Inside an historic night for Italian's football

39454 spectators chanted 'Roma, Roma, Roma' and 'Grazie Roma' at the Stadio Olimpico last night before the kick-off of a Champions League match. On the pitch, however, was not the men's team of the Giallorossi, but the women's team, which this year is enjoying extraordinary success both in Italy and abroad. Never before has it managed to mobilise so many spectators for a women's football match in Italy, not even last year for the final of the same competition at the Juventus Stadium in Turin, where Lyon narrowly defeated the Giallorossi's opponents. The magnificent and historic setting of the Olimpico stadium indeed underlined a match of great level between the Capitoline formation and the Barcelona Femeni, one of the historic clubs of European women's football, founded in 1988 at the seat of the Blaugrana club.

The reigning runners-up demonstrated their technical and physical worth and their greater ability to play inside-out games, creating several goal-scoring chances that were saved by a magnificent Camelia Ceasar until Salma, the young right winger of the Blaugrana formation, scored. In the second half, Roma stepped up a gear and threatened to equalise on several occasions, thanks mainly to Giacinti and Giugliano, who wore the number 10 jersey at the Olimpico for the first time after Francesco Totti's retirement. And he showed he deserved it with a half-volley from 25 yards that seemed stolen straight from the Giallorossi captain. Spurred on by the choruses and applause of the almost forty thousand fans, Alessandro Spugna's girls gave their far more decorated opponents a scare right to the end.

The defeat, however, did nothing to change the plans of the Giallorossi, who thus heralded a historic moment for their women's club and for Italian football as a whole. Exactly one year after the introduction of professional women's football in our country, Roma presents itself as one of the best equipped teams not only in our league. A leap in quality that is the result of a long planning process that began five years ago, when in 2018 the Res sports club, which already existed on Roman territory, was taken over by the presidency of James Pallotta. From then on, a big climb up the hierarchy began, all the way to the current season, in which the Giallorossi are still fighting for the three season's goals. After finishing the first phase of the Serie A with an 8-point lead over their direct rivals and reaching the final of the Coppa Italia after a daring comeback against AC Milan, the women AS Roma even managed to reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League, the most important club competition in the world.

Before the match against Barcelona, we had the chance to exchange a few words with Annamaria Serturini, a young midfielder in the capital team and one of the first players to be part of the Roma project. "It's a special day for someone like me who has been here for five years. Tuesday is a bit like the inauguration of a journey. I came here when the club was already strong and established, but in the last few years we have made an important leap in quality that has led us to compete with the best in the world." A goal, however, that looks like a starting line for Italian clubs, which still have a big gap to close compared to European women's clubs, especially in France and Spain.

"We still have a long way to go to reach the level of the foreign clubs and the only way to get there is to get important results. Only then will people start to get excited about the games and then more fans will come to the stadium. Fortunately, we have a very strong following that always comes to the Tre Fontane and will also accompany us to the Olimpico. We hope that we can inspire them for women's football. For us, this stage is fundamental to reach as many people as possible,' continues Serturini, who met the Blaugrana's young stars such as Aitana Bonmatí and Patricia Guijarro when she was still a teenager. And Barcelona, with its cantera and facilities, is an excellent reference for what Roma is also trying to achieve.

Despite a great season and excellent planning, there is still a long way to go to meet European standards. In particular, the problem of venues, which has always plagued the capital's teams, needs to be solved. Roma's women's team usually play their matches at the Tre Fontane in Eur, a facility that has gathered a small but very loyal fan base over the years, but unfortunately does not meet UEFA standards and cannot be used for evening matches. For this reason, Roma have so far played their cup matches in Latina, but for such an important match, the Giallorossi have decided to accommodate their players in the stadium normally used by the Roma and Lazio men's teams.

A decision that paid off, also given Roma's policy of insist heavily on this match of their women's team, publicising it before the men's team matches, guaranteeing free entry to season ticket holders and selling tickets at very reasonable prices. The result was not only record attendance at the stadium, but also very strong media coverage that scientifically occupied the Serie A break and put women's football on the front pages of sports magazines. And above all, it confirmed that the Italian movement is clearly growing and deserves more important stages than those to which it is often relegated. As Serturini confirmed, 'we do not want to leave out any emotion, because it is a goal and a small satisfaction that we have all earned together'.