Regular force under Ranieri
©IMAGO
World champion Mats Hummels now sees himself clearly on an upward trend after the false start at his new club AS Roma. “I’m getting back into the rhythm of the game, training regularly and I’m back in shape. Overall, I’m satisfied,” said the former defense chief of FC Bayern and BVB to the Italian daily newspaper “Il Messaggero”.
The 78-time international had hardly played in the first few months after moving to the Italian capital in the summer, which clearly caused him problems. He also attributed the change in mood to the fact that the new coach Claudio Ranieri immediately expressed his confidence in him: “He left no doubt that I would play an important role for him. He told me straight away that he would let me play and that I had his trust.” At 36, Hummels is the oldest professional in the Giallorossi squad.
Under Ranieri’s predecessor Ivan Juric, Hummels only played a single game lasting a good 20 minutes, and he scored an own goal immediately after being substituted on. In the interview, he recalled the scene saying, “I told myself not to do anything stupid and just play. I didn’t even have time to think about it until I scored an own goal. At that moment I almost had to laugh. It was a moment when everything went wrong.” This Sunday (8:45 p.m.) there will be a local derby in Rome between the current tenth-placed team in Serie A and their rivals Lazio, who are currently in fourth place.