Rome (AFP)

Sacred calendar! The Derby in Rome, one of the hottest games of the Italian season, will take place on the second day Sunday, in a climate weighed down by the violent death this summer of a former head of the Ultras of Lazio.

The Capital Derby always has a dimension more than sport. It can save or spoil a season and this is the match that await the tifosi of both sides, much more than those against Juventus, Naples or any other big caliber of Serie A.

This year, some of these tifosi had to rush back from their holidays with this unusual program of "stracittadina".

And with only one game played, neither team can arrive Sunday at the Olimpico by saying he is the favorite.

"We know what it means to play a Derby, two games apart in the season," Lazio coach Simone Inzaghi said on Saturday.

Almost unchanged from last season, his team has a little more certainty than his old rival. On the first day, Lazio has, indeed, clearly imposed 3-0 on the ground of Sampdoria Genoa.

His strikers, Immobile and the talented Argentinian Correa, are in good shape and the star of the team, the Serbian midfielder Milinkovic-Savic, has managed to Genoa a fantastic match, reminding why his club estimates it to more than 100 million euros.

- Recurrent Fragility -

In front, Roma is low profile. Last season was a long way to cross and without Champions League, the club had to sacrifice two new holders, Manolas transferred to Napoli and El Shaarawy gone to China.

The preparation was correct, the new coach Paulo Fonseca seems at ease and the extension of contract Dzeko, that everyone imagined at Inter Milan, was a nice surprise.

But the Giallorossi quickly came back down to earth with an inaugural draw against Genoa (3-3) in which they showed a fragility more and more recurrent and were unable to maintain their advantage when they led three times to score.

Uncertain on the lawn, the Derby will also be stretched on the stands and outside the stadium. In total more than one thousand police and 800 stewards will be mobilized, to frame the 50.000 expected spectators.

The police are all the more attentive as it will be the first home game of Lazio since the death of Fabrizio Piscitelli, former historical leader of Irriducibili, the main Ultra group of the club.

Nicknamed "Diabolik", Piscitelli was killed on August 7th with a bullet in the head on a bench in the Aqueduct Park, a huge green space in the south of Rome.

- Call to the Pope -

Aged 53, the victim had been investigated in the past in various criminal cases, including drug trafficking.

On Sunday, the Lazio fans will pay tribute to him and could dedicate a tifo to him before the kick-off.

According to the Italian media, more than clashes between supporters of both sides, the police fear a sort of alliance between Laziali and Romanisti around the figure of the leader Ultra.

The question of his funeral had already created tensions in Rome, the authorities initially requesting a funeral totally closed to the public and without religious ceremony.

Piscitelli's wife and daughter wrote to the prefect of police, but also to Pope Francis, asking for respect for "their most intimate and basic human and constitutional rights."

At the end of the day, a mass was held under heavy police surveillance. Taken aside, several dozen members of the Irriducibili had come with banners and flags to the glory of "Diabolik".

© 2019 AFP