# 2004–05 AS Roma season

Associazione Sportiva Roma endured possibly its most troubled season ever, in which the club almost went from a genuine title threat to relegation. Despite its eight place, the 18th placed Bologna was only a few points behind in the close table.
The problems started before the season began, with coach Fabio Capello signing for Juventus, and key players Emerson and Walter Samuel departing. That Samuel departed to Real Madrid was greeted with disappointment, but the move was thought to be necessary given the financial struggles of Roma. The moves for Capello and Emerson in contrast, were controversial, with Rome's mayor Walter Veltroni even having to step in to calm feelings down, when Capello had decided to buy Emerson to the Turin club.
Controversy resumed when Roma signed French defender Philippe Mexès from Auxerre, despite a rolling contract. Auxerre took Roma to UEFA court, and in July 2005, Roma was suspended from the transfer market for a full calendar year. In the midst of chaos, new coach Cesare Prandelli decided to resign when finding out his wife was seriously ill (she would survive another two years before dying), and Prandelli returned to football with Fiorentina one year later.
Rudi Völler, formerly a striker at the club, and the man in charge when Germany reached the final of the 2002 FIFA World Cup, took over, but the German did not last long, complaining of a lack of organisation. Former Chievo coach Luigi Delneri, who had been sacked from European champions Porto in pre-season, due to spending too much time in his native Italy, took charge, but the squad lacked confidence, and the scandals and internal fighting caused Roma to slip into the relegation fight. Former club midfielder Bruno Conti saved the club from relegation, owing much to striking duo Vincenzo Montella and Francesco Totti.
A notable incident during the season was referee Anders Frisk being hit by a coin in a Champions League fixture against Dynamo Kyiv, as Roma crashed out of the tournament in its initial phase. Due to Roma's transfer ban, the club could not get rid of Cassano until January 2006, when Real Madrid bought him.

