danijel pranjić, thomas müller (dk. 73 diego contento), mario gomez, toni kroos, anatoliy tymoshchuk
teknik direktör: louis van gaal (ned)
goller: dk. 33 mario gomez (0-1) dk. 39 mario gomez (0-2) dk. 49 marco borriello (1-2) dk. 81 daniele de rossi (c) (2-2) dk. 84 [penaltıdan] francesco totti (3-2)
sarı kartlar: dkç 13 leandro greco, dk. 21 philippe mexès, dk. 71 daniele de rossi (c), dk. 90 jérémy menez (roma) dk. 19 toni kroos, dk. 83 thomas kraft (gk) (bayern münih)
two down at half-time, roma mounted a stirring fightback capped by francesco totti's late penalty to put them within a point of the last 16.
as roma edged closer to the uefa champions league round of 16 with a thrilling comeback win against fc bayern münich.
despite falling behind to mario gomez's first-half double, the giallorossi rallied after the break. marco borriello and daniele de rossi drew them level before francesco totti's penalty sealed the points and kept roma stay second in the section, within a point of qualification.
bayern coach louis van gaal fielded several less familiar faces, not least goalkeeper thomas kraft, who had a debut to remember after being forced into action as early as the third minute. the 22-year-old repelled a powerful strike from marco borriello and was relieved to watch jérémy menez blaze over the rebound from ten metres. on the quarter-hour mirko vučinić also threatened, sending an ambitious chip off beam from 20 metres.
kraft was again called upon midway through the half, parrying john arne riise's speculative effort; this time leandro greco skied the rebound. despite these chances, bayern had enjoyed most of the possession, with toni kroos, thomas müller and franck ribéry selflessly supporting the lone gomez. martín demichelis, twice, and andres ottl both fired over, but when the breakthrough came, in the 33rd minute, it was from a fine team move. ribéry teased a clever a reverse pass into the path of gomez, who directed his shot in off the far post.
roma were slow to react and within seven minutes were two down, gomez pouncing again to poke in, following a fine pass by müller. the stadio olimpico was silenced and but for a reaction save from júlio sérgio's outstretched legs, the hosts would have been three behind at half-time. instead, the giallorossi fightback began, four minutes after the restart, following a rapier-like move down the right. menez picked out borriello, who turned and beat kraft from a prone position.
roma twice came close to an equaliser soon after but were again denied by the impressive kraft – twice. first he clawed away as fábio simplício went to head in from under the bar, and then he made an extraordinary stop from marco brighi. the debutant could do little about the equaliser, though, as with nine minutes to go, vučinić found riise with a slide-rule pass and the full-back's cross was dispatched by de rossi.
roma were rampant and completed the remarkable turnaround within three minutes of drawing level. francesco totti, a 75th-minute substitute, played borriello in on goal and kraft's first error of the night was to fell the roma forward. totti applied the coup de grâce.
1. fc bayern münchen...5...4...0...1...13...6...7...12 2. as roma...5...3...0...2...9...10...-1...9 3. fc basel 1893...5...2...0...3...8...8...0...6 4. cfr 1907 cluj...5...1...0...4...5...11...-6...3
bayern'li mario gomez bu maçtan önce oynadığı son 9 maçta 12 gol atmış. bu maçta da 2 gol atıp 10 maçta 14 gol yaptı...
maçın ilk yarısında bayern çok rahat ve iyi oynarken ikinci yarı roller değişti. özellikle 49. dakikada soldan gelen ortaya düşe-kalka vurarak gol atan marco borriello roma'yı ateşledi. bu dakikadan sonra bayern sahadan silindi ve roma rakibini ezmeye başladı. goller geciktikçe gecikti ama sonunda roma efsanevi bir geri dönüş yaşadı...
