So, who the hell knows what is still happening at the top left with the referees, the unidentified woman in red, Chris Smalling and... I'm not sure who that is on the AC Milan side. I imagine that it was the coin toss to decide who kicks off, etc, but hey, since there were no announcements and none of this was put up on the big screen, well...

So instead let's talk about the AS Roma players that we see in this shot. The man showing that you can tilt at 45 degrees and still control a ball is midfielder Houssem Aouar (#22), 25 years old from Algeria, where he also plays for the national team. However he was actually born in Lyon which is in the east of France, about 110km from the Swiss border. He played for the French U17 and U19 teams as well as 1 match for France in 2020, but 10 for Algeria since 2023.

His early career was with Lyon teams; first AC Villeurbanne (a commune (suburb) of Lyon) from 2006-2009, then Lyon itself from 2009-2016. He made 22 appearances for the Lyon B team in 2015-2017, and 179 appearances in the senior team from 2016-2023. He moved to AS Roma as a free agent in 2023... not necessarily successfully. He played only 16 matches in 2023/24, 9 as a starter, 7 as a substitute. He missed 5 matches through injury and a further 3 on international duty, putting more pressure on our regular starters. Media reports state that he is on the market, with possible interest from some French clubs. Still, his contract runs to 2028 so he may yet be able to convince De Rossi that he's the man for the job.

In the background, the guy who looks like a giant who has been hunting down villagers and is about to catch one, is Tommaso Baldanzi (#35), our shiny new (at 21 years old) attacking forward. He's not a giant, though; at 1.7m (5'7"), he needs to rely on skill rather than dominating physical presence. The up side of not being all that tall is that his low centre of gravity makes him quick and helps with ball control. Being left footed can also make him a little less predictable for the opposition.

He was born in Poggibonsi in Toscana (Tuscany) in 2003. As a result he spent his junior career in Tuscan team Empoli (since the age of 8, no less), and his senior ones from 2020 to 2024. At the start of that he would have been only 17 so that, and the fact that he has been selected for every national squad from U17 to U21, speaks to his ability.

He has played 13 times (with 3 games on the bench) for 516 minutes to date.

I'm looking forward to seeing more of him.