Roma returns to Champions League after eight years, beating Verona at Bentegodi. Mourinho's team finished third in the standings. Verona, without Wesley, N'Dicka and Pellegrini, struggled in the first half before changing pace in the second half. Before Valentini's expulsion, then Malen's goal (after Montipò's penalty save) and in the recovery El Shaarawy's signature to seal an incredible giallorossa comeback, started after the defeat at San Siro against Inter. Gasperini's prediction on the Champions League chase ('it's a marathon that will be decided on the last day', he had repeated several times during the season as if it were a mantra), has therefore come true. With six wins and a draw in the last seven games, Roma has completed a comeback that has taken them from sixth to third place: from -3 to Juventus, -4 to Como and -9 to Milan, Malen and company have climbed the positions week after week until the final 73 points. From Porto-Roma on March 6, 2019, the last appearance, the wait of the giallorossi fans is finally coming to an end: in about four months they will immerse themselves again in the atmosphere of the Champions, in the centenary season.