## Players
### Squad information

    Last updated on 29 May 2005
    Appearances include league matches only
| No. | Name | Position(s) | Date of birth (Age at end of season) | Signed from | Signed in | Apps. | Goals |
| Goalkeepers |||||||||
| 1 | Gianluca Curci | GK | (1985-07-12)12 July 1985 (aged 19) | Youth Sector | 2004 | 11 | 0 |
| 12 | Carlo Zotti | GK | (1982-09-03)3 September 1982 (aged 22) | Palermo | 2001 | 14 | 0 |
| 22 | Ivan Pelizzoli | GK | (1980-11-18)18 November 1980 (aged 24) | Atalanta | 2001 | 72 | 0 |
| Defenders |||||||||
| 2 | Christian Panucci (Vice-Captain) | RB / CB | (1973-04-12)12 April 1973 (aged 32) | Monaco | 2001 | 110 | 4 |
| 3 | Abel Xavier | LB | (1972-11-30)30 November 1972 (aged 32) | Hannover 96 | 2004 | 3 | 0 |
| 5 | Philippe Mexès | CB | (1982-03-30)30 March 1982 (aged 23) | Auxerre | 2004 | 28 | 0 |
| 8 | Matteo Ferrari | CB | (1979-12-05)5 December 1979 (aged 25) | Parma | 2004 | 35 | 0 |
| 13 | Cristian Chivu | LB / CB | (1980-10-26)26 October 1980 (aged 24) | Ajax | 2003 | 32 | 4 |
| 19 | Giuseppe Scurto | CB | (1984-01-05)5 January 1984 (aged 21) | Youth Sector | 2004 | 9 | 0 |
| 25 | Leandro Cufré | LB | (1978-05-09)9 May 1978 (aged 27) | Gimnasia La Plata | 2002 | 41 | 0 |
| 28 | Aleandro Rosi | RB | (1987-05-17)17 May 1987 (aged 18) | Youth Sector | 2004 | 1 | 0 |
| 31 | Traianos Dellas | CB | (1976-01-31)31 January 1976 (aged 29) | Perugia | 2002 | 44 | 2 |
| Midfielders |||||||||
| 4 | Daniele De Rossi | DM / CM | (1983-07-24)24 July 1983 (aged 21) | Youth Sector | 2001 | 51 | 4 |
| 15 | Olivier Dacourt | AM / CM | (1974-09-25)25 September 1974 (aged 30) | Leeds United | 2003 | 68 | 1 |
| 17 | Damiano Tommasi | DM / CM | (1974-05-17)17 May 1974 (aged 31) | Hellas Verona | 1996 | 236 | 12 |
| 20 | Simone Perrotta | LM / CM / AM | (1977-09-17)17 September 1977 (aged 27) | Chievo | 2004 | 30 | 3 |
| 23 | Alberto Aquilani | CM / AM | (1984-07-07)7 July 1984 (aged 20) | Youth Sector | 2002 | 30 | 0 |
| 28 | Valerio Virga | CM | (1986-06-06)6 June 1986 (aged 19) | Youth Sector | 2004 | 6 | 0 |
| 29 | Leandro Greco | CM | (1986-07-19)19 July 1986 (aged 18) | Youth Sector | 2003 | 1 | 0 |
| 30 | Mancini | LW / RW / AM | (1980-08-01)1 August 1980 (aged 24) | Venezia | 2003 | 67 | 12 |
| Forwards |||||||||
| 9 | Vincenzo Montella | CF / ST | (1974-06-18)18 June 1974 (aged 31) | Sampdoria | 1999 | 155 | 79 |
| 10 | Francesco Totti (Captain) | AM / LW / SS / CF / ST | (1976-09-27)27 September 1976 (aged 28) | Youth Sector | 1992 | 301 | 98 |
| 11 | Daniele Corvia | CF / ST | (1984-11-22)22 November 1984 (aged 20) | Youth Sector | 2003 | 16 | 0 |
| 18 | Antonio Cassano | ST / SS | (1982-07-12)12 July 1982 (aged 22) | Bari | 2001 | 113 | 37 |
| 26 | Alessio Cerci | RW / SS | (1987-07-23)23 July 1987 (aged 17) | Youth Sector | 2003 | 3 | 0 |
| 99 | Mido | CF / ST | (1983-02-23)23 February 1983 (aged 22) | Marseille | 2004 | 8 | 0 |
| Players transferred during the season |||||||||
| 7 | Luigi Sartor | LB / RB / CB | (1975-01-30)30 January 1975 (aged 30) | Parma | 2002 | 19 | 0 |
| 21 | Gaetano D'Agostino | CM / AM | (1982-06-03)3 June 1982 (aged 23) | Bari | 2003 | 22 | 1 |
| 24 | Marco Delvecchio | CF / ST | (1973-04-07)7 April 1973 (aged 32) | Internazionale | 1995 | 231 | 62 |
| 32 | Vincent Candela | LB / LWB | (1973-10-24)24 October 1973 (aged 31) | Guingamp | 1997 | 210 | 14 |

## Competitions
### Overall

| Competition | Started round | Final position | First match | Last match |
| Serie A | Matchday 1 | 8th | 12 September 2004 | 29 May 2005 |
| Coppa Italia | Round of 16 | Runners-up | 19 November 2004 | 15 June 2005 |
| Champions League | Group stage | Group stage | 15 September 2004 | 8 December 2004 |
Last updated: 15 June 2005

### Serie A
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 6 | Palermo | 38 | 12 | 17 | 9 | 48 | 44 | +4 | 53 | Qualification to UEFA Cup first round |
| 7 | Messina | 38 | 12 | 12 | 14 | 44 | 52 | −8 | 48 | |
| 8 | Roma | 38 | 11 | 12 | 15 | 55 | 58 | −3 | 45 | Qualification to UEFA Cup first round |
| 9 | Livorno | 38 | 11 | 12 | 15 | 49 | 60 | −11 | 45 | |
| 10 | Reggina | 38 | 10 | 14 | 14 | 36 | 45 | −9 | 44 | |
* ↑ Roma gained entry to the 2005–06 UEFA Cup as 2004–05 Coppa Italia runners-up: champions Internazionale qualified to the 2005–06 UEFA Champions League.

