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Now, onto today's issue.

I don't want to discredit what Roma have done in recent weeks. Claudio Ranieri is one of the feel-good stories of the season, and it upsets me when I see people on X try to tear apart the work he's done in pretty unfavorable circumstances. He is Roma's four coach in a year and somehow bandaged up a team that was borderline mutinous and teetering on the edge of the relegation zone. He's given Roma life in just four months. No Serie A team has earned more than the Giallorossi's 32 points over the last 12 games. They'd top the standings if the season started Jan. 1.

But then I look at their most recent matches and I'm left a little underwhelmed as I notice a bunch of 1-0 wins over relegation candidates. Roma built their seven-game winning streak on the back of victories over some of the worst teams in Serie A.

So I can't totally discount allegations that Roma are fool's gold. But they can prove everyone wrong over the next two months.

The Giallorossi face Juventus, Lazio, Inter, Roma, Atalanta, and AC Milan over their last eight matches of the season, and they'll have to do it without talisman Paulo Dybala. Lorenzo Pellegrini and Alexis Saelemaekers are one booking away from suspension and could theoretically miss any one of Roma's big fixtures if they fail to keep their cool.

Roma didn't need Dybala to get past Lecce on Saturday. But Ranieri will miss his dribbling, ball protection, and ability to draw fouls against the big boys.

"There is a Roma with Dybala and one without Dybala," the coach admitted.

Roma could afford to play a more cautious game with a match winner like Dybala capable of shifting gears and wresting control of the game in just a few seconds. Ranieri has used possession as a way to stabilize his team and organize his defense, doing all the boring things he had to do to restore calm in stormy waters. But Dybala was his wild card. It's hard to be patient, to be confident in victory without taking so many risks, when the magic isn't there.

Ranieri will need a lot more production out of Matias Soule and Saelemaekers, who have similar characteristics, if not the same impact, as their gifted teammate. Dovbyk will also have to hold up play and scramble defensive lines with runs down the middle. Dovbyk isn't as cumbersome as he looks. He's a credible striker who's scored more goals than Edin Dzeko in his first season at Roma and could emerge as their late-season hero.

There are ways for Roma to navigate the landmines ahead. That they even have something to navigate at the end of a season that looked dead and buried is an achievement in and of itself.