The rebirth of Celik, Shomurodov and Cristante under Ranieri | OneFootball

From boos and whistles to becoming Roma’s protagonists, from reserves to key men for the team.

Roma’s victory against Athletic Bilbao marked not only a decisive step towards the Europa League quarter-finals, but also the rebirth of players who have often been questioned.

Eldor Shomurodov, Zeki Celik, Bryan Cristante and Tommaso Baldanzi: all, in their own way, symbols of a group that is responding to criticism on the pitch.

The most emblematic case is that of Shomurodov, argues La Repubblica, considered a flop until a few weeks ago.

His goal in injury time against Athletic overturned the hierarchies and showed that, with the right confidence, he can be a good striker.

The same goes for Celik, adapted by Ranieri to the role of central defender and capable of limiting a talent like Nico Williams.

And then Cristante, often labelled as “finished”, but always present in key moments, and Baldanzi, who despite a sensational error showed personality.

The credit goes to Claudio Ranieri, capable of giving value back to the excluded and transforming them into the pillars of the new Roma.