#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Last updated: 29 May 2005. Source: Competitive matches

#### Results by round

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 |
| Ground | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H |
| Result | W | L | D | L | D | W | D | L | W | D | L | L | W | D | W | W | L | W | D | W | W | D | D | L | W | L | L | L | L | D | L | L | L | D | L | D | W | D |
| Position | 5 | 9 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 12 | 9 | 13 | 9 | 9 | 13 | 15 | 11 | 11 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 14 | 8 | 8 |

#### Matches
### UEFA Champions League
#### Group stage

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Bayer Leverkusen | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 13 | 7 | +6 | 11 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | Real Madrid | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 11 | 8 | +3 | 11 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 3 | Dynamo Kyiv | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 8 | +3 | 10 | Transfer to UEFA Cup |
| 4 | Roma | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 16 | −12 | 1 | |

## Statistics
### Appearances and goals

| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | Serie A | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Coppa Italia | Champions League | Champions League |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Goalkeepers ||||||||||||
| 1 | GK | ITA | Gianluca Curci | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | GK | ITA | Carlo Zotti | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 22 | GK | ITA | Ivan Pelizzoli | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Defenders ||||||||||||
| 2 | DF | ITA | Christian Panucci | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | DF | POR | Abel Xavier | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | DF | FRA | Philippe Mexès | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | DF | ITA | Matteo Ferrari | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 | DF | ROU | Cristian Chivu | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 19 | DF | ITA | Giuseppe Scurto | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 25 | DF | ARG | Leandro Cufré | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 28 | DF | ITA | Aleandro Rosi | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 31 | DF | GRE | Traianos Dellas | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Midfielders ||||||||||||
| 4 | MF | ITA | Daniele De Rossi | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 15 | MF | FRA | Olivier Dacourt | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 17 | MF | ITA | Damiano Tommasi | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 20 | MF | ITA | Simone Perrotta | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 23 | MF | ITA | Alberto Aquilani | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 28 | MF | ITA | Valerio Virga | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 29 | MF | ITA | Leandro Greco | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 30 | MF | BRA | Mancini | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Forwards ||||||||||||
| 9 | FW | ITA | Vincenzo Montella | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | FW | ITA | Francesco Totti | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 | FW | ITA | Daniele Corvia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 18 | FW | ITA | Antonio Cassano | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 25 | FW | ITA | Alessio Cerci | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 99 | FW | EGY | Mido | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Players transferred out during the season ||||||||||||
| 7 | DF | ITA | Luigi Sartor | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 21 | MF | ITA | Gaetano D'Agostino | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 24 | FW | ITA | Marco Delvecchio | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 32 | DF | FRA | Vincent Candela | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Source: Competitions

### Goalscorers

| Rank | No. | Pos | Nat | Name | Serie A | Coppa Italia | UEFA CL | Total |
| 1 | 9 | FW | | Vincenzo Montella | 21 | 1 | 1 | 23 |
| 2 | 10 | FW | | Francesco Totti | 12 | 3 | 0 | 15 |
| 3 | 18 | FW | | Antonio Cassano | 9 | 1 | 1 | 11 |
| 4 | 30 | MF | | Mancini | 4 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| 5 | 16 | MF | | Daniele De Rossi | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| 6 | 20 | MF | | Simone Perrotta | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 7 | 13 | DF | | Cristian Chivu | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 7 | 31 | DF | | Traianos Dellas | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 9 | 5 | DF | | Philippe Mexès | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 9 | 11 | FW | | Daniele Corvia | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Own goal | Own goal | Own goal | Own goal | Own goal | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Totals | Totals | Totals | Totals | Totals | 55 | 10 | 4 | 69 |
Last updated: 15 June 2005

### Clean sheets

| Rank | No. | Pos | Nat | Name | Serie A | Coppa Italia | UEFA CL | Total |
| 1 | 1 | GK | | Gianluca Curci | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 1 | 12 | GK | | Carlo Zotti | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| 1 | 22 | GK | | Ivan Pelizzoli | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Totals | Totals | Totals | Totals | Totals | 8 | 1 | 0 | 9 |
Last updated: 15 June 2005

### Disciplinary record

| No. | Pos | Nat | Name | Serie A | Serie A | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Coppa Italia | Coppa Italia | UEFA CL | UEFA CL | UEFA CL | Total | Total | Total |
| Totals | Totals | Totals | Totals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Last updated: